TNT Hydraulic swim platform on my 450 Dancer

DjDaoust

DjDaoust

Member
Nov 4, 2015
213
La Crosse, WI
Boat Info
1998 450 Sundancer - 3 Boys & A Blonde
Engines
Cat 3126's
So this happened on Sunday. My TNT swim platform started dropping hydraulic fluid in the water and started to drop on the port side. Any thoughts on a remedy without having to pull her?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3616.jpg
    IMG_3616.jpg
    91.8 KB · Views: 1,628
The boat has to be pulled to replace/rebuild the ram cylinder. It is an expensive as a replacement part.

John
 
Fill the reservoir. Snorkel under and have someone operate the lift. See if you can ID the leak location. My guess would be a fitting came loose. Logic tells me you still have positive pressure on the unit and no water has infiltrated the system. Then again, it is a boat and there is nothing logical about a boat. If it is a fitting, and if you can tighten it, it should be a simple matter of bleeding the system. However, I don't know if the system bleeds back into the boat or into the water. If into the water, your SOL unless you can find a way to contain the fluid to keep the EPA from crawling up your ARSE.

I'll bet you are not the first to experience this. What is their Tech support like?
 
It is possible that it's one of the SS hoses, which would be a simple repair. If it's a cylinder...get ready for some big boat $$.
 
I have the same lift on my 450. If you can, keep the lift up, maybe tie some straps on the back cleats and attach is to the swim platform to help keep it up. If it cranks over to far it's going to jam up on you. Ideally you're going to want to pull the boat to get a good idea where it's coming from. Most likely a hose let loose on you if you're seeing oil in the water. there's a lot of hoses and a lot of cylinders on this lift. If one hose went, then the others aren't far behind. There's a total of 6 cylinders (2 are hidden inside the extending arms). there's seals on each one so the could be leaking from there. there's 2 long hoses that are under those caps that you can remove. remove those caps, operate the lift and see if it's one of those hoses pissing oil. these you can replace while in the water, I have, but you have to make a special wrench to do it. If it's not those, then somehow look to see if the short hoses under the lift is spraying oil. report back on what you find. there's a total of 16 hoses.

Oh, keep the pump reservoir full during this. If enough oil leaks out and you start sucking air into the hoses, then it's going to be a big pain in the ass.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the great insight and info gentlemen! I'm going to mess around with the fittings and hoses this weekend. Apparently the pumps were both rebuilt last season, so hopefully that's one issue we don't have to deal with.
 
be careful with the fittings. if you don't see them physically leaking at the fitting, don't try and wrench them tighter, you can easily crack the cup in the fitting and then you'll have to replace that hose. Usually when one of these hoses goes, it'll be a pin hole with a lot of force. That pump is crankin about 1500PSI so it should be fairly noticeable if it's a hose that's not underwater. the hoses that get the most wear and tear are the long ones that feed into the ER, those are easy to check when you remove the caps covering the lift arms.
 
Thanks so much Turtle!!!

This whole TNT lift is an entire new world to me!
 
Below was the response from our service dept. Anyone's 2 cents greatly appreciated.

XXXXX was here about an hour and looked at your lift. The supply line from inside the boat is blown. What we would need to do is pull the boat out of the water ( we would just pull it up enough to access the line from a boat in the water). Pull the supply line that is bad. We would then cap the system and strap up the swim platform so that the boat can be placed in the water. The lines are custom made from the supplier so it would be 8-10 days (unless they can get something local) until they are in. When they are in XXXXX would come back down and finish the repair.

 
Since it's early in the season, here's what I would do... I would call TNT and tell them that you have an old Goliath Lift and that you need a set of new Stainless steel hoses for the platform (the long ones that feed through the pully system (if that's the supply hose they are referring to, which it probably is)). They'll know the right length and the skinny connectors. Or you can get a hydraulic hose making dude to make them, you just need to pull the old one out first to get the length and so he can see the connector. they're about 10' long, each hose. 4 of them. 2 feed 2 return. But with TNT, he'll know exactly what you need. I would keep the boat in the water and just strap the sucker up until the hoses arrive. then swap them all out in one shot. If one hose went, the others aren't far behind unless you know for certain the others were changed recently. The yard will have to make a custom wrench and or socket to get the hoses off the center cylinders. it's a pain in the ass to change these hoses but they are the first to go. If you really want to be diligent, replace all of the hoses. There's a total of 20 hoses and 4 isolator hoses in all (4 long pully hoses, 12 short hoses on the lift, 4 hoses from the pump to the transom 4 isolator hoses on the pump). I have replaced all of them over time on my lift. I wish I had done them all at once instead of 1 every 3 months. The company that runs TNT is new, but they agreed when they bought the old TNT to try and help service these old lifts so be very nice and thankful when you speak to them. they are doing us a favor. My 2 cents. But at least change the 4 pully hoses all at once to minimize season interuptous.

Oh, when you get the bill it's normal to choke for a few months.
 
Last edited:
Thanks Turtle for all your valuable help! I just sent an email to TNT with the info you provided. I'll keep ya posted.
 
The overall cost for hoses will vary depending on which ones you get. The short little hoses on the outside of the lift connecting to the cylinders... 12 SS hoses about $1k. The 4 long SS hoses about $700. The hoses from the pump to the transom in the ER, about $200 because I went with rubber instead of SS.
 
As a small boat owner, posts like this are a great cure for two foot-it is, or in this case 20+ foot it is.

About 10 years ago my wife wanted us to look at a "yacht" as a second/weekend home. She wanted something 40+ feet. I wanted to invest in growing my business. Simple solution......... She's now my Ex-wife.
 
Don't let the TNT lift issues confuse the issue. The early TNT's were a recipe for disaster......not if the on-coming train was going to hit you, but when. They were an expensive option so all boats don't have them.
 
Sorry, but couldn't help but chuckle at this: "we would just pull it up enough to access the line from a boat in the water" -- as if the marina will charge much less for lifting the boat only a few feet. You can be assured there will be a line item on the invoice for hoisting and it's not going to be $29.99. :)
 
fwebster said:
Don't let the TNT lift issues confuse the issue. The early TNT's were a recipe for disaster......not if the on-coming train was going to hit you, but when. They were an expensive option so all boats don't have them.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately, Frank is right on this. The early TNT lifts just had issue after issue in salt water. The components would corrode, bind and the actuators would fail from corrosion on the ram that destroyed the seal. Roughly, 14 years ago I believe the company became insolvent and was bought by their largest creditor (a machine and fabrication shop) who now runs the company. I don't see as many failures as the first TNT generation lifts but when any component fails.....it is very expensive. Most of us would consider spending $1000 for 12 short stainless steel lines to be silly. Wait to you see the price to rebuild or replace an actuator. The last price I saw was $2,000 for TNT to rebuild one.....if it can be rebuilt.
 
My trunk which houses my Jetski is operated by TNT components. I have 4 1' ss and 4 12' ss lines. All are installed in confined spaces, 1 12' line failed so I purchased 8 new lines, yep 1,000.00.
 
Had her pulled on Friday and they removed the supply hose that was shot. Apparently not due to wear, but looked to be damaged from something. Total job to pull it off and reinstall a new hose was $285. They offered to remove the other 4 hoses and replace for $750, but I figured I'd put off until the off season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,185
Messages
1,428,142
Members
61,094
Latest member
Linword
Back
Top