340 cracked step weld

DaleM

Member
Aug 5, 2009
690
Mt Airy, MD
Boat Info
340 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1 Horizons
The weld that supports the bottom step in my cabin has cracked. I found one entry about a similar failure but it didn’t have details on removing it. Seems like the only way to do this without burning up the entire cabin with sparks is to remove it and take it for repair. Has anyone removed the column? Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dale
 
Thought I'd post this in case someone else experiences the weld issue in how to remove the entire step column. I got mine out yesterday so I can take it somewhere and have the welds redone.

I have a few pictures I will post. It involves removing the padded trim piece that surrounds the cabin door. You remove the kick plate and the trim pieces which are "glued" with caulk in place.

There are screws in the trim piece that are hidden by plastic buttons that are glued in place on the "ceiling side" of the aft berth. I removed them to expose the Phillips screw had by "sawing" through the glue with fishing line. Then just back out the screws. There were 6 in all.

This is where it gets tricky. You can't just pull the trim piece away from the door opening. The must've installed the trim wooden "frame" first then wrapped the vinyl later because there were 3 screws per side hidden under the vinyl. I cut through the screws by hack sawing between the trim piece and the door being careful not to F up the vinyl. I used a painters knife to hold the trim piece to create a slight gap to get the saw blade in. Once they were cut the entire thing came down.

This exposes the screws that mounts the top of the column to the door opening. It's weird how they did it, but in short they through bolted to the mounting plate and then hid the screws under the chrome kick plate.

Next remove the round carpeted trim rings that are on the floor. You have to dig through the carpet pile to find the two really long phillips screws. This will expose 4 screws. Two are through bolted to the floor with nuts on the underside. You get access to the nut by opening up the floor panel where the shower sump is. The other two are just two big wood lags.

From there, just get everything freed up and slide the entire column forward. Make sure you're careful not to hit the vinyl with the metal bracket of the column. Having a buddy helps stabilize things. It's awkward due to the placement of the weight. Probably weights in around 50-80lbs.

To reattach the trim piece around the door after things are back together I will use the existing screws that are accessible on the "ceiling side" again and then some industrial hook and loop with an adhesive backing to keep the vertical pieces of the trim in position along the door. This way if I have to remove it again I just pull it free from the hook and loop.

I'll be taking it to a shop to have it welded and then I'll color match and repaint.

60297071218__F47C7AA6-5381-4F84-83CB-CAA9F226EC77.JPG 60297072428__397C8148-9D66-42F6-AD5B-784B3630D66C.JPG 60297083789__807130EC-D9CF-4B68-9E0B-280378B9DFC6.JPG 60297272370__629596B9-654A-472A-887F-B64DE8A61D5B.JPG 60297273165__75AB9E2A-21AA-4BAE-8522-BBC07783581B.JPG
 
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What caused it to break and what will prevent if from breaking again?
 
What caused it to break and what will prevent if from breaking again?

Great questions. It looks like 'fatigue'. Meaning, stepping on the outer edge of the step over the course of 16 years with the slight flexing creating the failure over time. Then one weekend a friend was standing on it and while rocking back and forth asking, "Hey is this supposed to do this??" (while in a boat-drink haze). I don't think that helped matters. Prior to that I didn't know it was cracked or how bad.

I'm not sure if it was a bad weld. I did see someone else posted something similar but on a different step, but never saw their resolution. I thought about mechanical fix options but the only thing that made sense was to re-weld it to make it right. I think it's aluminium. Hopefully this will give me another 16 years...
 

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