2010 Sea Ray 250 SLX Sports Tower Rattle

[DonCicio]

I just purchased a used 2010 250 SLX that came equipped with a Sports Tower. I didn't notice any noises or sounds when I test drove the boat, but it was on a lake with fairly mild conditions. In the chop however, there is a loud rattling sound from inside the starboard tower which seems to originate 12 inches up from where it is mounted to the boat. I have had other boats with towers and you do get the occasional creaks and groans, but I'm afraid this sound is allot more serious.

I tightened the philips head screws which anchors the aluminum support rail to the fiberglass tower. Some where a little loose a couple that are stripped and unable to tighten. I will have to address these by inserting some epoxy letting it cure, drill and reattach. ( I think that will be sufficient) I don't think this is the problem.

The 2 main 3/4 bolts that secure the tower to boat are accessible form under the sink. I was able to tighten one but the other does not want to tighten. There is a small upholstered trim piece that is attached to the bottom of the tower. I am hoping that I can remove the trim piece and get access to the nuts to tighten the tower and also to see if there is anything else I can see.

Has anyone had this problem ? Anyone know how to safely remove the trim piece?

I absolutely love the boat but the sound of my new boat falling apart is killing me.

 

[DonCicio]

Here is an image of the trim piece that needs to be removed before I can take a closer look. If anyone could give me some instructions on how I should go about removing it as opposed to destroying it, I would appreciate it.

 

[DonCicio]

I have been dealing with Sea Ray and they have been somewhat helpful, although their recommendation was expected. Bring your boat to an authorized dealer....

I was able to remove the trim piece and it came out in one piece. There are 7-8 plastic/nylon retainer clips holding it on. Once removed, it was fairly straight forward to tighten the two 3/4 head bolts, but they were fairly tight. I had a large ape like friend give me a hand to push pull on the tower to see if the sound was gone. Unfortunately it is still there. It's becoming evident that the cracking/rattling sound is coming from the connections where the aluminum support rails connect to the fiberglass tower. The support rails are held on by three screws that are screwed directly into the fiberglass with a rubber isolater in sandwiched in between. I have found 3-4 screws that are stripped, so that is going to be where I start next. The only possible contributing factor is that there is a wire fitted in the fiberglass tower that supplies power to the anchor light. It may be slapping inside the tower.

I also plan to contact http://www.xtremetowers.com/ as they are the actual supplier of the tower. For those of you who want to add a tower to your Sea Ray and retain the factory look, they would be the company to contact unless you want to pay the Sea Ray Dealer double bubble. I hope that Extreme Tower Products can give some insight and solution to the problem I am having.