Screwed up my Smart Tab install

P

pchansen

New Member
Dec 13, 2010
207
Camas, WA
Boat Info
2005 SR 220SD
Engines
5.0 MPI w/ B3 outdrive
After finishing installing the Smart Tabs on my 220 SD, I stepped back to admire my handiwork and pat myself on the back for another job well done and..."Scheiße!" The left tab is exactly one inch further left than the right one. You can hardly tell, in fact I had to get my tape out to confirm the error. My question is, should I just leave it alone or am I going to have a small steering error to deal with for the rest of this boat's life. I certainly can repair the 7 holes but I really don't want to. What do you all think? :huh:

<pictures removed due to maxing out my allocated memory. See post #25 for photos >
 
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I would say run it and see how it performs.
 
You are both probably right..and I doubt anyone other than me will ever notice but it still sucks!
 
techmitch said:
Actually being smart tabs won't they correct that if there is any difference or do they just correct/adjust bow to stern angle
Click to expand...
I imagine since the left tab is slightly farther away from the center line of the boat, it will have a slightly stronger pull to the left- but we're talking about a 2% difference, based on an 8'6" beam and a 5000lb loaded boat. So again, I'll just probably leave it alone.
 
I would fix them. It may not make a difference in performance but after time it would eat away at me. It's only 7 holes and a few hours of your time.
 
I built my garage years ago and measured wrong. The garage door was a couple of inches off center. Nobody would ever notice it so I left it be. For the next 15 years every time i'd pull into my driveway that's all I would see. Of course trim tab holes are much easier to repair but if your like me evertime i'd look at the back of the boat that's what i'd see. It's a curse.
 
I agree that you should try it out, first. But, you might get lucky and it turns out to be only three holes to fill, if the holes along the Al mounting tab are evenly spaced.
 
I think it's an easy fix to move it. Just epoxy the holes closed. Should take all of 30 minutes.

I guess this reaffirms the old adage, "Measure twice, cut/drill/weld etc once"!

Doug
 
The only concerns would be the holes for the actuator. Can you fill them in the red and make them disappear when you move the actuator over? If some sort of plate could be installed to hide the filled holes then add the same plate to the other side as well. It would bother me more to see filled holes if I was a potential buyer than the offset tab.
 
I was looking closer at the pics to see if you could move both tabs enough to even them out so no holes will show. I see you have the actuator mounts reversed also on the tabs.
 
Are the top shock mounts in a symetrical location or are they off too?
If they are in the same spot you can move the port side tab inboard to match the starboard one. If you had a small stainless strip made that will allow you to redrill the base to reuse the holes in the boat (you'll have to patch the farthest left one) but the new strip reinforces the base you've now redrilled and remount it in the proper spot.

I would fix it though. I think I would fill the holes properly and remount one side. As someone mentioned, it would be good for future owners to have it properly repaired.
 
+1 for fix it. I hate it when things are not symmetrical! I doubt it will cause any performance issues though.
 
floriduramax1 said:
I was looking closer at the pics to see if you could move both tabs enough to even them out so no holes will show. I see you have the actuator mounts reversed also on the tabs.
Click to expand...

The holes are spaced 2" apart and by being off 1", I'm going to have to redrill all 7 holes (including the two top mounts). Also, I called Nauticus about the actuator mounts when i was installing the tabs. They do not supply a left and right mount. They're both the same so to have the transom mounts located in the same place, left and right, you need to reverse the way you mount the actuator to the tab on one side....assuming you mout the tabs correctly in the first place :smt021

Off to West Marine this morning to grab some MarineTex and talk to them about how to patch the two holes that will need to be colored. I stared at it last night and it will drive me crazy so it will be fixed.
 
Did you happen to ask Nauticus about the problem and see what they suggest? I called and spoke to John the owner a couple of times and he was very helpful and charitable with his time.

I personally doubt you'll ever notice it. There are so many other factors such as weight distribution within the boat that affect ride you probably won't notice this one.
 
The Repair has already started. I've got MarineTex curing in the holes now. I added a compatible colorant to the mix to try and color match the two red holes. The MarineTex is white so I ran into issues with being careful not to add too much colorant and screw up the curing process. The color is close but no exact. Also, you cant gel over epoxy so in hindsight, to do it so there would be no trace, you'd have to use fiberglass resin and a filler. I agree with everyone that I doubt there would be any significant performance issues- I just know it would bug me every time I saw or thought about it.
 
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