Your snap preference

2

280 SeaRay

New Member
Oct 10, 2006
656
Folsom, California
Boat Info
280DA
Engines
4.3 MPI
Do you prefer nickel plated brass or stainless? Why? Does anyone know off the top of their head if the Great Lakes snaps are nickel plated brass or stainless. I ask before I sand one down :)
 
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No opinion. That's too far into the minutiae for me.

Moved up from the Dodge / Cummins to the GMC / Duramax? How do you like it? I was impressed with my friends. Handled his 38 footer without problems and plenty of spare power, even on hills and at speed.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Stainless/stainless pop rivits or stainless screws.....but I'm in a very heavy salt enviornment. Reason: no corrosion at all and my boat is a '96. Becareful with snaps on your aluminum windshield frame, nickel plated brass might be better in contact with the aluminum.
 
i really liked the snaps on my crownline. they had little "C's" embossed in them! :lol:

"Small things amuse small minds."
 
duh..does it matter? WAY too much minuate for me. does this really deserve a response?
 
fc3 said:
Moved up from the Dodge / Cummins to the GMC / Duramax? How do you like it? I was impressed with my friends. Handled his 38 footer without problems and plenty of spare power, even on hills and at speed.
Click to expand...

Yessir... made the switch after comparing the 3 diesel offerings for about 2.5 months. I was pretty sure I was going to get a new Dodge/Cummins but after several full day test drives and parking them side by side and going through my checklist the GMC won. The contest was really only between the Dodge and GMC. The Navistar diesel in the Ford just has too many reported problems that I did not care to deal with. The Cummins and Duramax are proven engines IMO. My decision came down to a couple of things: Transmission, Interior, Warranty, Emissions.

The DMAX truck is coupled with the 6 speed Allison (1000) a transmission well proven in the medium duty segment. The Dodge is coupled with a brand new Chrysler transmission 68RE which may or may not be a good unit... too new to tell. The 47RE in my previous Dodge was not the strongest on the planet.

The interior in the Dodge looked really dated and cheap when I compared with the newly redesigned interiors on the GM product. Mega cab is really large but the huge frame below the rear seats and sacrifice of bed space was not worth the extra room in the cab.

Dodge 3yr/36K GMC 5yr/100k in the warranty department

With the 2007.5 and 2008 diesel trucks you now have cleaner burning trucks equipped with DPF. While cruising the message boards of the respective truck owners I noticed that the Dodge guys were having to go to the dealership for ECM reflashes to get regeneration of the DPF right and the GM guys were not saying the same thing. I am a fan of the new emission systems.... no smoke whatsoever... no soot on the inside of the end of the tailpipe... and no diesel exhaust smell.

365HP and 660lb ft of torque really get the job done. The GMC is an outstanding tow vehicle and I have really enjoyed the truck... by far the best I have owned to date. To tie this to boating (sorry guys) I pull my boat with this truck :)






fwebster said:
Stainless/stainless pop rivits or stainless screws.....but I'm in a very heavy salt enviornment. Reason: no corrosion at all and my boat is a '96. Becareful with snaps on your aluminum windshield frame, nickel plated brass might be better in contact with the aluminum.
Click to expand...

Thanks Frank.... I should have added additional detail. While cleaning up the arch today in preparation for polish and wax I notice dirt/dust was getting under the snap base... unfortunately it appears as though the snaps (which are screwed in) where not put in with any sealant thus allowing dirt (and I fear water) into the screw hole. I also noticed there were 2 different snap sizes (part affixed to the arch on 4 of the snaps is taller) used but not in any particular order (port vs starboard) so I was going to take this opportunity to just replace the snaps with good qaulity replacements (all the same type/height) and some 3M 4000UV when I screw them in.

I have a feeling that the female portion of the snap (affixed to the canvas, Great Lakes Boat Top branded) are plated brass. Any issues you see with a stainless male portion of the snap and plated brass female portion? Primarily fresh water, Canvas removed and washed often with snap lubricant used upon reassembly.

Todd, Aaron thanks for the feedback it sounds like stainless is the way to go. I appreciate your responses.
 
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Jeremy,

No issues between the snaps. As you know I've had several new tops on my boat and we always use stainless snaps. There are still a number of original plated studs (male snaps) on the boat thaat haven't been changed yet that mate to the stainless and we see no signs of corrosion. In your case, my concern is the less noble windshield frame.
 
Boxers or Briefs?
Radar arch sweeping forward or back?
Tomatoe or To-Mah-toe?
 
fwebster said:
Jeremy,

No issues between the snaps. As you know I've had several new tops on my boat and we always use stainless snaps. There are still a number of original plated studs (male snaps) on the boat thaat haven't been changed yet that mate to the stainless and we see no signs of corrosion. In your case, my concern is the less noble windshield frame.
Click to expand...

Thanks Frank.... Yes sir I may be sticking with plated on the windshield but for now I am not messing with these :) New stainless snaps are going back into the arch.
 
While cleaning up the arch today in preparation for polish and wax I notice dirt/dust was getting under the snap base...
Click to expand...

Jeremy,

I think this is a hoax! I will never believe that there was any dirt/dust on your boat!!! As a former searayowners.com member, and disciple of your wash/polish/wax routine (less the bunny slippers), I doubt you had any of the aforementioned debris on your boat.

Ok, seriously now. Stainless steel would be my vote as well.

Dale
 
Dale... that was funny. :) Unfortunately with the larger boat I do store the boat outside uncovered :-(. We live in a part of the country where we receive little to no rain April - November thus the dust and "fallout" challenge even the weekly washer such as myself. I have also noticed a need for increased wax application throughout the year (with the boat stored outside) likely due to a good number of days 105+ and a UV index that rivals Florida (according to the US EPA).

334315645_EnChu-XL.jpg


Thanks everyone for the votes for stainless. I was sure stainless was the correct answer (isn't it most of the time) but I was not sure thus I tapped the braintrust (that is you folks) on the shoulder. I received a good sized shipment of all the snaps stuff in stainless today :)
 
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