Fasteners for cover pulling out of the hull

[danielwjackson]

I have a 2021 Freedom 285 that I optioned with the bow and tonneau covers. I keep my boat on a lift on the Chesapeake Bay, so it can get windy. The tonneau cover has not stood up to the challenge and has ripped in multiple places and now some of the screws that attach the fasteners to the hull are pulling out of the hull. I'm surprised by the relatively low quality of this part of the boat. My dealer has been diligently fixing these issues along the way, but wondering if my problem is unique or have others had the same experience.

 

[Chessie246G]

Not having the same issues,,,,, but what part of the bay are you in?? My boat is in Deale.

 

[danielwjackson]

I'm in North Beach.

 

[glacierbaze]

What kind of fasteners are the screws pulling out of? Can you get to the back side of any of them?

 

[JJF]

In my 50 years of boating (started as a little boy with my brother), it has been my experience that the "studs" very often pull out of fiberglass. Fiberglass is not very good at holding screw threads.

You can try mixing up some MarineTex and buttering the screw with it and then reinserting the screw.

or

You can try replacing the screwed in studs with adhesive studs: https://www.sailrite.com/YKK-SNAD-White-40mm-Adhesive-Backed-Flexible-Base-Stud

 

[glacierbaze]

We are not sure yet that he is talking about snaps, although likely. If I could get to the backside of anything using a screw stud, I would say switch to a machine screw, a washer, and a Nylok nut.

 

[JJF]

Assuming the rear side is accessible, thru-bolting is certainly the best solution.

 

[Hookup1]

When things get loos the wind works them and the fasteners saw their way out. You need to bed the screws and curtain tracks in something. For something like a screw 5200 is ok. Longer things like track use something less adhesive like 4000. Regular silicone just doesn't work for me.

 

[DennisG01]

Just out of curiosity, are you using a pole(s) to "tent" the covers so that they're taut? I've owned a half dozen boats with snap-on bow/cockpit covers, family member have them and I work with boats that have them... so I have experience with, literally, hundreds of them. What you're experiencing is certainly not the norm.

To explain it a different way, a properly fitted (and tented) bow or cockpit cover can withstand thousands and thousands of miles during trailering at 75MPH with no issues.

 

[seasick]

When things get loos the wind works them and the fasteners saw their way out. You need to bed the screws and curtain tracks in something. For something like a screw 5200 is ok. Longer things like track use something less adhesive like 4000. Regular silicone just doesn't work for me.

I don't think I buy your explanation
My first thought was that the factory drilled oversized pilot holes. I wouldn't expect the cover to rip either. I suppose it is possible that the cover material has shrunken and shrunken so much that extremely stong forces were put on the fasteners. That force might explain the fasteners pulling out and could also explain the ripping.
If the fasteners were pulled out, I would expect to see gel coat chipping at the hole, probably more on the taught side.

Is this another example of poor quality control on newer Gradys?

 

[Hookup1]

I don't think I buy your explanation

On my Egg Harbor this was a problem with enclosure track. After a season I would find the track screws loose. Tighten them up and they would get loose again. Put larger screws in and it happens again. Once it gets loose the wind would work the track and enlarge the hole.

It's difficult to put a screw into a undersized fiberglass hole. They snap the screw or strip it. So let's go up a drill size. Also fiberglass is hard with no resiliency making it difficult to hold the screw. A small amount of an adhesive caulk help to keep the screw from moving.

 

[gbgrady208]

This is a really helpful posting....I'm having similar problems with a custom cover with the fasteners screwed into the hardtop round metal bars. Mine is mostly caused by the holes being drilled a bit too big. So far I've been filling them with JB Weld and then re-drilling and installing new snap receivers. I also use large plastic clips in four places to help secure the cover and keep it from billowing and flapping when the winds hit 40-50 MPH at the marina and also found that snap lube helped as it reduced the pressure when removing the cover allowing them to slide off rather than "pull" off with greater force. With all that said, I'm intrigued by the adhesive snaps mentioned in this post - - does anyone know if these will adhere to powder coated metal?

 

[Hookup1]

With all that said, I'm intrigued by the adhesive snaps mentioned in this post - - does anyone know if these will adhere to powder coated metal?

I would use 5200 Fast sparingly on snaps and use a little solvent on a rag to clean up. You want it underneath the snap and screw hole not all around.

For a long piece of track only use a dab of 5200 on the screw holes NOT ON THE WHOLE TRACK! If you want to caulk the track you can use 4000 or plain silicone.

5200 is a great caulk and adhesive but is will lift gelcoat on large flat areas (like a enclosure track.). It's not UV stable and should be used underneath. 4000 is UV stable and a better adhesive than just plain silicone caulk.

 

[glacierbaze]

For securing those snaps in the aluminum hard top frame, I would use a regular snap stud, without the screw on it, and pop rivet it into the frame with an aluminum rivet. Very easy to remove if the need arises.

 

[drbatts]

During a bad storm a few seasons 2 screws were pulled out from my enclosure. I just used a small amount of 4000 to glue them back in. Worked perfectly. The same fix also worked when I had to replace a snap screw that I pulled out when I aggressively pulled on a bow cushion to unsnap it.