John H wrote:
On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:04:29 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 08:43:17 -0500, John H
wrote:

The bimini top on my Key West uses a mounting like this"

http://tinyurl.com/9ozwsy

This bracket allows the frame member mounted therein to rotate from front
to back without placing undue stress on the mounting screws. Note, I said
screws, not through bolts.

However when underway, even slowly, or just at anchor with a small amount
of ripple in the water, the bimini top sways from side to side. The side to
side motion gets transmitted directly to the screws in the brackets, and
causes them to loosen. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they
strip or worse.

I'm wondering if there aren't some fittings made that would have a ball
socket or some such to allow complete forward and back movement *and* some
degree of lateral movement.

Anyone know of such a thing? Help!
The only way you are going to stop it is to make the stainless tubing
fairly rigid - it's not so much the movement in the mount as it is the
length of the tubing that is causing your problem. And the only way
to stop that is to use heavier wall tubing - it's the wall flex that's
the problem, not the mount. Cheap T-tops have the same problem - not
enough wall strength in the tubes to make it rigid so they cross brace
the hell out of them. Even in custom made, heavy T-tops like mine
move without cross bracing.

This T-top is very similar to mine - mine is a little taller, made
from thicker tubing and is a slightly different design, but the point
is that it's cross braced to keep the sway down.

http://www.rangerboats.com/flash/gal...id=5511&gid=38

This is mine.

http://www.swsports.org/images/Pictu...g%20Boat02.jpg

With your current setup, the only way to make it stop is to cross
brace the tubing with some sort of cording - maybe bungee cord or
similar.

What I would do is brace the cornors of the top where the tubing
bends. You might be able to do it with bungee cord, but that defeats
the purpose - it would cut down on the sway though.

What I'm hoping to find is a mounting bracket which allows the side to side
motion without transmitting any stress. Actually, if the mounting bracket
that is there ( http://tinyurl.com/9ozwsy ) were turned 90 degrees, the
bimini could sway all it wanted with no stress on the screws. The only
problem then is that I'd have to disconnect it whenever I wanted to stow
it.

Tom has the right idea. We need to see your setup to determine how to
place the braces.