Richard Casady wrote:
On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:52:30 -0500, HK wrote:

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.

--

"An idealist is one who, on noticing that
a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes
that it will also make better soup."

H.L. Mencken

Buy a better top with heavier tubes and connectors.

I would take that advice myself, but this is Iowa, and good dealers
are scarce, to say the least. Aluminum boats last forever in fresh
water, and mine was built in 79. Good luck finding anything made
specifically for it. Custom made mail order is about it. Maybe I will
take it down the Mississippi and search the ICW for marine canvas
shops.

Casady



Well, the tubes and mounting hardware on my Parker's bimini are heavy
duty stainess steel. In fact, the mounting bracket is a heavy duty slide
through-bolted to the gunnel tops. One on each side. The only other
attachments are for the straps. If it sways, the sway is imperceptible.

Looks like this:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...s/IMG_0416.jpg


It's the factory bimini. I suspect some boat manufacturers spec tops
more suitable for boats that'll be run on small inland lakes.