2003 sante tower on a 98 sport?

[cmd]

i just bought a factory flight control tower from a 03 sante and the owner said it'd fit my 98.i've lifted it on the boat mounting points look fine,but my local dealer barry capps says it won't fit properly.i called a few other dealers and they all say it should fit.my main concern is drilling the boat,putting the tower on and having stress issues with the mounting points down the road.worse comes to worse i'll sell the twr,bimini and racks and keep my eyes peeled for another.forgot to mention i've looked up all the specs of the 03 and my 98 and it seems from the factory measurements of the 2 boats there shouldn't be any problems ,so i'm stumped.any ideas, experience,thoughts would be greatly appreciated.thanks-cody

[Batman]

RE: 2003 sante tower on a 98 sport?

Should fit just fine. Make sure to make some backing plates to go beneath the gunnels. Get some help to set in place, put masking tape where you plan to set tower, mark the holes, check beneath to make sure you are not drilling into wires, etc. , drill pilot hole, then increase bit size till the propper size hole. When drilling the last two size holes, drill them in reverse as this stops spider cracking. Take a much bigger bit and drill backwards slightly to camfer the holes against splitting. Add marine adhesive and put tower in place, bolt down tightening after all bolts have been inserted in place. Should take a couple hours max! Measure twice and drill once! Good Luck!

[Laptom]

RE: 2003 sante tower on a 98 sport?

No problem, should fit! And all Batman's points are gold. Should take 2-3 hours with 2 persons. Make sure their are backing plates (or make them by your own).

[Miljack]

Yep good advice so far. You can use a chamfer bit to get the correct "taper" to keep the gelcoat from cracking. On my factory install, they had the chamfer diameter about twice as big as the bolt hole. So 1/4" bolt, at least 1/2" dia. chamfer.
Backing plates are a great idea, and I would use blue locktight on the tower bolts.
If you need to "persuade" the tower feet, a leather hammer works great.

If you're thinking tower speaks down the road, wire the tower now, also consider adding a running light to the tower, we love ours up there!

Jack

[BHog]

Yeah I dont think it will fit. So sell it to me and I will put it on my 99 super air. JK. You should have no problems.

[cmd]

yep,thats what i thought too.i spent the eve. looking at ALL the photos here of other 98-03 's with towers and am 99% sure it'll fit .course now seeing the newer rides its kinda got me thinking new boat fever....nah. anyways thanks for all the advice and tips,i think my dealer was mainly concerned about the rear legs being smaller on it, since in 03 they changed the gunnel size on those hulls and made the rear mounts considerably smaller.so i think i'm gonna pick it up today and do it myself,especially since the guy i bought it from gave me all the mounting hrdwr(plates ,bolts, etc)i'll post up some pics when done.thanks again-cody...almost forgot bhog does 100 bucks sound fair and a extra 50 for the bimini and racks :mrgreen:

[CradGen2]

CMD - call CC they will confirm. I 99% sure it is going to fit properly.

Barry Capp PDT_047

[Miljack]

I would bet that the tower for the super sport/SAN are different than the versions meant for the DD sports, airs, pro airs. If you look at the Vdrives, the top deck is taller behind the windsheild than the dd versions. Having said that, I don't think that the height difference from the front tower feet to the rear would make that big a difference on your 98 model. Check it without the tower foot pads, measure to make sure you get it squared up on the deck (ND measures from the rub rails and from either the lifting ring or the running light in the front.)

Let me know if you have any questions.

[cmd]

okay so i called cc and they said it'd fit also.apparently all the 2nd generations fct towers were the same until 03,then the only change was the rear mounts being more rectangular instead of the wider and more triangular mounts like i've been seening as i look at the 98-02 boats and their towers.anyways here are a few pics before i take the plunge and drill my pride and joy.i have appox 9 in.between cup holders and frnt mounts(12 in center 2 center).also the rear mounts look further back then others,but cc said should be fine.everything look good to ya'll?

[lectriklar]

All good advise, check for wiring harness before drilling is the only thing I could add

[bkhallpass]

You have that tower too far astern. The front legs should be much closer to the cupholder, and the rear legs should be on
the wide portion of the gunnel. I would highly recommend that you do some measurements on a 2000-2002 Air or Pro Air.
Take you time and get it right the first time. BKH

[cmd]

thanks,thats what i thought too,but barry said it should be back that far against the vents,also if i slide it forward you have to flex the rack pretty good to keep the front mounts from hanging of the sides.should you have to flex them much to keep that from happening?it seems like all the 98-02 air or sports with 2nd gnrtn towers really vary in where they are mounted.i've seen ones where the front legs are within 1 inch of the cup holders,and then some as far back as mine.i'm stumped :???: measure twice...drill once.

[Miljack]

it's too far back (astern). The rear pads should be in front of where the gunnels narrow for the step down. Also, where you have it shown is over the "airbox" and you will have one **** of a time getting in there to tighten down the nuts. I'll see if I can find some pics of my set up. Also if you have to pull the front legs in, that's not a big deal, you could use a come along to persuade the legs in.

[cmd]

thanks for all the advice,i got the location of it nailed down now(ofcourse not literally).its 1.5 inches from the front cup holders which is where the factory installed towers are mounted,and ofcourse the rear legs now are where they should be on the gunnels which is the wider part.had to flex the rack in just a hair to get the legs where they needed to be,but no biggie.glad for all the help,but most of all to be done.i never thought i'd get tired of looking at nautiques..........but hrs and hrs of looking at boats newer than your own gets kinda old.now got new boat fever :???: