Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by wlagarde on 09/02/15 - 8:51 PM

I decided to re-chrome (or replace; haven't decided which yet) my side rail stanchions, tee fittings, and bases (the chrome is somewhat pitted on the original pieces) so I removed and disassembled them. I have discovered that the main rail tubes are 1 piece and the tee fittings won't slide around the bends (looks like whaler slid the t-fittings in place and then bent the tubes.

To get them off it looks like I will need to cut the main tubes in half (unless there is a trick I am missing here). If I took this approach the cuts would be located within the center of the tee fittings so they are hidden. Since there is a stanchion located at each vertical railing member the railings should still be rigid but I am concerned that they might lose too much strength by doing this.

Has anyone done this? Is there another trick I am missing? Has anyone purchased the Specialty Marine side rails - are they one piece or two?

Thanks in advance for the groups help.

Bill

Edited by wlagarde on 09/02/15 - 9:15 PM

Posted by Finnegan on 09/02/15 - 9:18 PM

The probelm of having to replace the tee fittings is farily common, since in most cases Whaler used chrome plated Zamac fitting, much to my surprise. Accordingly, much has been written about the solution, which involves cutting the rail as you describe, at exactly the center of the where the tee goes.
The fix involves inserting a "hot dog" piece of rail material inside the the original rails, after, of course, the new fitting is slid on. You can do a site search for "hot dog" for additional info and other ways to accomplish this repair.

I fixed the non-factory side rails on my Outrage 19 this way, an in my case I used about a 15" length of 3/4" O.D aluminum rail ( I could not readily source 3/4" SS rail tubing), glued in place with Gorilla glue. After 6 years, they are still rock solid. I strongly recommend you use the newer allen compression screw type fittings, which do not require any holdes drilled into the rails, often the cause of the stripped out rail fitting failures. I find these newer type of fittings NEVER rattle or come loose and are far superior to the type Whaler originally used. The entire bow rail on my Ribside 21 is done with these tee fittings, and the rail has been rock solid, no rattles or loosening, for 11 years now.

Posted by wlagarde on 09/03/15 - 1:29 PM

Finnegan - I have decided to replace the old fittings with new 316 stainless ones and I plan to use the newer style tee as you recommend. How do you weigh in on the best way to cut the tubing? - high quality pipe cutter?

Posted by Tom Hemphill on 09/03/15 - 3:22 PM

wlagarde wrote:
Finnegan - I have decided to replace the old fittings with new 316 stainless ones and I plan to use the newer style tee as you recommend. How do you weigh in on the best way to cut the tubing? - high quality pipe cutter?

My high quality (RIDGID brand) tubing cutter worked fine for that task when I did it.

Posted by gchuba on 09/03/15 - 5:44 PM

For cutting, a band saw works best and I also have used a cutting blade on a 4 1/2" angle grinder (some clean up work). I have not used my rigid pipe cutter. With other pipe uses it left a compressed inner circle from cutting. Might be hard to fit in a "hot dog". I also use 7/8" 316 stainless rail as a "hot dog" for my 1" rail.
Garris

Posted by wlagarde on 09/03/15 - 6:59 PM

Thanks to everyone for the ideas. I used a pipe cutter to score the rail and then I used a hack saw to cut. After that I cleaned up the edge with an angle grinder. Worked perfect and the result is very clean. Parts are ordered 2-day shipping so I should have them tomorrow and will assemble this weekend. Still need to source the "hot dogs".