Replacing bimini that fits the metcraft tower w/ standard one?

[walkers2rad]

I have a 02 21v with the metcraft tower and have found the origional bimini that fits around it to be very complicated to put up, somewhat ugly and nearly useless. You cannot trailer with it up and I doubt that it will even stay up on the water! I have to replace it with something as the Arizona sun will cook everyone in the boat. Has anyone replaced it with a standard one that will fit under the tower and what is the biggest that I can get away with? It would also be helpfull if anyone has suggestions as to good mounting points, place to get the best price etc. Maybe some pictures of what you have done.
Thanks, Ray

[billspin]

I have a Tower Biminis top on ours. Here is their site. http://www.towerbiminis.com And a picture of our boat. I bought this because they have a black frame which worked well with the look and the black tower. There are no straps involved. I have not trailered with this up so I do not know what it will do. It does fit under the tower and just recently put a couple of Evid 6.2's on the tower and with a little diferent approach to folding and opening I am able to use it. If you have any additional questions feel free to contact me.

[billspin]

here is the picture.

[scootc]

Hi Ray,
I see you're in Tucson too!
I have the original bimini ('01 23V), but have worked out way to assemble the thing so it doesn't take too long. I also had a local shop build a matching bimini that zips onto the back of the original. With this set up the entire cockpit is pretty much covered. Let me know if you're interested in keeping what you have and I'll send some photos with more explanation.
Scott

[RZMike]

Hey Scott,

I would be interested in seeing what you've done. I have a 01 23V as well. Like Ray, I hate the factory metcraft bimini. I've been trying to figure out a way to make it more simple to put up, but haven't come up with anything practical.


Ray,

What do you mean by "You cannot trailer with it up "? As bad as it is, I still trailer with mine in the storage position and haven't had any problems.

I also haven't had any problems with it up and open on the water. I purposely ran the boat wide open early one morning just to see if the thing would come apart.:cool:

[smendez]

Ray:

We have a Metcraft tower, but the bimini we have does not quite look like the one BillSpin is showing above.

Additionally, I have none of the troubles you mention with yours.

I'm not sure where our dealer went to get ours, but could find out if you'd like.

Saulo

[walkers2rad]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the input so far, some good ideas out there! After looking at some of the pictures maybe I was putting mine up not quite right, does anybody have a picture of what one of these look like from the front? Mine had like a 45 degree spoiler looking front to it that was really blocking the air. To clairify what I meant that you cant trailer with it up I meant deployed, at least the way I had it up. It is a hundred miles or more to a lake of any size.
Interesting idea on the extension, pictures would be great or maybe we should get together! Show me how to put this thing up right before I condem it!
What I was initially thinking was to get a four bow that would fit under the tower speakers and when in the boot I could tie it to the pylon or the tower for travel. I saw a 02 21v in boat trader with a picture of one laid down by the pylon.
Keep the ideas coming!
Ray

[smendez]

Ray:

If you have bimini top like the one I have shown in the previous picture, and your tower also has speakers and / or lights, you will likely need to drill & tap a couple of holes in the tower, about 4-6" lower than the pre-drilled holes used to attach the bimini to the tower. This will allow the bimini to easily slide under the speakers and lights as you put it up and down. Our dealer did this for us in about 20 minutes.

The pro's - Our bimini goes up and down without a hitch. Using the original holes, we would have to unhook it from the tower, extend it, and then attach it back on. The same thing to put it down.

The con's - The bimini sits lower, giving you less headroom.

I have a couple of pictures in the members gallery that may be on interest to you. Try this link. (http://www.tigeowners.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=164&password=&sort=1&size=medium&cat=500&page=)

Again, it seems to me that the bimini that Billspin has is not the same as the one I have, and we both have metcraft towers, so please don't go taking my advise until you find out what it is that you have.

And one more thing - I would never tow my boat 100 miles with the bimini extended. I don't think it was designed to take a 70mph headwind, in addition to the turbulence created by the towing vehicle. Heck - I'm lucky to get my boat to 45mph in the water.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Saulo

[billspin]

There are a couple of additional pictures at my gallery pictures (http://www.tigeowners.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=192&password=0&sort=1&cat=500&page=1)
Mine is an after market bimini that tower biminis company custom makes. I also do not travel with my bimini deployed. I have run down the lake with it deployed and it does very well. We trailer to every lake and what we do is roll it up and it ties just under the tower. I have a little more than 6 feet head room under the bimini when opened. I did not use existing Metcraft mounting locations. The bimini comes with it's own clamp mounts and are very solid. If there any other specific information about this bimini please let me know.

[walkers2rad]

Hey,
If I attached this right this pic shows the style of my bimini, (this is not my boat). As you might see it actually wraps around the tower legs which is part of what makes it so hard to deloy and put up, and the big angled flat front is kind of unsightly in my opinion.
The wrap around the legs is velcro and my top must have shrunk because the back part does not have enough velcro area to stay up.
I like the ones that dont have any straps but I wonder how big you could go with something like that?
Ray

[Matt Garcia]

walkers2rad, that image is small. If you are having a problem resizing or posting it, send it my way and I will attach it for you.

[walkers2rad]

Sorry for the tiny picture,
I think this is as big as it gets, found it online, www.boattrader.com[/url] search 02 Tige.
Ray

[walkers2rad]

This is where I got the idea about a standard one that lays across the back when traveling. My thinking is that it would be less drag when towing laying like this unstead of tied up on the tower. Although it would be handy to tie it up in the tower out of the way on the rare days where it would not be needed.
Ray

[walkers2rad]

You would think that I would learn, here is a bigger picture.
Ray

[smendez]

Ray:

That bimini is sure not anything like mine. The two are completely different. However, I know I had seen one like that somewhere, so I searched, and I found the following thread (http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113&highlight=bimini). See if you can email those folks. They may be able to help you!

[scootc]

Ray,

Here's the way I put mine up:

1.With the boot/cover still on, lay the top on the front tower braces with the long bimin legs extending back to the mounts on the tower.
2. Attach the long bimini legs to the tower (thumb screws).
3. Attach the short bimini legs to the front tower braces (pins).
4. Take off the boot, grab the rear bimini bow and pull it toward the rear of the boat. Attach to the rear tower mounts (thumb screws). The bimini should be stretched out now.
5. Make sure the flip up bow (front part of bimini) is pointing toward the front of the boat.
6. Wrap the velcro sides around the bimini legs. Attach the flap to the rear portion of the bimini (you'll see what I mean).
7. Attach the rear straps to the loops on the tower.

I've gotten this procedure down to just a few minutes. Granted, it's not as easy as some of the others I've had. The Metcraft bimini is totally over-engineered in my opinion. But, I'd rather buy toys than find a replacement.

As I mentioned before, I had a local shop put a zipper on the back of this bimini, and they custom made an additional bimini that extends to the sundeck. With the two zipped together, it looks great and we have lots o' shade
:cool: . We have two little ones, so this was important. I can give you the name of the shop if you're interested.
What part of Tucson do you live in?
Scott

[Matt Garcia]

Scott, do you have a picture of your bimini? I agree that it takes time and is kind of a pain but it is definetly a life saver in the summer.

I sometimes leave my bimini up for long periods of time so I dont have to spend the time taking it down and putting it back up.

[walkers2rad]

Scott,
Thanks for the procedure, that took some time to think thru and write up so even I could understand it! Only thing is that I have to figure out how to stow it properly as well.
As Matt said it would be great if you have some pictures, I am not sure how you are suporting the extension. The name of the shop that did that for you would be great!
I am between the two southernmost peaks of the tucson mountains looking down on toward the airport.
We should coordiante a trip this summer I have my calender roughly planned out allready!
Ray

[Tige22ityper]

Walkers,

Does the 2002 21V have the same beam as the 2002 22i? I may be interested in your bimini if our beams are the same and the color of the bimini is decent.
I know the beam on my 22i is 102". If you bimini is black or blue, I would like to take it off your hands.
Thanks!

[walkers2rad]

22ir,
I believe the beams are the same, somebody will probably jump in and correct me if not. Of course you have to have the exact same tower that I have.
The color is black and it has a zip up cover. It is not in perfect shape, I would call it a 6 out of ten. It has at least one small rubbed thru hole in the sunbrella, on a corner. The back hoop has some scratches where it has aparantly come undone and rubbed on the tower mount. Will try to get you some pictures if you want.
I have not decided yet if I want to keep it, but I will let you have first crack at it for $100 plus shipping if I do decide not to use it..
Let me know.

This is what my tower looks like...

[talltigeguy]

I wish I had seen this thread sooner, I could have helped. I used to have the exact same tower setup you do. SCOOTC has done an eloquent job of describing how to put up the bimini. I agree, it takes a PhD in Biminology to get her figured out. Once you see how it works, it's not too bad. You should have seen how long it took me the first time!

I used to trailer mine by attaching the bimini to the front crossbar (my cover had 2 straps that were designed for this purpose) and then adjusting the leg lengths to attach to the pin mounts that are on the front of the tower. The fit is not perfect, but I never had the pin attachments break or anything. I did it this way for about two years. I couldn't find any pics, I'll look some more.

[scootc]

I do the same when trailering short distances. I don't leave it for the long hauls mainly because I don't like to clean the bug guts off the boot.
I'll try to post some pics, or take some new ones the next time I pull the boat out.