2014 rz4 tower paint crack

[jarrod]

Take a look at these pics and tell me your thoughts.........just noticed as i was cleaning last night and the town got caught..........first time out on the water this year. Steering was super tight (most likely cable replacement needed), now this!
Is this just the paint over the fiberglass? Never pulled a tube or hit anything........Everything i've read has been issues at the base of the tower. Any insight here or familiarity is appreciated. i have 100 hrs on the boat, always dry stored in the winter........tige dealer winterized......Will be calling them on Tuesday when they open.

[boardman74]

Tower is powered coated. Powder coat does crack and chip. Have my Harley clutch lever at a coater for just this reason.

Having worked at a dealership I have seen broken Alpha Z's. But I have never seen an undamaged one cracked like that. Considering it is cracked all the way across I would think that indicates bend or at least significant flex at that point. Post a picture of the entire tower with the crack pointed out to give a better perspective to exact location.

[Dandy]

The AlphaZ tower is a cast tower. I believe the coating is powder coating. The good thing about powder coating is it is tougher and more durable than paint, the bad is that when it starts to come off, it will generally flake in sheets. When we had our '13 Z1, I had some flex cracks around the board racks where they were attached to the tower.

I would check with your dealer and see if this may be a warranty issue. When ours was delivered, there was damage to the finish from the tower rubbing against something in transit. Our dealer patched it for us for that season, I don't recall if they actually repaired it properly or not that off season. I was told that the tower would need to be removed, sandblasted and then re-coated...a lot of labor. You may be able to find a good shop that could sand this off, fill it and then paint the tower (on the boat).

Good Luck

[chpthril]

Where is that exactly? A chip or similar will typically originate are a joint, seam, bolt/lever hole etc. A random crack on the PC almost has to indicate a flexing like boardman suggest.

[jarrod]

after further investigation, the tower is cracked. This is right behind the lense of the light on the drivers side of the boat.......tower is cracked a few cm, then the powdercoat has a further crack as seen above........we typically surf opposite side. don't understand why this would happen. Anyone know the warranty situation......bought this boat a year ago from Eagle Marine with 40 hrs on the boat........They've been good to work with......They put another set of 8's on the tower last year, and then i had the speedo replaced (wheel damaged end of summer) as well as all fluids/winterization........I've read on Tige the original owner gets the benefit, i'd hope since i bought from the dealer with the low hrs i'd get some consideration. I'll try to post a better picture

[Surf406]

hopefully they will take care of it but a used boat is generaly "as is" to purchaser guess we will find out soon enough.

[boardman74]

As to factory warranty you have none. Original owner with the engine being transferable. The lifetime hull is also transferable into a 10 year for the second owner.

Ufortunately neither of those cover the tower. Anything you get is going to be at the "goodwill" of your dealer. I have never heard of an Alpha Z "just cracking". I have only in person seen one broken and that was total damage. Did you store your boat somewhere? Think about where it could have happened possibly. I'd be looking for an impact point at the front or rear of the tower in that area.

[jarrod]

Dry stored, no impact....it's a small crack right behind the lense...swivel rack, tower 10, or Bimini would be damaged first...granted that is around the bend of the tower....could flex from pulling cause this?

[jarrod]

Trust me when I say we wipe this thing after every use....inside and out

[boardman74]

I have never seen or heard of an Alpha cracking like you describe from normal use. Only impact. Also seen cracked at the bases from people using it as a swing.

It is possible to weld cast, so I would start looking for a good local welder. I figured if you could find an impact point you might file insurance. Replacing these towers is expensive, as in make your eyes bleed expensive. Your not gonna want to do that out of pocket. If I recall correctly it was like $8K with labor.

[jarrod]

I'll get a better picture today....98% of that line in the photo is paint,and highlighted due to flash....I just can't believe it.....I've never even seen damage to a tower....they winterized it, and I didn't walk around it....please look at the photo tomorrow and let me know if u think this is impact

[jarrod]

I'll get a better picture today....98% of that line in the photo is paint,and highlighted due to flash....I just can't believe it.....I've never even seen damage to a tower....they winterized it, and I didn't walk around it....please look at the photo tomorrow and let me know if u think this is impact

[jarrod]

my apologies for this being upside down........i'm on a mac, and i fail to see how I flip these through the forum. See the spot i'm talking. no cracked lense.......a penny's width is cracked, the rest is paint. Too high for a board.....i always leave the bimini up, no damage. could this be a weak point?

[TeamAllen]

I'll use my Mac to correct, at least the two that I can tell which way is up.

[Bakes5]

Any way you could have lifted it too high and bent the tower on a support? That's my first thought looking at your setup