Alpha Z Tower Crack (2013 Z3)

[arohyans]

Hi all -

First time Tige owner here! We bought a 2013 Z3 used with 210 hours on it from our local dealer a few weeks ago and have been enjoying the lake ever since! I'm really excited for the family time headed our way with this new boat

That said, I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about the Alpha Z tower that came with our boat. I've searched the forums and noticed that there are a number of folks complaining of their tower bases cracking and it seems to be due to some defect that Tige has since corrected with new screw-in quick releases and bushings? Or, am I wrong?

Long story short, my tower has screw in quick release pins, so I think it has "the fix." While boating the other day, I noticed the big flathead bolt/pin at the hinge point of the tower starting to back out. I put a small dab of threadlocker on them and it seems to have fixed the issue. During my endeavor, I noticed a (very) small crack forming at the front of the tower... no longer than 1cm in length. Is this normal? Should I be concerned? Is there something I should avoid doing, or make sure to do in order for this to not progress? My boat is garage-kept, but I need to lower the tower to clear it so leaving the tower up all the time won't be an option for me.

IMG_6880.jpgIMG_6879.jpg

Any thoughts from the owners here to squelch my worries? (or put me in a further panic!) Am I overreacting?

PS... we only use the tower for surfing and wakeboarding... no tubing or slaloming.

Aaron

[JohnnieMo]

Frosty Power has the exact same issue on his 2013 Z1, but his crack is much bigger. Get it addressed now before it gets worse.

That being said, I think it is safe to use. Try to avoid big stresses like pulling a tube or a gorilla with it.

[chpthril]

Back off the bolts a 1/4 turn.

[ericinmich]

I have an alpha Z on an '09, no cracks but wanted to give my opinion on this design.

The engineer in my is not a big fan of the design. The base is about a foot long, a few inches wide, and it has to provide all the support both for any pulling on the tower, but what IMO is a bigger stress, supporting the speakers and tower as the boat moves up and down hitting (pounding) waves. It would interesting to calculate the loads, say maybe 200lbs up there about 4 ft from the base, and hitting wakes hard causing the mass to change direction in a fraction of a second. It sure looks a lot better than the older towers with a support going forward, but as any bridge designer knows, make big triangles!

That said, I (and I have taught my kids) to drive very conservatively in waves, never "pounding" the hull from wake or waves. This is much different than I drove my parents 17' Sea Ray with a V8 when I was a kid! I use to get that boat out of the water as much as possible!

Sorry about a massive derail...

[JTs-rz2]

Back off the bolts a 1/4 turn.

X2. You need snug not cranked on when securing the tower.

Looks like a small powder coat crack. I would seal it with any clear coat or silicone. If water eventually gets behind the powder coat it could delaminate further.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

[arohyans]

From what I'm reading, the way to address this is with a spot weld? (yet some say this doesn't work on aluminum) Is that correct? Or is there a better way to address the issue? Thanks for the tip on Frosty Power - I'll check out his thread.

[arohyans]

X2. You need snug not cranked on when securing the tower.

Looks like a small powder coat crack. I would seal it with any clear coat or silicone. If water eventually gets behind the powder coat it could delaminate further.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Should the release handle/bolts be snug at all? I usually don't snug these down very tight ... just 1 finger tighten. Wondering if maybe the previous owner wrenched them down?

[JohnnieMo]

From what I'm reading, the way to address this is with a spot weld? (yet some say this doesn't work on aluminum) Is that correct? Or is there a better way to address the issue? Thanks for the tip on Frosty Power - I'll check out his thread.

What he told me was the dealer was going to fix it, but it could wait until the off-season. Since the crack is at the back, it shouldn't have anything to do with towing related stress. Having the bolts too tight is actually a more reasonable explanation. Now I'm going to go loosen mine!

[chpthril]

Should the release handle/bolts be snug at all? I usually don't snug these down very tight ... just 1 finger tighten. Wondering if maybe the previous owner wrenched them down?

I have no proof or scientific data, but my gut says that that bolt forces the corner of the tower to flex out if over tightened. The location of the cracks seem to support this. I would not want it tight at all, just seated.

[Z1owner]

Since the crack is at the back, it shouldn't have anything to do with towing related stress.

If I'm not mistaken, the crack is on the FRONT of the tower and would see significant towing related stress. The hinge point is on the back so the tower folds backwards. The hinge (rear) point would see compression forces and this front point would see tension forces as it tries to keep the tower from folding backwards during towing. Seems to me that the tow force would try to open up the crack and make it bigger.

[Frosty_Power]

Frosty Power has the exact same issue on his 2013 Z1, but his crack is much bigger. Get it addressed now before it gets worse.

That being said, I think it is safe to use. Try to avoid big stresses like pulling a tube or a gorilla with it.

Here's mine! I was told from my dealer that there is no issues for me to use it like this and crack should not get worse. Put on over 20 hours since and has not gotten worse. My dealer is gonna replace in the off season.

IMG_20170617_1834199.jpg

[Frosty_Power]

arohyans...is your tower a black metal flake color? Looks that way from the pics, I've only seen flat black towers. Tower looks good from the pics.

[arohyans]

Yes it is! Good eye. The previous owner had just about every upgrade done to it, including metal flake on the tower. It looks sweet... assuming it remains structurally intact

[JohnnieMo]

If I'm not mistaken, the crack is on the FRONT of the tower and would see significant towing related stress. The hinge point is on the back so the tower folds backwards. The hinge (rear) point would see compression forces and this front point would see tension forces as it tries to keep the tower from folding backwards during towing. Seems to me that the tow force would try to open up the crack and make it bigger.

You are so right. Forget what I said.

[arohyans]

Spoke to the dealer today. Not looking good as far as getting any help from them or Tige (i.e. I suggested maybe splitting the effort with them by them helping to remove the tower bases free of charge so I could go get them TIG welded/re-powdered). They're basically washing their hands of the issue saying "that's the risk you take when buying a pre-owned boat." Agreed... but that's part of the reason we purchase from a dealer, right? To have some level of protection against this? And if issues like this arise, perhaps the dealer will show some good faith in the hopes that they'll have a repeat customer (both in service visits and future purchases).

So, needless to say, I had the wind knocked out of my sails a bit. Even though it's a very small crack at the moment, I fear that it will lead to something bigger as time goes on if not addressed now. Part of the reason we bought the boat was because the dealer swore up and down that it was in pristine condition with no issues. They didn't budge $1 on their price due to this rationale. I guess I should count my blessings that the rest of the boat is in top-notch shape (already had another marina go through the PCM engine/v-drive to confirm).

Last question for you guys... I'm going to go get some quotes come winter time for the TIG welding and re-powder. Any idea what ballpark $-wise this is going to fall in?

Thanks for all the help here!