2004 226 Air Tower Failure - Replacement Options?

My tower on my 226 Air Teamedition failed due to installation stress (top of tower too wide and outward pressure caused footing to fail). We have tried to repair but every time the footing is heated, it fails at another stress point. So I am looking for a new tower to fit a 2004 226.

I have worked with customer service at Correct Craft. They are nice but so far have offered no meaningful solutions. They have told me the tower manufacturer is defunct, to weld using a certified welder 9done, no luck) and it's not covered by warranty.

So I am asking this forum for help identify a replacement tower. Here are my questions:


Is there a tower still in production or in spare parts somewhere that will fit a 2004 226 Team Edition Air Nautique?

Thanks!
Les

So did it fail while in warranty? It sounds like you have been dealing with this for a while.


Please post up pictures. I'm really interested in seeing them.

Thanks for all the replies. The top picture is the second failure which occurred Friday immediately after the repair. The bottom picture is the original failure on June 2, 2010. The tower hasn't really been used since 2006, but the boat has been regularly used. The crack appeared after cruising Memorial Day, not while wakeboarding.

In my opinion it was clearly an installation/manufacturing issue (installed under stress). No body has wakeboarded behind the boat since 2006, when my daughter hurt her knee. As you can see from the pictures, this is not the type of thing that should fail.

I purchased the boat because of Correct Craft's great customer service reputation. So far they have not been able to help me. I have an outstanding "parts" request for a replacements tower. My expetctation is that they do not have any "replacement towers" in spare parts becausae towers are not supposed to wear out.

My dealer sold out and now Correct Cracft recently cancelled the acquirer's dealership, so I am left hanging.

Any help from this group would be deeply appreciated.

wow, that sucks! Could be that the manufacturer got a bad batch of metal, but no way to tell unless you send it in for metallurgy analysis. F&F has a great idea and a local metal shop should be able to weld a gusset in to reinforce that area. That would be your best and cheapest fix. Another option would be to go to an aftermarket tower but you will end up paying at least around $1000 for a good one. Correct Craft now uses Diamondback Towers but they will not sell direct, you will have to go through a dealer, but their towers are bulletproof. They are in Cocoa, FL. My advice is to have your current tower gusseted. Make sure they take measurements before welding as once they start, the heat will pull the feet out of alignment if they aren't properly bracing.

I don't know that I agree with the failure cause being installation under stress. It is certainly impossible to tell without a real hands on analysis but it would take a fair amount of preloading to have any real effect and the leg would pop out like a son of a gun after the break occured. Hazarding a guess I would be looking at the material and the welding operation, the break looks like it might be following the line of the heat affected zone from the weld.

If I was going to take it off and repair it again I would be looking at an sleeve to back up the weld area.

On the top pick which was the break after the repair I agree with Chris, I would not have went after that repair with a grinder so heavily.

Les:

I have driven to SW North Carolina, Eastern Maryland and Eastern North Carolina for specific CC Dealer work......... (I am in SW Virginia).

If you take it on yourself, it is all on you. If a dealer handles it, it is all on him/her. I wouldn't do it on a tower that is no longer made on a boat that costs that much. (The boat's value will drop with the added expense of an aftermarket tower). Maybe I've got no guts.... but that's the direction I would encourage.    

If you are talking about an external sleeve welded on, I agree not a good idea. I would turn a sleeve same od as the id of the existing pipe and run it internally, I would weld it in at the base but thats it. The external pipe would still be a butt weld repair. If it were for me I would also taper the internal wall of the sleeve to minimize the stress concentration where it ended... but as it would end far away from the heat affected zone it would be better than the current scenario. I am not saying a gusset couldn't work but one poorly applied would be more likely to cause a failure than prevent one. The ends of many towers are designed so they slide into the tube far enough to support the joint beyond the heat affected zone precisely to avoid this kind of failure.


The moral of the story is the same, a prudent repair would not have been putting it back the same as it was and expecting a different result. And yes with the proper tools and knowledge about an hour... plus time to remove, repaint, and reinstall..

Thanks, very helpful.

I just heard from CC that a dealer is being announced soon. I plan to wait and let the new dealer repair the tower.

Thanks to all, you were all very helpful.
Les

All the dealer will do is pay a fab shop to fix it and tack a few hundred on your bill for good measure.On top of that they will offer you no warranty.
A good metal shop will have enough faith in there work to back it up so I would search for a reputable fabricator.Keep in mind a lot of good metal guys work at car and streetrod shops if you know anyone like that.

form&function wrote: All the dealer will do is pay a fab shop to fix it and tack a few hundred on your bill for good measure. On top of that they will offer you no warranty............

You guys must have crappy dealers as that has not been my experience with out-sourced work from my dealer(s). White Lake (NC) and Chessie Marine (Md) have been great standing behind repairs they co-ordinated........ I bet Reid (at Race City Marine) would also do you right!!!

Steve

Glad to hear it....... and glad to have our faith in Correct Craft and the network of dealers reinforced!

Whoo Hoo Nautiques!

I am very happy to hear this!

So, did you ask why they gave you resistance at first about this being a warranty item?

It's easy for a company to say "no, the warranty does not cover that", but it sure makes them look bad when these issues get out to the public;)