Bow Pulpit/Forestay MAIN RIGGING BOLT FAILURE

[soling42]

ATTENTION ALL Hunter 26 and H260 owners(among others where rigging is threaded into factory embedded plates).

IMMEDIATELY CHECK THE MAIN BOLT HOLDING DOWN THE BOW PULPIT/FORESTAY FOR IMMINENT FAILURE.

While removing the bow pulpits main bolt on our 2004 H260 I discovered that the main 3/8" stainless bolt had corroded where it was tapped/threaded into it's embedded aluminum plate and was supporting absolutely nothing. The only thing actually holding the bolt in place was a bit of 3m 5200 adhesive from the factory. This leaves the entire rig and sails supported at the bow by only two small 1/4" Phillips head screws remaining in the bow fitting. Once the main bolt broke free from the caulking I was able to remove it with two fingers pulling it straight out!

I immediately replaced mine with a through bolt(a very simple project) and was relieved that we didn't have a catastrophic rig failure. Just passing my good luck on to you........do with it as you wish. This should probably become a factory safety recall for every design like it in my opinion. The fix is about $4 and 30mins.

Michael and Kelli

 

[kenkindy1]

Wow. Do you have any pictures? I have a 240 and don't recall any sizable bolts in that area holding the bits together.

 

[Charisma]

Great catch, you sure were lucky. i will check mine out this weekend. Thanks Chris

 

[soling42]

I'll post pics tonight that were taken when I discovered the issue. Here's a pic to locate the H260 attachment point that failed. There was no damage to the boat because I was lucky. I've already installed a SS through bolt. It was so easy to install that I have to wonder why it wasn't done to begin with.

The previous safety recall for the bow on these boats involved the need for two 1/4" bolts to be drilled into the deck/hull joint about 24" from the bow on each side. A through bolt on the bow pulpit from the factory would have been the answer to both of these issues. I still love the boat and I'm especially glad it happened in the shop and not offshore on a wretched day.

When you drill up from the bottom be especially careful in your alignment and know that you'll probably hit the old bolt hole and embedded plate which will most likely screw up a perfect hit with the top plate. As far as I'm concerned if you had to go down a bolt size, a 5/16 SS through bolt is 100 times stronger than the next weakest point in the rig(especially a stripped bolt).

Good luck in your fix. M&K

 

[Bob 04 H260]

thanks for the heads up Mike ! I'll have a look at mine as soon as I can. I suppose it is more of a saltwater problem, was it the bolt that was affected or the aluminum plate ? Could this be an issue for other bolts that are threaded into aluminum plates too ? Hunter must assume that the caulking will prevent any saltwater from getting to the interface between these two materials.
Bob

 

[soling42]

Bob, It could've been a random hack install with too much caffeine and not enough finesse or corrosion. Either way the softness of an aluminum plate as the connection point at the forestay is problematic in fresh or salt water. A cleat connection is one thing but on the bow pulpit it's like using a very soft aluminum nut to secure the entire rig. Corrosion is just the icing on the shortcut cake when two dissimilar metals meet, anywhere.

The upside is that if it fails under pressure, the bow pulpit will simply fold back a few feet and probably support the rig, at least long enough to dodge it(unless the 2 side rail bolts are barely there too). I'd take a few minutes and bolt it down on that nice boat of yours.

Mike

 

[Deucer]

Folks,

If my Casey readings aren't failing me, it shouldn't be a failure of the aluminum. If it was glavatic corrosion, the the problem would be with the aluminum and not the stainelss steel (in this instance, the aluminum is the sacrificial metal). It's more likely that the ss was oxygen deprived in the bedding. Stainless will corrode if there's not enough oxygen to keep it's protective skin intact.

All the same, good thing to check. OBTW, when you're going to leave the boat in or near the water, I've read that's its good to prime the aluminum with zinc chromate paint to lessen the galvanic corrosion.

Deucer

 

[soling42]

After closer inspection of the bolt (which is in good shape) it appears obvious that the plate was stripped or the aluminum was introduced to water/salt. The debris that came out of the hole was corroded/powdery gray but still somewhat aluminum like. If I were to guess I'd say it was stripped with the over use of an air tool in the factory. Either way it could be a Russian roulette situation on anyones boat who thinks it won't happen to them.....Did I mention how easy it was to fix forever?

Glad I found mine in the shop. Hope you have equally good luck too.
M&K

 

[Drew13440]

Thanks for posting this, Michael. From the picture, looks like the fastener is a hex head? Was it a self tapper, or a bolt with no nut on it?

I checked out my 240 and found the bow pulpit properly through bolted. Everything along the hull/deck joint is also properly bolted. Chainplate U-bolts have 1/4" thick metal backing, too - relief.

Glad you caught it before it caught you!

 

[soling42]

Drew, It was a SS bolt with no nut, threaded into an embedded aluminum plate. Adequate when new if installed properly but any amount of mfg error or natural weathering and a happy day could become a mess. Good to hear from you. Glad your boat checked out fine. Hope all is well up your way.
Mike