E38 Chainplate U-Bolts and Replacements

Salvaged U bolts

Hopefully that technique will work on yours. I tried the same on my 81' 28+ project and had no success. In the end the project was scrapped. After cutting the U bolts and aluminum blocks out of the deck I tried pressing them out. That eventually worked but not at all easily. The bolts survived unscathed but the aluminum blocks I found were corroded beyond further use. Of course the 28+ was a basket case. A long neglected boat with enough boat problems to fill a maintenance encyclopedia. Hope you have better luck.

U-Bolts

footrope said:

The Navtec U-Bolts used to attach the shrouds to the deck on many Ericsons are similar to those pictured below. The original has a crack starting at the middle of the radius of the bend. I have found at least three (out of 8) that have at least one crack and the one pictured has a crack on both bends. All 8 are 1/2 inch (12mm) diameter on my boat.

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As stated in other threads, RigRite makes replacements for the Navtec U-bolts. Here is what you get from RigRite for $289. And here is how they compare to the original.

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You can have Garhauer make them for half the cost of rig rite.

Tomarland said:

You can have Garhauer make them for half the cost of rig rite.

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It's a good deal less than half the cost. I had them make all 6 for slightly more than the cost of one of Rig Rite's magic U-bolts.

When I mentioned to the guy at Garhauer what Rig Rite charged for these he just laughed.

Garhauer rocks!:nerd:

I will definitely get mine from Mark and the gang when the time comes.

Rick R. said:

Garhauer rocks!:nerd:

I will definitely get mine from Mark and the gang when the time comes.

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Attached are a couple of pictures of the u-bolts that Garhauer made for me.

Garhauer Rocks!

Yup I got an email back from Garhauer and it said to call and talk to Doug.
Doug remembered Alan's project from last year and asked if I wanted to replace all six, which of course I do.
$200 plus shipping for all six! Not bad at all, and easy as pie. Thanks to Alan for doing all the legwork.
I will post pictures when I get the parts.

I may also have them build me a beefier bow chain-plate/tang. Mine looks fine but has some noticeable flex which no doubt has caused some work hardening over the years, not to mention 30 years old is just plain too old...

Shelman said:

Yup I got an email back from Garhauer and it said to call and talk to Doug.
Doug remembered Alan's project from last year and asked if I wanted to replace all six, which of course I do.
$200 plus shipping for all six! Not bad at all, and easy as pie. Thanks to Alan for doing all the legwork.
I will post pictures when I get the parts.

I may also have them build me a beefier bow chain-plate/tang. Mine looks fine but has some noticeable flex which no doubt has caused some work hardening over the years, not to mention 30 years old is just plain too old...

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Great! Yes, I do remember now that his name is Doug--though I have also dealt with Mark there too on other matters.

Anyway, do you have to send him one of your old ones for a pattern or did he still have all the info he needs to make them? When he made mine he said he was going to turn out some extras in case there was a future demand for them, so perhaps he's just pulling them off the shelf.

Tomarland said:

You can have Garhauer make them for half the cost of rig rite.

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Thanks for the tip.

Doug originally thought he might need me to send him one to copy but upon closer inspection he had some still waiting and ready from when Alan ordered.
I spoke to Mike and Mark too but Doug was the one with the U-bolts.

Chain plate trouble

I installed my new U-bolt chain plates today but I have run into a real problem. The new chain plate U-bolts are 3/16 through out whereas the old ones steped down to 5/16 at the top. The jaw-jaw toggles are $60 each but that still will not fix my issue because nobody seems to make a double jaw goggle with a pin diameter and a different jaw width. I need a 3/8 jaw width and a 5/16 pin. I considered an intermediate jaw eye toggle but it's the same tune, no step up size. It seems I would need to replace the rigging ends with larger pin size, but my standing rigging is only one year old. It looks like the old U-bolt chain plates are going back in. It was a nice $200 experament though. Any ideas would be apreciated.

Shelman said:

I installed my new U-bolt chain plates today but I have run into a real problem. The new chain plate U-bolts are 3/16 through out whereas the old ones steped down to 5/16 at the top. The jaw-jaw toggles are $60 each but that still will not fix my issue because nobody seems to make a double jaw goggle with a pin diameter and a different jaw width. I need a 3/8 jaw width and a 5/16 pin. I considered an intermediate jaw eye toggle but it's the same tune, no step up size. It seems I would need to replace the rigging ends with larger pin size, but my standing rigging is only one year old. It looks like the old U-bolt chain plates are going back in. It was a nice $200 experament though. Any ideas would be apreciated.

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Dang! My u-bolts were replaced as part of a complete re-rig. Looking at the pictures I already uploaded of my setup (above), is there no way you could do the same?

I would have to replace the toggle with a 3/8" which means I would have to replace the lower turnbuckle stud eye, which would mean I would have to replace the turnbuckle body which would mean I would have to replace the swaged on upper stud, wire ect ect, six times ..... But my rigging is only a year old so replacing six stays is not on the table lol. =]
Back to the drawing board

Shelman said:

I installed my new U-bolt chain plates today but I have run into a real problem. The new chain plate U-bolts are 3/16 through out whereas the old ones steped down to 5/16 at the top. The jaw-jaw toggles are $60 each but that still will not fix my issue because nobody seems to make a double jaw goggle with a pin diameter and a different jaw width. I need a 3/8 jaw width and a 5/16 pin. I considered an intermediate jaw eye toggle but it's the same tune, no step up size. It seems I would need to replace the rigging ends with larger pin size, but my standing rigging is only one year old. It looks like the old U-bolt chain plates are going back in. It was a nice $200 experament though. Any ideas would be apreciated.

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I would suggest double-checking all of your measurements one more time, and then contacting Garhauer. At the end of the day, their business is basically "problem solving." All of the machinists that I have known really LIKE problem solving...

Loren

Loren Beach said:

I would suggest double-checking all of your measurements one more time, and then contacting Garhauer. At the end of the day, their business is basically "problem solving." All of the machinists that I have known really LIKE problem solving...

Loren

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I think this is a great suggestion, Loren.

Also, Randy, you spoke earlier about this as a "$200 experiment"--as if you are stuck with these parts that you can't use. If I understood you correctly, though, they did not custom make these for you but they were extras that they made when they did the job for me. If that's so, then I'm sure they would allow you to return them, just like they allow returns on all of their off the shelf items. They have a very liberal return policy.

However, if you don't use these then you are back to the Rig Rite route. (Say that 10 times really fast.) When I priced them back in December of 2013, they wanted $215 per U-bolt! For the $1,000+ difference you *could* easily replace those two uppers and the four lowers--as distasteful as that would be. And then, you would no longer be at the mercy of Rig Rite's confiscatory pricing if you were to re-rig in the future.

As I mentioned to you in my private e-mail, I'd have to think that the 3/8" continuous diameter of that part, vs. the original part's "step down" to 5/16, would suggest that the Garhauer part is more robust--yet more incentive to come up with a solution to this so that you can use their part.

Loren Beach said:

I would suggest double-checking all of your measurements one more time, and then contacting Garhauer. At the end of the day, their business is basically "problem solving." All of the machinists that I have known really LIKE problem solving...

Loren

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What about seeing if Garhauer could whip you up some new, non-standard lower turnbuckle stud eyes? Or some 3/8" toggles drilled to take 5/16" pins? Or....?

GRHAUER To The Rescue! / all's well that ends well.

Thanks for the advice and encouragement Alan and Loren, I just got off the phone with Garhauer and spoke to Doug again. He said he would take some 5/16 toggles and put them on a mandrel and re-size them to 3/8.
Your right Loren, that was a typo on my part it was 5/16 and not 3/16.
And the price to fix all my troubles in one 3 minute phone call??????? $35.00 yup not a bad deal.

Great news!!

Shelman said:

Thanks for the advice and encouragement Alan and Loren, I just got off the phone with Garhauer and spoke to Doug again. He said he would take some 5/16 toggles and put them on a mandrel and re-size them to 3/8.
Your right Loren, that was a typo on my part it was 5/16 and not 3/16.
And the price to fix all my troubles in one 3 minute phone call??????? $35.00 yup not a bad deal.

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I was wondering this morning what Garhauer was going to tell you. This is such great news, Randy! We're so glad it worked out so easily and inexpensively! Be sure to report back when you've got the rig all put back together. It should all be very straightforward now.

I got my custom Toggles in from Garhauer marine. The new toggles perfectly fit the chain plates that Garhauer made. Easy fix and they even re polished the marks that were left from the mandrel. you can see in the third picture the size difference in the old vs new chain plates that caused me the sleepless nights. And the second picture shows a new toggle that fits and the standard one that couldn't even be forced on with a hammer.

Shelman said:

View attachment 16046View attachment 16047View attachment 16048
I got my custom Toggles in from Garhauer marine. The new toggles perfectly fit the chain plates that Garhauer made. Easy fix and they even re polished the marks that were left from the mandrel. you can see in the third picture the size difference in the old vs new chain plates that caused me the sleepless lights. And the second picture shows a new toggle that fits and the standard on that couldn't even be forced on with a hammer.

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Fantastic! It's so great when a plan comes together!!

I'm working on removing the U bolts on my E34. I can't get them to budge. Tried over tightening them. Tried heat. Tried crowbar.
Im lost. What's the best way to cut them out?
can they even make new ones if they are all cut up?