Alan Gomes
Sustaining Partner
I'm currently in the process of re-rigging my E26-2. I'm getting the mast and boom LP'd; replacing all the wires, turnbuckles, and connections; running new wires in the mast, etc. (The mast is currently down, has been bead blasted, and is being primed today.) As part of this I had the 6 U-bolts pulled along with the chain plate (on the starboard side) and the tie rod (on the port side).
The tie rod and chain plate look perfect but a few of the U-bolts look dicey, with some pitting and in one instance a small but visible crack. So I'm replacing all 6 of them.
As has been mentioned in some past threads, the original Navtec U-bolts are only available from Rig Rite. (See here: http://www.rigrite.com/Hardware/Cha...ainplates_Ubolt.htm#Navtec_U-Bolt_Chainplates) We checked on their cost and for the 3/8" U-bolts, which is what my E26-2 requires, they quoted me $215 per U-bolt! Obviously there's no way I'm going to pay that.
I gave Garhauer a call and they said they could make some for me custom. I just now returned from there (they are about 45 minutes from where I live) after meeting with Doug and dropping off one of the U-bolts. We first checked to see if the U-bolts used in the Catalina 27 shroud retrofit kit that they sell would fit my application. While the diameter is correct, the center to center spacing on the legs is just slightly wider. Plus, The C27 U-bolts use coarser threads and so are slightly less strong than the ones I'm replacing. But they are only $12/each!
I decided to have Doug make up the 6 I need as a custom job. The cost is $30/U-bolt and these will be an exact fit spacing-wise and with a fine thread. When I mentioned that there may be other Ericson owners interested in this, he said that he was going to knock out several extras while he had everything set up to do so. Therefore, if any of you might be in need of these, or think you might be in the future, give Garhauer a call and ask for Doug. He said he'd be happy to sell them to members of the list. In fact, he hinted at possibly being able to drop the price if he was able to sell enough of them.
Thought you all would want to know.
Cheers,
Alan
P.S. When the rigger removed the nuts holding in the U-bolts, he observed that they were just plain nuts--not nylock nuts and no lock washer. Potentially not good. If you have the same rigging setup you might want to take a look at that. Also, for the aft lowers there was no backing plate on the starboard side--though there was one on the port side. Garhauer is also providing me with two stainless backing plates--one to replace the aluminum one on the port side (that has a bit of corrosion on it) and one for the starboard side. The aft lowers on this rig don't do a whole lot. They do keep the center of the mast from bending too far forward if one were to really crank the heck out of the vang, backstay, etc. But most of the time they are relatively loose and the boat *could* probably get by without them--not that I have any intention of eliminating them. But the point is, I'm sure the reason the boat's ok after 30 years without that backing plate is because of the minimal load on those.
The tie rod and chain plate look perfect but a few of the U-bolts look dicey, with some pitting and in one instance a small but visible crack. So I'm replacing all 6 of them.
As has been mentioned in some past threads, the original Navtec U-bolts are only available from Rig Rite. (See here: http://www.rigrite.com/Hardware/Cha...ainplates_Ubolt.htm#Navtec_U-Bolt_Chainplates) We checked on their cost and for the 3/8" U-bolts, which is what my E26-2 requires, they quoted me $215 per U-bolt! Obviously there's no way I'm going to pay that.
I gave Garhauer a call and they said they could make some for me custom. I just now returned from there (they are about 45 minutes from where I live) after meeting with Doug and dropping off one of the U-bolts. We first checked to see if the U-bolts used in the Catalina 27 shroud retrofit kit that they sell would fit my application. While the diameter is correct, the center to center spacing on the legs is just slightly wider. Plus, The C27 U-bolts use coarser threads and so are slightly less strong than the ones I'm replacing. But they are only $12/each!
I decided to have Doug make up the 6 I need as a custom job. The cost is $30/U-bolt and these will be an exact fit spacing-wise and with a fine thread. When I mentioned that there may be other Ericson owners interested in this, he said that he was going to knock out several extras while he had everything set up to do so. Therefore, if any of you might be in need of these, or think you might be in the future, give Garhauer a call and ask for Doug. He said he'd be happy to sell them to members of the list. In fact, he hinted at possibly being able to drop the price if he was able to sell enough of them.
Thought you all would want to know.
Cheers,
Alan
P.S. When the rigger removed the nuts holding in the U-bolts, he observed that they were just plain nuts--not nylock nuts and no lock washer. Potentially not good. If you have the same rigging setup you might want to take a look at that. Also, for the aft lowers there was no backing plate on the starboard side--though there was one on the port side. Garhauer is also providing me with two stainless backing plates--one to replace the aluminum one on the port side (that has a bit of corrosion on it) and one for the starboard side. The aft lowers on this rig don't do a whole lot. They do keep the center of the mast from bending too far forward if one were to really crank the heck out of the vang, backstay, etc. But most of the time they are relatively loose and the boat *could* probably get by without them--not that I have any intention of eliminating them. But the point is, I'm sure the reason the boat's ok after 30 years without that backing plate is because of the minimal load on those.
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