Help with Bimini top
 

I'm a newbie here... I bought a 96 Shabah 180 2 weeks ago and need help with my bimini top. The former boat owner boat an aftermarket 4 bow bimini top that doesn't quite fit without a little hard work and when that happens one side pushed on the window and rubs really bad. Couple of questions.
1. Should it fold up and lay across the back when I put it down? Because it doesn't..
2. How do I determine the correct size I should have and is Overlands the best place to look.

Thanks for any help you have.

My experience is that the correct bimini top will lay flat and wrap up nicely for you. As for the correct hieght/width/length that is somewhat up to you. You can have a custom bimini made for your boat for about the same cost as an equavilent top from a large retailer. But that is just my experience so far. It should also be relatively easy to put up and take down too.

Good luck to ya and enjoy your boat.

thanks
 

Thanks guys. After the holiday weekend i'll post some pics and get your feed back from there. Have a great weekend.

I have a Shabah 180 and my Bimini does not lay flat against the back either. I am assuming that you have yours mounted on the sides of the boat and not on the window frame. I would suggest getting the rear support poles so that you can store it in the upright position, that is what I did. I like the way that looks anyways. When I garage my boat I remove the rear poles and lay the top forward over the bow, it rest perfectly there and does not rub against the window.

Thanks bpfirrman. I really like the look of storing it in the upright position. I'm assuming I'll have to have someone install some support structure for the poles to go into. My bimini structure must be bent because it goes in but really puts pressure on the side windows. And yes, my connections or on the inside of the boat not the window. Where can I find the support poles?

http://www.boatbandit.com/taylor-adj...oles-6461.aspx

Here is the kind that I used, you can pick them up at West Marine or Wholesale Marine as well. You can put them in yourself, the deck mounts replace your rear strap connections and the holes for the screws will be the same. You may also want to splurge on the stainless deck hinges as well, you can get them for $5 a piece from wholesale marine. You can take a look at my bimini stored against the bow in my user gallery.

GREAT!! Thanks for your help. I can't wait to take on that project. It looks really good like that. I don't have the nice little cover that goes over the bimini top when in the folded-upright position. Can I just search on the website you guys listed and get that?

They sell the bimini boots all over the place, usually for about $30

pics of boat with bimini top.

Adjustments
 

Kevo,

its pretty hard to try to suggest things after seeing some small pictures, and I am not nearly the expert that I am sure are lurking in the background waiting to see if some idiot such as myself were to get lucky enough to say what the problem is.

So that being said. I would do the following (this is assuming you have not already done this) I would carefully inspect all the poles for minor dents, dings and bends. Secondly I would measure the distances once the top is up (prior to any binding) to see where you are. Check for differences in bends and space between the support struts

If that shoots craps, grab a beer and call a local Bimini shop and ask them to help you through. Most will be helpful because they all know that biminis go bad and they would obviously like your business. In return you could start off the relationship by picking up your boot that you need for the top.

Good luck.

Thanks Mariah_in_636.. There are no bad suggestions. I'm not sure I even have the thing on correctly. I'll try anything right now. Thanks again.

I hope it's ok if I grab the beer first.. :)

Every bimini top I've seen that doesn't mount to the windshield frame, mounts to the outside of the windshield. I also noticed there's not much of a ledge on your boat, which explains why the previous owner must have tried mounting where they did. Problem is (as you know), the windshield has a slight lean towards the inside of the boat.

My only suggestion would be to find a place that sells or fabricates fasteners to the outer side of the boat, or buy a narrower bimini frame?

Sorry this isn't much help, I'm basically pointing out the obvious.

Ok. I've made sure all the support poles are straight and no gaps are present in the layout. I still have that rubbing on the sides when the bimini top is being placed in the hinges initially. When I spread it out in the coverage position the rubbing and pressure it puts on the windshield is better but still rubbing. I may be reliquished to ordering a narrower top. Any further suggestions will be appreciated.

Not trying to beat the dying horse here but...............

Those are issues that a custom top would resolve for you. I would suggest talking to the local boat shops to get some idea of who is trustworthy, reliable and "gots skills".

You could get color, length, width, height and frame type all custom designed for your boat.

I am anxious to get it done for my boat but what I want is gonna be like 1200. According to the wife I have to "prioritize" my toys. Guess we will see what she says when she gets burnt every time we get in the boat. LOL

Something I never noticed until I laid the top flat and looked at it from a distance. When I put the bimini on initially, the top and support bars looked straight. As I look at this now I can't line one side up on the top. Shouldn't both sides line up flush; right on top of each other. Take a look at the photos and any feedback would be appreciated.

If they should be flush, how in the world do I get them straight? I tried to bend the poles a little, just testing and couldn't hold the other side still. Maybe it's a two man job - or man and wife...

OK, its kinda hard to tell in the photos for sure but the third photo posted seems to offer the best clues.

in looking at them and seeing that they do not line up it would appear that something is obviously not lining up correctly. It appears to be the lower or what would be the rear most support strut. It appears to me that the support is not positioned evenly from top to bottom. It could just be an optical illusion due to the camera angle etc. but thats what I am seeing.

Would it be too much to ask you to take the fabric off all together and try to get some shots of the top inverted and resitng on the supports. That may help you get going in the right direction as well.

Ill take more time with the photos in a bit gotta run back to work for a few hours.

Chris