[stereoman405]

(Didn't know if this should go into water sports because I want to know specifically how the older boats hold up. )

If I decide I love the boat this season I might add a tower to it, but recent experience of a friend has me a little nervous.

He had a tower put on his '04 Ebtide, and when it came out of the shop you could just lean on it and watch the sides of the boat flex like mad. At my urging he it sent in to a fiberglass shop for reinforcing.

I know the older Mariahs are substantially thicker skinned, but what are people's long term experience with towers and what did you have to do to install them? Over sized washers, blocks, fiberglass, etc??? Have you had cracking?

I actually really like the looks of these guys, and there epoxy / block combo looks pretty good for weight distribution.

http://www.taylortowers.com/?mod=feature_benefits

[rob]

i have 1999 222 shabah and would love to find out about putting a tower on it and which ones are working the best or do i have a custom tower built Thanks Robbie

[otisroy]

The Taylor Towers are really nice looking towers and made locally here in NM. I was looking them over at the Cobalt stealership where I store my boat. The saleman made a big production about the patented 4 bolt plate. He did say they don't always use a backing on installs if the glass is over 1/4" thick. I don't like the sound of that. The deal breaker was the $2900 price tag.

I like the look of the Big Air Pylons. It looks like they use multiple bolts in their mounting system vice a single bolt and the they are priced closer to $1K.

I think I'm going to wait until I add a few ponies with the Edelbrock manifold and 4bbl carb before I add more weight.

[97 Z222]

Have a look at Mariah Man's Tower. It is custom made by Sampson Towers in Washington and has a built in bimini to stop brian matter from cooking. Nicest tower I have seen on a Mariah so far. Just my opinion.

[Wakeboarder5272]

I have an H20 tower from bigairpylons.com on my 04 Mariah SX18 and I love it. It has smooth lines that look good on the boat and each of the four mounting plates have 2 screws each. I have had the tower on the boat for about 4-5 years now and have not yet had any cracking in the fiberglass. I paid $1K shipped. Thumbs up for the H20 tower.

Rick

[mrzogs21]

Did you install it yourself, and if so how hard was it to do and how long? I was looking in that exact tower. How is the tower itself holding up?

[Wakeboarder5272]

Yes I installed it myself. It was a bit of a PIDA...but not bad at all. I'm gonna be a little long winded here...but these are things that I wish I knew ahead of time before installing it myself. You start by taking your measurements 3 or 4 times to make sure that you are correct before drilling into the side of the boat. Then when you start drilling...run your drill in reverse for the first few seconds...this will help reduce the chances of any cracking in the side of the hull. After a few seconds you can change the drill to normal and drill the holes.

Once the mounting plates are installed you assemble the tower on the ground using blue making tape. Then you and 3 friends pick the tower up and walk it onto the boat from the front or back. Then once you check to make sure everything lined up perfectly...then drill the holes in the tower. I suggest either having a corded drill or a whole lot of batteries cause there is many holes to drill. I had to stop half way thru to let my battery recharge. Also make sure that you buy some strong drill bits (starter bit and regular bit). The tower chewed up my first 2 bits and I had to make a trip to home depot for some better ones. After everything was done...it only took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of actual work time.

As far as holding up...I couldn't be happier. Just be sure to polish the tower at the end of every season to keep it looking fresh. It is still as strong as a rock.

Hope this helps,

Rick

[stereoman405]

Originally Posted by mrzogs21

Did you install it yourself, and if so how hard was it to do and how long? I was looking in that exact tower. How is the tower itself holding up?

I have a rental boat that I put one of these on after EXTENSIVE research. A buddy of mine got one as well. Good quality, has held up great. Install was a PITA with both of us doing it. He did his first without me so he was able to pass on a few pointers. Doing the drilling and assembly on the ground probably would've been better. I did my drilling while it was in the boat. Having burning metal flakes landing on you and all over the interior slows things down quite a bit.

Ditto on the bits and drill. I picked up a couple better bits and half way through got a corded drill. Definitely made things easier. My install took close to 8 hours, but that was with 2 people, crappy battery life, and my OCD.

I bet I could do it again in under 4 if I had a couple more people to help. LOTS of measuring and remeasuring....

[Wakeboarder5272]

Well...I guess I spoke too soon. The day after writing the post above I noticed some small cracking where the front left tower brace attaches to the boat. Well...after 4-5 years of lots of use...I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.