Fence Repair

[ronhusak]

Hi All..
I own a 2010 Sylvan toon.. I bought it used in 2012. We use this boat a lot at Lake Havasu in the winter.. We tow it down every year with our motorhome and enjoy it a lot. We also use it for about a month in the summer. We live in Colorado.
The aluminum skin on the fencing had several light creases and dents when I bought it. But in all honestly I have added some and have an area about 2 to 3 feet long that I damaged a couple of years ago when I was pushed into a dock by high winds... This drives me crazy...
Sylvan uses a system to attach it's skin to the frame (the frame is undamaged) that amounts to a slip in that is bent 90 degrees into the frame and adhesive tape to hold it in place..
That really looks like it would be very difficult to replace with this system..
Has anyone used a skin mounted to the outside of the frame and rivet or screw to the frame? What would you use.. Aluminum or a vinyl type material?
This damage drives me nuts.. I like my stuff to look nice..
Any input would be appreciated...
Ron

[ronhusak]

Hi Again..
Well did a little more research and the material (even heavier) is available on line.. There are sites dedicated to Pontoon Fencing.. Now just have to figure how to do it!
Ron

[RcgTexas]

[quote] "There are sites dedicated to Pontoon Fencing.." [/quote]

That's what I was going to say!

[BobL]

Before spending any $$, can your take it to one of those hail damage places? A place like this:

https://www.dentwizard.com/hail-damage-repair.aspx

They may come to you or you could email them some pics if you don't want to drag the boat there.

[ronhusak]

[quote="BobL"]Before spending any $$, can your take it to one of those hail damage places? A place like this:

https://www.dentwizard.com/hail-damage-repair.aspx

They may come to you or you could email them some pics if you don't want to drag the boat there.[/quote]

Hi BobL..
I am very familiar with Dent Wizard and like companies.. Use to use them a lot when I was in the rental car industry... My skins are too far gone for that.. The thin aluminum really stretches easily and it looks bad especially to me.. New metal is the only fix I am afraid..
But, thanks for the suggestion..
Ron

[willy13]

According to the below link, this company makes fences out of 1/8" aluminum panels. They talk about it in the middle, right picture. They use something called di-bond? I know nothing about it, just came across it during my searches the last couple months.
http://www.custompontoonboatkitsetc.com/id4.html

[mrlouis]

The skin is pressed into the rail guides, you won't be able to extract the damaged skin and insert a new skin the best way to repair it is to replace the entire section of fencing, new rail with skin already inserted I had a similar issue with a brand new pontoon that had skin damage that the rail was fine, a good sheet metal guy can get some of the dents out but I had a brand new $40,000 toon so I elected to contact the mfg gave them serial # etc and they were able to send me a new rail with skin and the cost was not all that bad problems come however with the shipping as they can be easily damaged in transit

[ron nh]

[quote="mrlouis"]The skin is pressed into the rail guides, you won't be able to extract the damaged skin and insert a new skin the best way to repair it is to replace the entire section of fencing, new rail with skin already inserted I had a similar issue with a brand new pontoon that had skin damage that the rail was fine, a good sheet metal guy can get some of the dents out but I had a brand new $40,000 toon so I elected to contact the mfg gave them serial # etc and they were able to send me a new rail with skin and the cost was not all that bad problems come however with the shipping as they can be easily damaged in transit[/quote]
What did it cost you? My 2015 has some minor damage from bouncing up and down smacking someones dock during a storm. Its pushed in against the lounger and can only be seen from an angle but I may be selling or trading, It needs to be replaced.

[mrlouis]

Ron,
the fence with skin and new decals included cost $450. delivered to the dealer as I had to order it through the dealer, it took two of us
about 2 and a half hours to take off the old rail and bolt on the new rail, my neighbors boat hit mine while he was backing out of his slip initially the dent was pretty large we were able to bang out most of it but it still wasn't right so I had it replaced, you should be able to make a damage claim on insurance

[ron nh]

Thank you. That's not a bad price. I was going to contact insurance, probably still will. when it happened in July, I thought I could fix it,or pay maybe a few hundred, When I started to try I realized it would be more expensive. Thanks you for the answer.

[ronhusak]

[quote="mrlouis"]Ron,
the fence with skin and new decals included cost $450. delivered to the dealer as I had to order it through the dealer, it took two of us
about 2 and a half hours to take off the old rail and bolt on the new rail, my neighbors boat hit mine while he was backing out of his slip initially the dent was pretty large we were able to bang out most of it but it still wasn't right so I had it replaced, you should be able to make a damage claim on insurance[/quote]


Hi mrlouis...
That would cost me a bunch as I would need several sections... In fact last season coming home I had a freak thing happen... I had my travel cover on towing across I40 in northern Arizona about 65 MPH.. The cover right on the tope blew a seam and the front gate blew open which blew the skin out of the side gate!!! Literally blew the lower skin out of the frame! Had to have the cover fixed and my brother and I put the skin back on as well as possible.. So that is why I was looking at redoing the entire fence skin... One of the vendors I found uses .030 material which is .010 heavier than what I have...
To top it off the canvas maker says he won't guarantee the cover when being towed (he didn't anyhow for this repair). Am considering towing without it just wanted to avoid snow and dirt as well as rain just making a mess...
Will have to really look at the fence frame to see if there is another way to attach...
Sometimes really hard to have fun!
Ron

[guy48065]

Anybody try re-skinning using adhesive instead of rivets? The skin on enclosed trailers always looks wrinkled around the rivets but newer ones are glued on and look smoother. I would consider using 3M automotive trim adhesive but you'd need to apply the tape close to the outside edges of the rails so there'd be no gap to collect dirt.

[ronhusak]

Mark...
Yeah.. I am considering using adhesive with strategic screws or rivers to help hold... Getting ready to head for Arizona so will have to wait for our return in May... Trying to get all loose ends tied up before the snow stops us at the end of next week...
Ron