Reinstalling seat piston

[jelake]

This is a dumb scenario I've got myself in...hoping someone has done this before.

There is a piston to assist holding the weight of the seat on my Wake Pro 215. The bracket on the top of that piston broke so I bought a replacement and tried to install. I could not move the seat and hinge setup in a way that would let me reinstall the piston back in its socket and the piston had way too much pressure for me to compress it to aid in the installation. Through the process of trying to force this thing back in place I busted the bracket to which the seat hinge is attached. This is the black plastic piece that is riveted to the hull with 5 plastic rivets.

So now I ordered the new mount and replacement rivets too....

But before I try this again and break more stuff I thought I'd ask if there's a correct sequence in which to reinstall these parts? Clearly there must be a way to install without any load on the piston and then let the weight of the seat force the piston back down once everything is installed....right?

 

[Coastiejoe]

The pistons are all but impossible to collapse.

I used a ratchet strap to collapse mine and then I was able to install it

I thought my new one was jammed as I couldn't move it until I tried the strap trick.

 

[KK40384]

Only way to do it is to use a ratchet strap as Joe said. I had a similar issue with my hood strut which does basically the same job as the seat strut you're working on.

Lay the strut down open ends up or down whichever you prefer, take the stap and stretch it around both sides of the strut and loop it into itself. Proceed to ratchet till it compressed about 2 inches. No need to go further. You can probably get away with even less than that.

 

[jelake]

Ok. I get the idea of the ratchet strap to compress, but doesn't it snap back as soon as you release it? Do you have to reinstall with the strap on then remove somehow?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Ok. I get the idea of the ratchet strap to compress, but doesn't it snap back as soon as you release it? Do you have to reinstall with the strap on then remove somehow?

Strap needs to remain on. Once it is installed use the seat to further collapse it and then remove the strap.

 

[KK40384]

Exactly. Use the seat as leverage to compress it more once it has been locked on the ball mount.

 

[jelake]

I'm having a hard time imagining how I'll get the damn strap removed once it's in there. But I trust your guidance and will give this a whirl. I ordered the parts today so I'll report back by next weekend, hopefully.

Thanks guys.

 

[KK40384]

Ok once you attach the strut to the bracket, take the seat and proceed to push it down to close it. When you do that it compresses the strut more which leaves slack in the ratchet strap causing it to come off. I had a hard time making sense of it the first time too but it works.

 

[jelake]

I finally got around to this project again. I had taken the boat in for some service and asked them to tackle this while it was in the shop. They told me they couldn't do it and even claimed they contacted the nearby SeaDoo dealer who also said it was virtually impossible to replace.

That basically challenged me to prove them wrong (and you guys right) by getting it reinstalled. In my previous attempts to work with the ratchet strap I was doing it with the piston on my workbench. That didn't work. This time I installed it back in the seat mechanism and got the strap and ratchet in there too. The whole process took a few minutes at most and I got it back in! I was not able to release the ratchet pressure due to where it ended up after cranking down...so I had to cut the strap. A small price to pay for getting this project checked off my list. Thanks again for the great advice.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I finally got around to this project again. I had taken the boat in for some service and asked them to tackle this while it was in the shop. They told me they couldn't do it and even claimed they contacted the nearby SeaDoo dealer who also said it was virtually impossible to replace.

That basically challenged me to prove them wrong (and you guys right) by getting it reinstalled. In my previous attempts to work with the ratchet strap I was doing it with the piston on my workbench. That didn't work. This time I installed it back in the seat mechanism and got the strap and ratchet in there too. The whole process took a few minutes at most and I got it back in! I was not able to release the ratchet pressure due to where it ended up after cranking down...so I had to cut the strap. A small price to pay for getting this project checked off my list. Thanks again for the great advice.

Sorry you had to cut the strap... Easy fix by comparison. I have been given straps others have cut. I folded the strap back over the hook and did a sew job that was good enough to take it to a place that does canvass and seat work for boats. He did a heavy duty machine sew job for 5 bucks... Good as new.

 

[jelake]

OK, now I have to tell the embarrassing part:

So I made the cut strategically so that I only lost a few inches of the long strap (not the ratchet side). No big deal, I figured, how often do I use the whole length anyway!

What I failed to mention, until now, is that I was doing this repair on my lift which was in the water (you see where this is going).

While I was un-snaking the long end out from under the seat, I through the ratchet side up onto the dock. The I watched it as it slowly slipped off the end and into the lake......

So now I have the long side (albeit shorter) and no ratchet. Really not a big deal, but kind of a funny conclusion to the story. I've had that set of 4 ratchet straps for nearly 20 years. I can live with only having three left.

 

[Coastiejoe]

OK, now I have to tell the embarrassing part:

So I made the cut strategically so that I only lost a few inches of the long strap (not the ratchet side). No big deal, I figured, how often do I use the whole length anyway!

What I failed to mention, until now, is that I was doing this repair on my lift which was in the water (you see where this is going).

While I was un-snaking the long end out from under the seat, I through the ratchet side up onto the dock. The I watched it as it slowly slipped off the end and into the lake......

So now I have the long side (albeit shorter) and no ratchet. Really not a big deal, but kind of a funny conclusion to the story. I've had that set of 4 ratchet straps for nearly 20 years. I can live with only having three left.

We have all done things like this.

I was over in Korea and we had an engine failure on one of our fast boats. We had a critical mission to go on at 2am. So me and another Chief decided we would swap the engine while the boat was in the water. We had two bolts left holding the engine one. Connected a ratchet to the forks of a tow motor. Took on a strain, I said to the other guy, do NOT let the zinc fall into the water, (in this case, the zinc acted as a washer besides being a sacrificial lamb). Well, we pull the bolts and I hear SPLASH... However, this zinc was a MUST have as we were no where near our base and had zero spare parts and all parts must go back so that the existing nuts and bolts fit... Long story short, went and borrowed dive gear from the SEAL team we were working with to dive down to get a stupid 10 dollar zinc...

 

[jelake]

do NOT let the zinc fall into the water

Uttering these words sealed your fate.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Uttering these words sealed your fate.

Without a doubt,,, Believe me, we discussed that at great length...