Sun Pad Hinge
 

Was running pretty good on Lake Michigan this weekend...got a few good bounces in as well....was shutting down for the night and went to raise the hatch to plug in the battery charger, but the hatch sounded like it was struggling. So I took it slow and noticed the rear of the hatch on the right side was lifting as well. So I supported the hatch and raised it slow....turns out the hinge that holds it to the rear of the boat came off the bottom of the pad. Couldn't do much with it then, but I'll be looking into this week...that friggin' hatch is heavy too...sure hope the holes aren't stripped or the wood got soft. I think I'm going to need a 6 - 7 ft 2 X 4 to support keeping the hatch up to get a good look at the hinge. Anyone have to do this on their boat? One other thing...do the screws go through fiberglass then into wood....I'm not sure what the sun pads construction is, but I'd like to be as prepared as possible when I lift that thing and inspect the holes.

I just put in two new Warner hatch actuators and brackets at the top and bottom. I noticed my port side was creaking some. I looked at the hinge and all the screws seemed quite tight into the back of the hatch and back of the transom per say but it seems like my hinge has a slight bend in it compared to the other side. I was going to try and find another hinge but can not seem to find it (24" x 1 1/2"). I am not sure after 10 years that the screws are going to come out but I am going to try a few and see if I can do as you did with a slightly larger ss screw and some 4200! Center console for me here shortly!