Ski Pylon Movement
 

I have a 2005 Nordic Rage. It appears that the ski pylon is loose now. I can move it with my hand and it hits the edges of the fiberglass hole it comes through. It has cause some stress cracks to the stern of the pole which I am sure are due to the pole applying pressure to the fiberglass when skiing or wakeboarding.

I have looked at the mounting bracket in the engine compartment and nothing is obviously damaged. I am unable to tighten any of the mounting bolts on either the attachment to the hull or the bolt through the pylon, but it is difficult to get a good pull due to the cramped location. It simply looks as if there is some play in the metal bracket.

Any thoughts on how I can fix this / prevent it from happening again? Also does anybody know of a good repair facility in Southern California, near Orange County?

AquaMan,
Other than Randy Davis, I have never seen anyone pull skiers behind a Nordic. The ski pole is a vestige of the company's ski race past and heritage. Mine is thankfully GONE. It's a useless knee knocker (ask KennyO :grinser010:).
What they should offer is a quick release pin and a deck cap to cover the hole. Would be easy to do.
The pole sits in fabbed cup that bolts to the transom. It has a through bolt pinning it into the cup. Just pull the bolt and pull it out through the deck. I covered mine with a round transom light.
If you want to keep your's (?), just tighten the cup to the transom (there are two stainless nuts above the drive) and/or the through bolt through the bottom of the billet ski pole.
Regards,
Steve

I like the light idea! I assumed you just wired it to you anchor light. Does it shine light on the swim platform?

I used my ski pylon once to pull a stranded wave runner in.

I'm in the minority....I've used my ski pylon to pull skiers many many times -- behind my 28 Heat. I also pull tubers. Just did it this weekend.

And, of course used it to tow several boats in distress.

Mine's still rock-solid.

I2D

There are many Nordics that run the Catalina Ski Race ranging from
28 to 35 feet. And we pull out the stock pylon and put one in that is
around 2 feet tall. Then we go beat the crap out of it on the ocean pulling
skiers north of 60mph for 62 miles.

Sounds like your pylon just needs bolt tightening, tough as it may be.
(I own a 35 where access to the pylon is surprisingly easy).

Pesky Varmint

Hi Jim,
Yes, I wired into the hot for my stern light, similar to the '99 and older Heats before the electric pole light. I guess you could put it on a seperate circuit if you wanted to.
Are you coming to the regatta?
Mayor McCheese will be there with your former ride. We've done some cool updates in the last few years. I bet it will be the oldest ('96) Nordic there, unless Casey brings his. It still looks cool with the Miami Vice colors and windows. Like a classic muscle car, they just never go out of style:cool:.
Still liking the Flame?
Regards,
Steve

Pesky,
That's cool. No ski racing over here to my knowledge. I have followed the sport through Hot Boat and Powerboat mags. Looks interesting.
All the kids here are wakeboarding behind direct drive and v-drive inboard ski boat with towers and big stereos.

Aquaman,
I too must be in the monority. We tow either a three person tube or a four person tube or both. We also ski and slalom as well. So far, knock on wood, ours is still solid as well. The tubes give it a real workout though and I have often wondered about developing the same problem you are experiencing. You may have to go to a cable and pully type device connected to the transom tie downs?? Then utilize Steve's idea.
Maybe some one will come up with a lighted pylon too?
Not much help but plenty of moral support!

BTW, the Tube is a great place to listen to that exhaust too!

Here is what I did to mine.....Man I hated that thing always banging my knee on it.....I used the center cap for the steering wheel

I used to tow the kids on the tube behind our Flame!:eek: Now we use the Seadoo jet boat for that. i still have the ski pylon on the Nordic, I hang my rope ladder on it for getting in and out of the water.
Dean

I have hit mine all the time. I normally kick it with my foot when I get in a hurry. I hate that dam thing. But I dont think that I would want to take it out. I do like the pic of the boats with out them.:rolleyes:

Yep, we abuse them out here and there have been no issues.
There's a 200 foot rope tied to this little Rage launching on the way to Catalina!
(The rope is there I promise...They are very, very thin ropes)

Dave

I have exactly the same issues with my ski pole on a 2005 Rage. the billet aluminum ski pole is not rigidly held at the bracket since the attachment bolt tightens to the bracket OD and the pole is loose fit within the bracket ID with the pole pivoting on the through bolt . I removed and repolished my ski pole and found the pole OD worm down considerably from movement against the fiberglass hole it rides against. The fiberglass also has the stress cracks you mention. At this point the pole is quite loose in the mounting/hole. I would like to shim the pole tight some how that would not look bad.

We wake board and pull tubers from this pole a lot. The wake boarding probably caused the pole wear since that accumulates the most hours but the stress cracks are likely due to the tubing partiucularly when the tube dives below the surface because the rider(s) are too far forward. I plan to switch to the transum tie down eyes for tubing.

It must have been a Friday when they installed the ski poles on the '05 Rages cause my Dad's is in the same condition.

If this is only a problem with 2005 or recent ski poles maybe there has been a design change. Question for anyone that does not have a ski pole looseness problem and can inspect the ski pole assembly----could you please describe what the bracket configuration looks like.

I asked Nordic about the loosness problem and resulting stress cracks in the gelcoat. They said there was no design change which is not a surprise. The suggested fix is to apply marine putty to the hole ID and then grind the ID down so that the ski pole is a snug fit to eliminate the banging action of the pole against the deck hole.

Hey I am new to OSO but not to the Nordic Rage. I had and 03 never had a bit of problem with the ski tow, now my 06 is loose an causing stress cracks. I guess I will be in the minority with my buddy In2Deep as I always seem to be pulling a tuber, skier, or boarder.

I have three friends with Nordic's, two Rages and a Heat. They all have kids, and they all tow water toys with their boats. I just purchased a 08 Heat, and will be towing my kids around with it.

Thanks about the heads-up on the ski pole possibly coming loose, I will keep an eye on it.

Chris

So you pulled as much/often with the ski pole on the 03 as the 06?

Hard to say as I bought the 03 new and the 06 with about 120 hours on it. The 06 already had some signs of wear, the 03 never even rattled.

3 weeks ago we towed a 30 ft Larson a couple of miles up stream. BOB!
Sitting here reading this it jogged my memory that we just threw the rope around the ski pole. Next time I will consider the transom eyes. No issues though!

I am in that same minority. Lots of hours pulling tube and boarders on my 04 made/05 titled. Also lots of wear, loose pole and stress cracks. I would love to have been able to get a close look at your 03 pole set up. May give an idea for a fix. Just wishful thinking.