Ladder Installation
 

I was wondering if anyone has ever installed a ladder on a Dominator? I had a buddy stop by the Sunsation Factory for me and pick up the ladder and all of the hardware. An tipps/tricks? I looked back on the swim platform through the engine bay and man it looks real tight. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Greg

I haven't done but it is most likely a two person job. It looks like you may need to buy or build a long wrench for the inside. I would just be careful and make sure you have the placement correct. Do you have one locally that you can take measurements from? Good Luck

Scagburner: My buddy has an 01 so we have something we can reference off of, also Wayne supplied some good diagrams and all the hardware to install it. The long wrench deal is what is scaring me a little. Think I am going to have to rig something up to get the very back.

So I attempted the install but there is no way to get to any of the bolts from inside the boat. I went and looked at my buddies boat and whoever installed his ladder has removed it due to it pulling back through. On my buddies someone tried to lag it in instead of through bolting it. I am going to call Sunsation for some advice. I think the only way to get it through bolted is going to be cut a hole under the swim platform do the work then either have it re-fiberglassed or fit some sort of inspection plate. I was hoping someone would chime in that has done this before of my model boat. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

Milleime - Do you have a photo of the inside if the swim platform looking from the engine bay?

No picture but I couldn't fit a tape measure between the top cap and the bottom. Mine is a 05 not as much freeboard as the newer models

OK - You better get Joe on the phone... They probably mount them prior to putting the deck on. I'm sure he can help you out but I wouldn't think lagging it in would be very good.

I just talked to Kevin who does the ladder installations. He said the only way to do it is to cut out a portion of the rub rail, drill 1 1/4 inch hole so you can get to the back of the bolt, 5100 up your holes then re-install the rub rail. This is not what I wanted to here :-( I also only want to do this once. I will let ya'll know how it works out next weekend.

Can you reach the inside of the swim platform from the inside of the boat? The installation requires at least two guys, if not 3. The bolts are supposed to go up through the transom from the outside, and locked down with the nut from the inside. Its quite a pain in the ass, as I had to replace one on my old MCOB. However, if you can not reach the transom/swim platform from the inside of the boat, you're not gonna be able to tighten it down.

07...there is no way to reach from the inside. I talked to Sunsation and they said the only way to do it is to cut out a portion of the rub rail, do the work then reinstall the rub rail. What we are going to do is after we remove the rub rail and drill two 2 inch holes where the deck and hull meet is make a couple of brackets. These will be about an inch wide with nuts welded to them running length wise of the boat so we can bolt the front and back.

I can't believe you can't reach from the inside. What if you remove the hatch? Would that help you gain access? I remember putting my new ladder on, and I was stretched all the way across the motors, reaching blindly to attach the nuts from the inside as my buddy was holding the ladder and feeding the through bolts through the transom.....

07SS:

Maybe your 288 had a different layout than my 32?? I was laying across the motors with a tape measure and flash light and couldn't get the tip of the tape measure between the hull and top cap. When I spoke to Sunsation the gentleman I spoke to had done several of these. He said, which most people I spoke to also said, that lagging it would not be a permanent installation and would pull back through. I think this is why on my buddies 01 the ladder has been removed. Sunsation stated that the only way to get it through bolted was going through the rub rail. So what we are going to do is make a couple of templates that run the length of the boat inside the swim platform. Once we get the templates made from wood we will take them to a metal fab shop have them bent up and nuts welded to them. This is going to be a major pain in the a**

Well, I have had all 32SS models, so, it must be different. Sounds like a real pain in the ass, good luck with that!

Is it just the most rearward bolts you cannot reach or all 4? I know on Mentalpause's '01 at least the 2 back bolts were lagged. In 5 seasons the ladder never budged. His ladder got used a lot by a couple of 230 - 260 lb. dudes. Maybe Mental will chime in.

Dammit! This is not what I wanted to hear! Whoever owned mine before must've done the ol' put her in gear, cut the wheel and tear the ladder off trick or something.

Knot: I cannot reach any of them. Sunsation did say it was ok to lag the two closest to the motors but the two to the back must be through bolted. Since we are going to cut away the rub rail and drill two holes we are going to do it right and through bolt all four. I know the bracket we are going to make is going to be a real pain to make and install but in the long run I don't want any issues. I will let everyone know how it turns out.

Gunner: Is your frame still attached? If so call the ladder manufacturer they will sell you just the steps. My buddy ripped the ladder off his 28ZX and had to replace the steps. Schmidt and Sons who makes the ladders sent him a new rod and lower assembly. He cut the old rod out and put in the new ladder then took his boat to a welder and had them re-weld the rod back together. Looks perfect.

Greg

Memory gets fuzzy trying to recall these things after 14 years. I do remember Vincent did a lot of the work, including repairing the glass on the top of the swim platform when he drilled all the way through it. That tells you how much room there is between the material in the upper and lower sections of the platform. Not enough that he felt the drill bit free up when it cleared the lower material for the front bolts. And I don't remember there being any space for a nut for the rear bolts even it you could get access. But that was 2000, so maybe they changed the supporting material as more people ordered ladders. Good thing he was a glass guy and painter so we could laugh about it. I also remember trying to reach up in that area from the engine bay. There isn't much room. We flooded the lags with permanent thread glue/sealant before putting them in. There was plenty of material for the lags to bite into. That ladder never budged and we used it a lot. To my best recollection Sunsation sent the kit to me with 4 lag bolts. Two were pretty long because there was also PVC spacers for the front bolts so the ladder sat at the proper angle. Obviously other people didn't have the same luck we had with the lags. And we stressed it out for sure.

This thread does make me wonder though if the ladders they are putting on the CCs could be installed on the older 288s or 32s. I would think there is plenty of room and they might be a lot easier. I'm not sure if the framing for those is attached to run along side the outside stringer or not, but the factory would be able to tell you if that could be an option to consider.

It's been so long I forgot your boat was a 2000 and not a 2001!!! Lol!! And we did stress that ladder!

Wow! This sounds like a huge PITA.. I would still like to see a photo or two just to clear this up in my mind. From Mental's post, I want think it may be easier to bite the bullet and drill them clear thru and repair the glass. You may even want to consider making or buying a custom bolt with a low profile head that you could live with exposed on the top of the swim platform...

I wouldn't give up. I hate a boat without a ladder.

Off topic: It looks like my membership expired today... Why don't we get an email prior to running out??

I get an email every year just before it expires.

Hmmm, I don't get that... I just renewed anyways.

[QUOTE=Scagburner;4089237]Wow! This sounds like a huge PITA.. I would still like to see a photo or two just to clear this up in my mind. From Mental's post, I want think it may be easier to bite the bullet and drill them clear thru and repair the glass. You may even want to consider making or buying a custom bolt with a low profile head that you could live with exposed on the top of the swim platform...

Scag: I thought about this but the bolt's would exit right through the Sunsation Logo. Also my wife would complain about getting caught on them, me too for that matter.

[QUOTE=MILLERIME;4089307]Yeah, I know... It's an option, just not a good one... I couldn't do it either. Any good glass guys in your area?

I was one of the first to add the ladder. Maybe one reason our lags held is they were so large and long they came close to poking through the top swim platform. So they were well planted into the material of the lower portion and upper portion of the swim platform. In 2000 I think that material inside the platform was laminated wood.

So the ladder is on. What we did was very involved but it is rock solid. On top of the swim platform past the logo where it curves over we made two metal plates that contour to the boat. To the back of these plates we welded bolts that go all the way down under the boat. For the side closest to the transom we slide a metal plate with nuts welded to it between the top cap and the hull. To keep the ladder level on the mounts closest to the transom we made little feet about 2 inches long which a bolt goes up through the back of the ladder through these feet and bolts to the plate. Everything was powder coated white and sealed with 5200. We stood on the ladder to test about 400 lbs and it held firm. Its probably a little overkill but there is know way it will ever come off. Also if I happen to leave the ladder down we can just un-bolt from the bottom. I would be happy to email pictures if anybody else is attempting this project and wants to see what we came up with.

Greg

Millertime,
Would you send pictures of your swim stem fix.
Thanks, Zmotoring

This is his boat:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1017...41964519304501
There is one picture of the ladder.

See this thread with some info on some ideas you can use for a blind mounting.
http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-islander.html
There are a couple other threads linked in that one with Garelick bolts.

Do you think these Garelick/Eez-In Toggler Brand Stainless Steel Toggle Bolt Anchors would work? Is there enough room inside the swim platform area? I talked to Jeff at Sunsation and said they have no more ladders or installation kits available. He gave me couple companies that sell he ladder. Wife is going to need a ladder to get in this 32 .

What company's did he give you?

GG Schmitt and Sons
These were the ladders we installed. 3 step version.