Rod Holders

[lil bitty]

Has anyone installed flush mount rod holders in the top of their gunwales on a 170 cc? I know the 190 and 210 come with them from the factory, but was wondering if it could be done with the 170. Wouldn't the rod holder tubes have to have a sealed bottom so that water doesn't get inside the hull? Any info and pics would be appreciated. Jason

[Fischer53]

Did that last summer, but did not think to take pictures and the boat is sealed up under the snow. A couple of pointers:
1) Get a hole saw of the correct diameter, a 12" drill bit extension and make a jig to approxomate the angle of the holders. You need to use the jig to angle the hole or the holders will not sit properly
2) Remember the sidewall angles away into the boat. That means you can not plan on the flange sitting square on the gunwale. It will be turned slightly. Be carefull not to drill through your sidewall. Drill a bit, remove foam, check and then drill a bit more.
3) Use holders with a small oval flange. I originally ordered the rectangular Perkos, but they did not fit once I twisted them to clear the sidewall issue discussed above.
4) Go to the hardware store to plug the bottom. I found a threaded insert the loosely threaded into the bottom of the holder. It accepted a smaller threaded insert, that accepted a threaded barbed drain. I put all that together, sealed it and sealed the daylights out of it inside and out on the holder. I created a pocket in the foam under the holder and drilled into into it from inside the boat just above the lip on the inside wall, put 3' of 1/4" plastic hose on the holder, worked it through the hole in the side, cut it shorter, put another barbed plug on the end. Pushed the excess back into the sidewall and sealed it all with Rule top and bottom. Any water into the holder now drains right out.

Hope that helps.

[yesndeed]

lil bitty,
hey I once wanted to do the same thing but both the dealership where i bought my and a call to the factory told me that if i cut the holes for the rod holders i would void the hull warrantee. I actually got some of those cheap white plastic ones and mounted them inside the hull just in front of the little seats on either side of the transom. to my suprise they dont get in the way and i dont even notice them. hope that helps bro.
yesndeed

[lil bitty]

Thanks for the responses. That's some good info Fischer 53. Do you remember which rod holders you installed, and where they can be purchased? I did notice how the side walls angle in when I was trying to figure out how to fit some holders in.
I called my Triumph dealer today to see if they can install the flush mount holders. The service dept. was going to look over a 170cc they have in stock and see if they can find a holder to install. They didn't say anything about the hull warranty being void if the holders are installed. Just waiting for a return call. But now that you have mentioned that, yesndeed, I will certianly double check. Thanks, Jason

[Fischer53]

I believe they were Sea Bowld (Not sure of spelling) and I got them at West Marine. They had the caps to keep the water out when not being used.

Let me know if you find anything definitive on the warranty, not that it matters at this point.

[scottg73]

How did you mount them. Do you have any pictures.

[CubFanPete]

Cargrove posted a binch of pics of rodholder installation in Photo section under 170/150/120 modifications.

[cagrove]

I went with the Scotty rod holders (actually were Cabelas QuickDraw, made by Scotty) and used the retangular flush mount. It enables me to adjust the rod angles to fine tune my trolling spread. It does require a hole to be drilled into the top of the gunnels but only needs to be about two inches deep (less foam to dig out) and was very easy to seal with Rule to keep water out of the inner hull. Here's the link to Cabelas...several different mounts available. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...300&id=0012292

Let me know if you have any questions.