Hatch question/problem......

[Rock-A-Bye-Baby]

My engine hatch flew open on me twice this year. it is now pretty messed up and i may have diffuculty reattaching the arms because the holes were pretty bored out when they were yanked out. Additionaly, the screws in the top of the hatch attaching the hinge are bent in the hole so getting them out will be tricky.
anyone have any suggestions on what i should do? If i didn't describe the problem well enough, pm me and i will go into greater detail.
has anyone installed a hydraulic lift? if so, how hard? how much?

[Racer277]

Take a look at the Dana hydraulic scissor hinges. They replace your hinges so they are hidden in the closed position. Also open very quickly and the bling factor!
Good Luck!

[Havasu Hangin']

I put set of electric rams on my old boat.
It's very easy...just make sure the ram is fully collapsed when the hatch is closed. Otherwise, if you press the button for a split second too long, it tries to pull the ram out of the screwholes.
If your hinge holes are stripped, perhaps you could thrrough-bolt them.

[BADBLOWN572]

I agree w/ Havasu Hanging. I would stay away from the Dana hatch hinges. We have had them bleed pressure and allow the hatch to pop up somewhat. I know on my boat, I had problems initially with them. I was fine at 65-70mph, but after that I had a problem. The hatch would lift approximately 5-6" and start packing air. I had to get out of the truck, go back, push the down button again, and then resume. To fix the problem, we had to put an electronic hatch latch on the boat. If you put in an electric hatch ram, it will be a MUCH easier install as well as a lot cheaper. No you don't have the bling factor of the hatch hinges, but you also don't have the headache. I believe that a new hatch hinge system is about 1k, where a new hatch ram should be around 200-400 from Rex.

[Jbb]

I agree w/ Havasu Hanging. I would stay away from the Dana hatch hinges. We have had them bleed pressure and allow the hatch to pop up somewhat. I know on my boat, I had problems initially with them. I was fine at 65-70mph, but after that I had a problem. The hatch would lift approximately 5-6" and start packing air. I had to get out of the truck, go back, push the down button again, and then resume. To fix the problem, we had to put an electronic hatch latch on the boat. If you put in an electric hatch ram, it will be a MUCH easier install as well as a lot cheaper. No you don't have the bling factor of the hatch hinges, but you also don't have the headache. I believe that a new hatch hinge system is about 1k, where a new hatch ram should be around 200-400 from Rex.
Hmmm....If you had any lift at any speed...a connection or valve had to be bad...I had them on my boat and they never moved....ever...at any speed ..I was on a 30 Specter on a Poker run this year that had them also....105 mph all day long...and they never moved....They are expensive....but I would buy them over an electric....everytime.....

[Rock-A-Bye-Baby]

are there any to see online? i gave a half ass effort to find some but no luck. any suggestions?

[BADBLOWN572]

Hmmm....If you had any lift at any speed...a connection or valve had to be bad...I had them on my boat and they never moved....ever...at any speed ..I was on a 30 Specter on a Poker run this year that had them also....105 mph all day long...and they never moved....They are expensive....but I would buy them over an electric....everytime.....
We figured out that the pump was having a blow by issue. Where my pump is mounted, I decided to put the electric hatch latch over pull the pump, lines, etc... to get it to fix it. We also had a couple of problems with other boats we did the installs on so it was not an isolated occurrance.

[Rexone]

are there any to see online? i gave a half ass effort to find some but no luck. any suggestions?
Electric hatch Actuators (http://www.rexmar.com/page52.html)
Dana PowerHinges (http://www.rexmar.com/page50.html)
Sounds like there was a problem in the powerhinge system you had, either a leaky line connection or a bad cylinder or pump bleeding off. They should not do that. We've sold lots of sets now and don't recall any of them having any problems.
Just give a call if we can help.

[Rock-A-Bye-Baby]

Electric hatch Actuators (http://www.rexmar.com/page52.html)
Dana PowerHinges (http://www.rexmar.com/page50.html)
Sounds like there was a problem in the powerhinge system you had, either a leaky line connection or a bad cylinder or pump bleeding off. They should not do that. We've sold lots of sets now and don't recall any of them having any problems.
Just give a call if we can help.
thanks. can you give me a quote on an install for the electric hatch?