2021 Z19 Tandem Trailer Fender Mod.

[Pat Dilling]

Prior to getting my boat I was warned by a few people regarding the steel fenders with the metal diamond plate on top. The warning was regarding the danger of scratching the underside of the hull of the boat while pulling out if the boat slid up on top of the fender either due the trailer being in too deep or because of wind or a wave lifting the boat. I have landed a quite a few bass boats, I just figured the trailer must have been in too deep. Now that I have mine and have put it on the trailer a few times I can definitely see how this can happen.

So I came up with a simple, inexpensive solution. I took the metal diamond plate off by drilling out the rivets and removing the fender mount bolt. I went to Harbor Freight and picked up three 12" x 12" self-adhesive rubber safety mats with tread surface. They cost $4.99 each and I had a 30% off coupon, final price less than $12. I cut each one in half to get 6 pieces. I drilled a hole in the middle of one for the fender bolt, peeled the backing and put it place getting it as square with the fender edge as I could eyeball. I then placed one on either end. The adhesive sticks very well to the fender. I will keep an eye on it and if any come loose I will rivet them down. The rubber looks good and should protect the boat from scratches and give and even better no slip step surface than the metal.

Another option: I saw a new Phoenix boat with similar fenders and diamond plate. The edges of the diamond plate were smoother, and the top of carpeted board on the inside of the fender was about 1/2 to 3/4" higher than the fender top. This would help guide the boat and also provide something for the boat to land on if it should get above the fender. I considered raising the boards on my Nitro trailer, there are 5 screws that hold it in place, it would not be difficult. I still might do that if this hack does not work out. Here are a couple pictures before and after.

Pat

[Mcjenson]

Killer idea. I had the damage done on mine already, fiberglass guy did a good repair though. Might have to do that and the dexter wet bolt kit over the winter. Another bonus is no slick surface when wet!

[Pat Dilling]

Let me add that it took me less than 30 minutes to do both fenders.

[KCLOST]

Very nice!!

[mean_dean]

Heck I might to that on my Z7 trailer just to not have the slippery diamond plate on the front and back of the fender. Great job!

[Ouroboros]

Thanks for the idea!

[SWL_Justin]

Nice

[Nailbender8]

Nice work right there!

[steinybass]

Awesome idea and looks good too.

[RANGER487]

Nice job looks better that way in my opinion.

[reelfast]

Nice DIY!!! Looks good

[C0MRAD]

That is functional and it looks good. I do worry about slipping when I step out of the boat using the fender, that diamond plate will probably kill me one day.

[fishnbound]

Great idea. Just ordered me a few. Link attached if anyone is interested.

https://www.harborfreight.com/self-a...mat-98858.html

[twise7]

Nice!

[AuMiner200]

I think the black mat mat looks way better than the shiny plate. Awesome idea!!

[Pat Dilling]

After having the rubber mats on there for a while, I can state that they give a much better grip than the metal ones did.

[Hunna]

Good I deal, looks good.

[KCLOST]

I thought I would chime in on this....

I recently did this modification to my trailer for my new 2021 Z20. Drilling out the rivets is easy, even easier if the boat is off the trailer but it can be done even though the boat can interfere a bit drilling out the inside rivets. I used the same self adhesive rubber diamond plate pads that Pat used. Cut them exactly in half. Before you do that line up the pieces so the diamond pattern matches at each edge. Not a big deal but I'm a bit anal about that kind of thing. I removed the center fender bolt, and cleaned the top of each fender with some windex type stuff and aligned the pads where I wanted them and stuck em down. With an exacto knife cut out the small bolt hole and re-installed the bolt. Cut around the outside edge of the bolt head so it tightened down against the top of the fender and not on top of the rubber pad. If you don't do that the pad will buckle around the bolt head.
Everything looked great. The next day, I took a look at it and noticed that the rubber pads were releasing from the fender surface, not good. These pads just don't have the adhesive strength we need. So I went to plan B.

Before I removed the pads, using painters tape, I taped off around the pads being careful to get the tape right up against the edge of each pad all the way around. Also taped on top of the carpeted board and extended out at least 3" outside of the pads. I then removed each pad keeping tract of which one went where. I noticed that the adhesive on the back of the pads is quite easy to peel off. So with a little work I peeled off all of the adhesive on all three pieces. Some took a little more work that the other, but when finished all were completely clean. I then sprayed each with 3M 90 adhesive as the directions said. Also sprayed the area on top of the fender inside the tape. This spray adhesive is fairly easy to get it where you want it as it applies in a web pattern, but the more tape you have outside of the area the better. It is important to let this adhesive tack-up for a minute or two which I did.
I then placed each mat back on top of the fender in the exact same place it was before. Immediately removed the tape when I was happy with the placement. Repeated this on the other side.

They are really on there now, no sign of adhesive release and I dumped them in the lake yesterday with no ill effects yet.

Pad No adhesive.jpgFender2.jpgFender.jpg

[jtrac]

My local HF is out of them but this is a project I will do. Thanks for the write up.

[Pat Dilling]

I thought I would chime in on this....

I recently did this modification to my trailer for my new 2021 Z20. Drilling out the rivets is easy, even easier if the boat is off the trailer but it can be done even though the boat can interfere a bit drilling out the inside rivets. I used the same self adhesive rubber diamond plate pads that Pat used. Cut them exactly in half. Before you do that line up the pieces so the diamond pattern matches at each edge. Not a big deal but I'm a bit anal about that kind of thing. I removed the center fender bolt, and cleaned the top of each fender with some windex type stuff and aligned the pads where I wanted them and stuck em down. With an exacto knife cut out the small bolt hole and re-installed the bolt. Cut around the outside edge of the bolt head so it tightened down against the top of the fender and not on top of the rubber pad. If you don't do that the pad will buckle around the bolt head.
Everything looked great. The next day, I took a look at it and noticed that the rubber pads were releasing from the fender surface, not good. These pads just don't have the adhesive strength we need. So I went to plan B.

Before I removed the pads, using painters tape, I taped off around the pads being careful to get the tape right up against the edge of each pad all the way around. Also taped on top of the carpeted board and extended out at least 3" outside of the pads. I then removed each pad keeping tract of which one went where. I noticed that the adhesive on the back of the pads is quite easy to peel off. So with a little work I peeled off all of the adhesive on all three pieces. Some took a little more work that the other, but when finished all were completely clean. I then sprayed each with 3M 90 adhesive as the directions said. Also sprayed the area on top of the fender inside the tape. This spray adhesive is fairly easy to get it where you want it as it applies in a web pattern, but the more tape you have outside of the area the better. It is important to let this adhesive tack-up for a minute or two which I did.
I then placed each mat back on top of the fender in the exact same place it was before. Immediately removed the tape when I was happy with the placement. Repeated this on the other side.

They are really on there now, no sign of adhesive release and I dumped them in the lake yesterday with no ill effects yet.

Pad No adhesive.jpgFender2.jpgFender.jpg

Nice work! You did a better job of aligning them than I did. Interesting that yours pulled loose so quickly. Mine have been on there since October with numerous launches and travels, 43 hours on the boat already. I have had no indication of them coming loose. I did wipe the fender down with body shop preps-all to make sure there was no residual wax, grease etc. I figured I would rivet them down if needed, but so far so good.

Edit: That coating they put on the trailers does seem to resist adhesives. One of our local counties requires a "Mussel Inspection Sticker" on the boat and trailer. The stickers will not stick to the trailer surface. I lost one almost immediately. So maybe some of the Harbor Freight pads have different adhesive?