wobbly base for the rear seat pedistal. How to tighten up

[stratman201]

I figured this would happen to my boat as I have seen this on many skeeters for some reason. The base that the rear seat pedistal screws in on the back deck is a little loose. Is there a way to tighten the base up under the deck. Surely there is a way to fix this as I think this is a common problem for Skeeters. I think someone even posted about this one time on here. Any ideas???
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[skeetzx225]

I believe there's access to the bolts under the deck, just get a small mirror and look under in the rigging area

older post - http://www.bbcboards.net...22737

[avid fisherman]

I recently tightened mine. There were 5 bolts that I had to get at from underneath. They are a bit of a challenge but I did not have to cut the carpet on the top to tighten like some have suggested on the other post. I was able to keep the top side tight by moving the pedestool one way while keeping pressure on it and than the other way so that the top of the bolt would not spin.

[Real Deal Tungsten]

avid...what socket did you use? I have not found on with a thin enough wall that I can get on the nuts and fit in between them and the pedastal base.

[LuckyMesscun]

7/16" deep thin walled socket. And dont wait too long to tighten mine did not have nuts on bottom the bolts actually screwed into a aluminum base plate which was threaded, I waited too long and the threads got wallered out. I had to drill them out wider and use longer bolts with nuts, washers, and lock washers and then I put threadlock for good measure. And yes I had to cut carpet slightly to hold a backup. definately a two person job. Good luck.

[DarHans]

I have a 2001 ZX225 and my rear seat pedstal would get loose about every six months. After doing this for the fourth time around and realizing I hate moving and streching like a ballerina to do this again in six months.

There's a good post undersearch that uses a big fender washer. This was a good idea. However the "fix" is in getting ballsy and taking a drill and retap the 5 holes from a #10 screw hole to a 1/4". Use 3 or 4 inch SS screws with wing nuts, lock washer, and a little locktite. With the big fender washer on the underside, eliminates the need for a socket. and once you have the bolt started on the wing nut. The wing nut holds it self against the deck shaft and only a screw driver is needed. You may have to grind the side of the wing nut to gain suffcient clearance against the shaft. However, this is a permanent fix to which your big 350lb bubba friend using a lean post won.t break. The deck will bend before this comes loose.