Armstrong Bracket Bolt Corrosion Fix Ideas

Gulffishin

Gulffishin

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Freedom 225
Hey Guys,

I recently got a 225 Freedom, a great upgrade from my old 192, and I’m thrilled! However, the surveyor pointed out some corrosion on the bolts under the swim platform. The bolts inside the bracket and on the bilge side are fine. He wasn’t worried, but I want to tackle it this winter if it might become an issue.

Has anyone experienced this? How did you handle it? Everything feels solid and there’s no movement. Should I just keep an eye on it? I did replace the anode right after delivery since it was in bad shape.
 

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Since it's minimal right now... get it taken care of before it requires a lot more work. You should be able to take two bolts (1&3, then 2&4) out at time to fix without any issues.
 
DennisG01 said:
Since it's minimal right now... get it taken care of before it requires a lot more work. You should be able to take two bolts (1&3, then 2&4) out at time to fix without any issues.
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What kind of bolts and washers? Stainless I assume, but I think I have read about using plastic washers to prevent galvanic corrosion.
 
Gulffishin said:
What kind of bolts and washers? Stainless I assume, but I think I have read about using plastic washers to prevent galvanic corrosion.
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Yes, SS. But they might already be SS - and if so, can just be cleaned and re-used.

Yes, you can get nylon washers to help guard against the galvanic corrosion you're starting to get. You can also epoxy the bare aluminum (clean it really well, first) to help with that, too.

I suspect what happened is that the washers dug through the sealant as they were being tightened and that put the SS and aluminum in contact.
 
The best practice is to use insulating sleeve washers/bushing to keep the 316 stainless from being in contact with the aluminum bracket. Add a plastic washer to the other side. This is how riggers are done and how brackets, hardtops and other aluminum/stainless mounting should be done.

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