Well.. was hoping I would get a year in before any bolt breakage that I've read about. I was loaded up , heading up wind when POW!..crash. my biggest fear as I was swimming around was my foil being 100' down. To my releif it was still attached. Then I grabbed the wing and could feel the forward/aft wiggle. I Gingerly slogged my way back home.I do a "wiggle" test with the foil assembly everytime I go out. It's always felt rigid.
Looking at the head of the bolt, the hex broached hole bottom is only ~.04" above the threaded shank. No wonder..
All the grease was still on the bolt so it came out of the mast easily. I'm in fresh water, so going to go with a coated steel bolt instead of Stainless steel.

Only 2 bolts?

Sry to be dense, but what exactly are we looking at? (can't quite tell from title and photo, and I'm still new to all of this)

When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Lucky you didn't lose the foil. Do the bolts have any markings like A2, A4 etc? Were they the original bolts or you bought them from a hardware store?

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jims said..
Sry to be dense, but what exactly are we looking at? (can't quite tell from title and photo, and I'm still new to all of this)

Slingshot pedestal plate to mast.

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ZeroVix said..

jims said..
Sry to be dense, but what exactly are we looking at? (can't quite tell from title and photo, and I'm still new to all of this)

Slingshot pedestal plate to mast.

Slingshot Titauim bolts are trash. I broke a m6 like that before on my hoverglide wing, not east to remove. You'll find lots of posts talking about this. Use A4-70(316 stainless) or at least A2-70. And change out high stress bolts more frequently if your in salt water. I sail only in fresh water and would change my A4-70 mast to fuse bolts yearly.

M8 is almost 2 times stronger than M6

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ZeroVix said..

jims said..
Sry to be dense, but what exactly are we looking at? (can't quite tell from title and photo, and I'm still new to all of this)

Slingshot pedestal plate to mast.

Thanks ZeroVix, I could not figure it out either!

+1 for stainless over titanium. A4 is the best, A2 is a close second.

And then keep everything well greased, and disassemble often enough to clean and regrease.

I replaced the Ti bolts on the Slingshot interface of tuttle fitting to mast with stainless, and now breathe easier. Same for the mast to fuse bolts.

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CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

pretty traumatic the first time I had one of these go. Was it the front bolt? lots of tension on that front bolt

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WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

I also replaced the original titanium bolts with stainless steel ones. Try to get A2 or A4 stainless so you know how much they are supposed to withstand. You can get them for around a dollar for the long ones and half a dollar the short ones.

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WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

That is weird considering you're on fresh water! We had almost zero issues in Dallas, but as others have said even freshies need some TLC.

Now that I'm a salty the corrosion and abuse the hardware takes is staggering, I just ordered another $50 of hardware with McMaster-Carr with spare A4 SS bolts (M6, M8 etc)

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CoreAS said..

WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

That is weird considering you're on fresh water! We had almost zero issues in Dallas, but as others have said even freshies need some TLC.

Now that I'm a salty the corrosion and abuse the hardware takes is staggering, I just ordered another $50 of hardware with McMaster-Carr with spare A4 SS bolts (M6, M8 etc)

Ya, mine are on the way. I have mcmaster deliveries every day, so all good. It just happened to be on the coldest day so far. It was 25 degf in the am with 35 knots of wind. I waited till 4:00 pm when the temp was in the 40's and the winds dropped to 20 knots. The only idiots on the lake were me and 2 wing dingers. Jeeze I'm a cold weather pussy . I saw that video of you in ray hubbard in the ice water..... Nope...

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WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..

WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

That is weird considering you're on fresh water! We had almost zero issues in Dallas, but as others have said even freshies need some TLC.

Now that I'm a salty the corrosion and abuse the hardware takes is staggering, I just ordered another $50 of hardware with McMaster-Carr with spare A4 SS bolts (M6, M8 etc)

Ya, mine are on the way. I have mcmaster deliveries every day, so all good. It just happened to be on the coldest day so far. It was 25 degf in the am with 35 knots of wind. I waited till 4:00 pm when the temp was in the 40's and the winds dropped to 20 knots. The only idiots on the lake were me and 2 wing dingers. Jeeze I'm a cold weather pussy . I saw that video of you in ray hubbard in the ice water..... Nope...

it always happens on the coldest of days, murphy's law

I was called a Florida wuss today as the air temp was 68 and I was seen climbing into a 3/2 wetsuit (the water temp is around 72) but the 2mm shorty just wasn't cutting it, haha... I am all kinds of spoilt now!

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CoreAS said..

WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..

WsurfAustin said..

CoreAS said..
When was the last time you swapped out your hardware?

Purchased new in April, so nothing swapped out till now.

That is weird considering you're on fresh water! We had almost zero issues in Dallas, but as others have said even freshies need some TLC.

Now that I'm a salty the corrosion and abuse the hardware takes is staggering, I just ordered another $50 of hardware with McMaster-Carr with spare A4 SS bolts (M6, M8 etc)

Ya, mine are on the way. I have mcmaster deliveries every day, so all good. It just happened to be on the coldest day so far. It was 25 degf in the am with 35 knots of wind. I waited till 4:00 pm when the temp was in the 40's and the winds dropped to 20 knots. The only idiots on the lake were me and 2 wing dingers. Jeeze I'm a cold weather pussy . I saw that video of you in ray hubbard in the ice water..... Nope...

it always happens on the coldest of days, murphy's law

I was called a Florida wuss today as the air temp was 68 and I was seen climbing into a 3/2 wetsuit (the water temp is around 72) but the 2mm shorty just wasn't cutting it, haha... I am all kinds of spoilt now!

I know how you feel. As a Queenslander I don't get in my swimming pool untill the water gets to 30 degrees Centigrade.

In Florida on a 68F day, two locals I foil with were wearing DRYSUITS. I was perfectly comfortable in my 3/2 shorty.

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segler said..
In Florida on a 68F day, two locals I foil with were wearing DRYSUITS. I was perfectly comfortable in my 3/2 shorty.

Ya, I was out today in 66 deg in my drysuit . It's all I have. Was a tad warm inside but a couple headers in the 65 deg water cooled me off via my bald head.

Does anyone know where to get A2 or A4 bolts in Australia?

Just google stainless steel bolt supplier in your state, or order from Anzor in Qld