For months I've been trying to track down a leak in my boat....I always thought it was the livewell or some issue with my modification, but after numerous tests, I've found that the livewell is just fine.
The leak always happened more with someone riding in the boat with me than without. This past weekend afforded the opportunity to float the boat overnight without pulling it out of the water.....I launched it and just parked it without running it....checked in the morning...no leaks....ran the livewell...nothing. Went out fishing, didn't fill the livewell....and I didn't have a leak.....went out again, but this time filled the livewell and brought along the dogs...and low and behold, I had water in the bottom of the boat....I was so perplexed....well, I again took a look underneath the boat for problems...couldn't see anything...then I saw an area I couldn't see because the rubber stop was in that area....moved the boat back on the trailer and low and behold there was a 4" split right at the "semi-V" of the jon boat front end. The metal had thinned and weakened in the area where it rubs against the trailer stop. It only leaked when I had more weight up front to force water into the crack.
Shop said they can't weld it because the metal had been worn too thin (that's why it cracked) and said if they touched the area to weld it, it would explode to a huge hole....so I'm at a bit loss....tonight I applied 3M 5200 to the spot and will just hope for the best. Also thinking of lowering the point of the front trailer stop hits the boat. What's your thoughts?
