Rinker 350/360 2007+ Random Topics

Spyderweb

@rasbury I have the same concern.  All my previous boats were Bayliner.  Since Bayliner got out of the cruiser business about 10 years ago, there has been a gradual reduction in activity on their site.

diggin2day1

rasbury said:

Where is @ digintoday,  he disapeared...off to greener pastures?

    I’m still here!!! Sorry about not contributing to the forum as much as used too… Been burning the candle from both ends lately. I spoke with @raybo3 this afternoon and he told me there was a search party out looking for me!!

   @YYZRC - absolutely amazing work you’re doing!!

LaRea

rasbury said:

I'm getting worried about our forum as long time major contributors are moving on it seems...

Ras don't forget all of the new members who are making solid contributions.  @johnny44 and @Rich_ are great examples.  

My Rinker will be gone in a couple weeks, but I'm not going anywhere.  Having recently spent some time on another major boating forum, I appreciate our forum even more. 

The other forum is much larger than ours, averaging around 70-80 messages per day.  That's good because there's a huge wealth of boating info.  Questions get a reply within hours if not minutes.  It's a great resource. 

Unfortunately, it's not all boaters helping boaters.  They have too many people who like to judge, criticize, insult and gang-tackle.  And there's WAY too much presidential politics, which I hate.  I've been participating in online forums for nearly 40 years, and that forum is one of the worst I've seen. 

The Rinker owners forum is far above average for keeping things polite, constructive, apolitical, and on-topic.  I really appreciate that.  

Grahamu

Agree with LaRea, I still check in daily and will do so until I start travelling and then it will depend on cell and internet connectivity. I'm hoping to have days where I'm doing nothing and relaxing and checking in. I have never been a social media person until this site and also appreciate it's low key posts. I now visit other  forums, but don't post, and there are some people on them I would like to say **** off if you have nothing constructive to say and unfortunately it's almost a daily occurrence. Many of the topics discussed on this site also apply to our new boat and if I run into a problem I will be checking here first to see if there are solutions.

raybo3

IMHO I feel the site is in great shape. I worry about Polaris pulling the plug on it because I don't think they are bringing the brand back. The strength of the forum is the nucleus of the members. There is some BS that goes on but its far and few between. I personally miss some past members, Alwagg, Handy, Blackdiamond to name a few. MT checks in once in a while also. I do my best to keep it clean and try to help members with login problems because I want this forum to succeed. Dream_Inn is a class act and a huge help to me ......... Just say'n  

Dream_Inn

Thanks @raybo3!  I’ve always loved this site and the people.  I understand that in life you move on sometimes from one thing to the next.  Definitely some people I miss, but completely get it.  I’m so fortunate that my entire family loves boating and has helped keep it enjoyable for me.  This weekend was the first time we got my son’s boat running perfectly.  To see him tied up on my boat with several of his buddies just made everything worth it!

YYZRC

Replaced the Rinker emblems with custom 1/4” black acrylic with chrome face. 

SimcoeRinker400

@YYZRC should of bought a set of factory logos from me if yours were damaged.  Still have about 10 boats in stock.  

YYZRC

@SimcoeRinker400 great to hear from you! Are you heading up the Trent this summer?

SimcoeRinker400

@YYZRC We will see how the Trent behaves this year really don't want to get stuck again like last year.  I will update you as it would be fun to see some of your spots to anchor.  

YYZRC

Dream_Inn said:

I would like to see how you are mounting the plate on the dinghy.  For me, I just use a line off the weaver davit.  If it’s rough I’ll use it with a piece of pvc that I use as a spacer (when it’s on platform).  I like the idea maybe to use with my cleaning raft/platform while I’m waxing the boat on the lift.

@Dream_Inn yesterday I used the dinghy bracket to wax the topsides of the boat. It worked brilliantly. 

YYZRC

johnny44 said:

Here is a pic of the new snap in carpet. I am really happy with it. It dries quickly and feels great to step on. I hear it gets hot in the sun, so will wait to see how that goes. 

Oh, and my favorite addition is my custom table that @diggin2day1 made me. It is absolutely beautiful and the quality and attention to detail is incredible, even on the bottom!).

 

@johnny44 do you know what brand/color of vinyl your guy used to reupholster the seat cushions? I need to have mine redone this winter. 

johnny44

I can't find any of the information from the invoice. I found a local upholstery shop in my town that did a lot of nice work on autos. (He did do some marine but wasn't strictly a marine guy. And because he wasn't a "marine" shop - that translated into a big savings from the other quotes I had.)

I just took all my seat bottoms to him and we picked out a color from one of the marine vinyl books that matched as close as possible. We couldn't find a piping color to match so I told him to just use the same color. And I actually like it better. 

I only did the seat bottoms. (I did not do the captains seat) They needed it because the stitching was starting to fray. The tops were still in decent shape. Figured it would buy me some time. I am happy with the way it turned out. I would say just find a good marine vinyl and match it as close as you can.

YYZRC

Thanks @johnny44 - I agree that the white piping is way nicer. My seat bottoms are starting to tear at the piping, and I think some new foam would be a good idea.

I am only going to do the seat bottoms as well, as long as I can match the seat backs!

johnny44

oscar1 said:

Late test due to Covid, But I was finally able to run the boat after the installation of the hill 4x4 (20 pitch) props. In my opinion the 4x4 was better to get my boat out the hole in a lower rpm and I was able to plane the boat around 2800 to 2900 rpm which it was around 10 to 13 knots which it feel very slow.  I lost speed between 2 to 4 knots, plus the eng rpm are more higher to cruiser now.  My normal cruising speed with the 4x3 Mercruiser props 21 pitch was between 19 to 20 knots around 3050 rpm, to do the same with the 4x4 hills prop I have to increase the rpm between 100 to 200 rpm more to cruise around 19 to 20 knots. The feeling of the boat is more heavy which it may be because I am not used to this props yet. I going to cont running with the 4x4 for now until the end of this season, But I believe my original set up of 4x3 (21 pitch) Mercruiser prop with a drive of 2.20.1 gear ratio are the perfect combination for my boat.

@oscar1 did you go back to your 4x3 props? I had 4x3's last year and switched out to the hill marine 4x4's this year. Curious to know what you found out. I am not getting the results I was expecting. I still need to do some more testing, but seems like I am burning more fuel. At least my gph at cruising speed has jumped from 26-27 gph to around 29 gph with the 4x4's.

oscar1

I didn't go back to the 4x3 yet, because I did have the time to take the boat out the water to replace it yet. Plus after spending all that money for the 4x4, I will running this season with the 4x4, But i have the same opinion like you for a Rinker 310EC 350 mag the original 4x3 is the way to go. 

johnny44

If anyone else has gone from 4x3 to the Hill Marine 4x4’s I’d be interested in learning the results and how it was worked out.

YYZRC

@LaRea did but sold his boat right after installing 4x4s so not sure he had enough time to test the difference. I trust @oscar1 ’s results though. 

I didn’t know any 350s came with 4x3s actually. I thought you only got 4x3s on the Bravo 3x outdrives or newer boats. 

LaRea

I was really happy with the 4x4s on the 370.  Better hole shot, better docking, stayed on plane to lower speeds, and no change to cruise speed or top speed.  I suppose weight is a factor (20k pounds, compared to 12-15k for the 310 and 350).  And I made a lucky guess on the pitch.  

johnny44

Hmmm… @LaRea has me thinking…is it the props that is making docking easier or is it just me getting better?? I thought it was just me, but I could be wrong!

Yes, I would say the hole shot is a better. I still have to have the tabs all the way down, but don’t seem to fight it as much as I did with the 4x3. 

Honestly, I have still have to play with it this summer. Yesterday was only the second time I was able to really run her. The weather here hasn’t been cooperating so far. I did check the props and there wasn’t any growth on them. The bottom shouldn’t be bad because the water is still cold right now. More to come, just was wondering what others thought. 

Pretty sure a previous owner put the 4x3 on her. Don’t think they were originals.

YYZRC

Roof rack is up. Ugly but functional. 

YYZRC

I really hate carpet. Remade the carpeted trim piece along the edge of the head and wrapped in vinyl instead. Also redid the corner piece because it was bulky. Sometimes it’s the little things. 

In the winter I will see if @diggin2day1 can make me some new stairs to match my laminate floor. I am also going to widen the treads so the go all the way to the wall. 

YYZRC

I was really tired of shoving a garden hose in the side of the boat to fill the freshwater tank. I replaced the inlet hose with a direct connection to the water system using a reducing bushing on the inlet at the tank. A ball valve allows me to fill the freshwater tank when I am connected to city water. 

I also relocated the pump out fitting to the starboard side and replaced all the tubing. 

Phase two will be to replace the port side fitting with an Aquor inlet. 

Phase three will be a new water filtration system that will allow me to fill the freshwater tank with filtered lake water when out at anchor for long stretches. That is the white pex line with ball valve. 

TonyG13

SharkBite fittings are great. So easy to work with and they hold up over the long haul.

LaRea

So, you connect city water to the boat, then just open a valve to fill the tank?  

YYZRC

LaRea said:

So, you connect city water to the boat, then just open a valve to fill the tank?  

Exactly. 

LaRea

Brilliant.  Should have been OEM.  Did you patent the IP on this idea? 

YYZRC

I would love to know the thinking behind the garden hose inlet. Do new boats still come with it? Who is pouring jugs of water in there? Every time I filled up my tank I felt like cousin Eddie from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vaca. 

The only benefit I can come up with is that you can just jam the hose in there and let it run until it overflows. Now I have to pop open the hatch and monitor the fill, which could be construed as inconvenient. 

Shortly, I will have this inlet installed so no more threading on the garden hose. 

LaRea

Ideally, the tank level is networked to the MFD, which can be mirrored to a phone.  Stand on the pier (or in the air conditioning) with the phone in your hand and watch the level go up, then shut off the water.  That's what I'm going to install on the Maritimo.  Ditto with fuel.  

YYZRC

Love it. My old Stinker can’t handle that level of tech but maybe the next boat.