Rub Rails

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Rub Rails

Postby kokko » Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:27 am

Time to replace the rub rails on Truelove. I lookin DRMarine an it seems to be a two-part system - the white flexible vinyl and a clip. Here are the two links

http://www.drmarine.com/proddetail.asp? ... %2D2R%2DFT
http://www.drmarine.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DR120F%2D50

So Ideally, I replace the vinyl and don't have to replace any sections of the rigid clip. How likely is that? Given the condition of the existing rub rail, will the clip start snapping as I remove the vinyl? Would I be wise to cut the vinyl off rather than pull it off?
DS1 Truelove
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Re: Rub Rails

Postby GreenLake » Fri Oct 03, 2014 12:16 pm

Here is how I would look at it. If you get the complete system, the replacement can be expected to last as long as the original (assuming it is like for like, that is no changes occurred in design and materials in the intervening period). If you don't, then you take the risk of one component failing earlier than the other, cutting down the time until the next repair. So, the question I would ask, after determining that I can afford to do it right is, do I care about getting maximal lifetime from the repair?

That said, I don't fully understand how much the clips contribute after you finished installing the rail, because I would expect that it's largely held in place by being stretched around a convex outline. It may be that the stresses on the clips are limited.

On my boat, I have been expecting the rubrail to fail for many years now, but it hasn't. In the front, there are slits top and bottom to allow it to make the bend around the bow. I keep expecting those cuts to progress across the front, allowing the rail to split, but despite some unfortunate encounters of the embarrassing kind with various docks that hasn't happened. The part of the rail that's still connected looks a bit thin, but I can't say that I see any changes.

So, I have concluded that, while the rail doesn't look the nicest any more (it's over 50 years old, by now, after all), it appears to be functional and have some life still left in it. I'll await your report of how the replacement went.

I remember that there are threads on rubrail replacement buried deeply among the older posts on this forum. Have you found them?
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