Rub Rail discussion

[illMATTic]

so i was thinkin about changing out my rub rail when i paint the boat. i see there are many different styles and shapes.

i have been to the taco website. being the cheap ass that i am.... i am wondering if there is anything less exspensive than the taco brand.

[illMATTic]

ok so out of 2500+ users no one can tell me anything about rub rails?

hhhmmmmmmm........... come one guys

[Chris E]

Hey some us work for a living !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (i just don't work very hard)

So you want to do rub rail eh? TACO is a good source and is the only one i know that offers the OEM style rub rail. chances are good that they have your matching rub rail. Rub rail is not hard to install but it can need A LOT of persuasion to get to fit properly. Make sure you buy a bit more than you need and measure the gunwale length and not the centerline length. We used to have a 45 gallon drum with two hot water heating elements in it and would get the water close to boiling and dump the rubrail in for 1/2 hour to get pliable enough to work with. Heat is your friend when intalling rub rail - just don't melt it! Have fun with it!

[illMATTic]

man oh man, why are rub rails so much darn money? is it due to limited production? i have only seen two brands and i am pretty sure they are one in the same.

also, why in the hell does it come in the oddball sizes? 30, 50, 70 feet.

[Inline Six]

Theyre expensive because its aluminum for one, and eerything is special so its real hard to get a generic rubrail.

Trim is extremely expensive, you wont get much cheaper than taco for specialty stuff. The trim from the early 70's checkmates is no longer in production (luckily for me being a packrat I have enough to do any projects I could ever find)

If te old stuff isnt too bad keep it, if you havent done trim before you might wreck it putting it on (there is a trick to it)

[illMATTic]

inline..... im not looking for aluminum. im going with the all rubber with rubber insert. i dont think it will be all that hard to shoot a couple screws into the side of the boat to hold it on.

[merc245]

Illmattic glad to see more cowbell, Last Holloween a co-worker came to the the party as the more cowbell guy.He was dead on including the Ill fitting shirt.

Apx. 6-7 weeks to go.

[Adam L.]

I am also in the market for a new rub rail. I am planning on using the original aluminum rail and just getting a new insert. The rail I have is in good shape, plus I wont have to bend new ones. I used a heat gun to soften the old one when I took it off, but I like Chris E's idea on the hot water.