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I have a 2013 R5. The swim step knob has broken off. Anyone know how to repair? What parts are required? Cost?

Let's see if the boys find the old thread or I'll look tonight. Call the dealer they have a new part with a larger knob or stud. Something like that.

Mine just broke on Sunday for the second time on my R5. It broke about 3-4 years ago and I was told that they put the new upgraded pin in so that wouldn’t happen again... that time it was under warranty. Now it is out of pocket and I was told the part is $235. Supposedly it is a kit with a new knob spring & pin that thread together, they suggest I use lock tight when threading them together. It isn’t a big deal to replace just expensive for a little knob! But then again everything seems to be expensive! BOAT...

It’s pretty common for them to break. When the step is down and the boat is moving up and down in the waves there is a lot of force in that little pin. There is a welded stop so the step can’t go down any farther but when the bow of the boat moves up the step has a lot of force pushing up on the bottom and all of that is pushing on that little 1/4” pin. It’s a design flaw if you ask me, the pin is the weak link.

Snowman8 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:49 pm the pin is the weak link.

Even more of a problem when it's the missing link.

I did order the correct pin to fix it that must be made out of gold for what it costs! But I purchased a 1/4 pin to put in it’s place until I get the part just to hold the swim step up. I think the pin should hold it in the up position and just let it float when down so all of that stress of the boat moving in the waves isn’t on the pin. The step floats partially submerged so when you swim up just grab it to push it down and then climb on to get into the boat.

Thanks for all the comments. I did buy that expensive kit today. it is criminal what they charge for it. I am still trying to confirm how the knob bent and broke in the first place. It suppose it is possible for the waves to bend it but it seems too strong for that. Maybe not.

Brks_rus wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:04 pm Thanks for all the comments. I did buy that expensive kit today. it is criminal what they charge for it. I am still trying to confirm how the knob bent and broke in the first place. It suppose it is possible for the waves to bend it but it seems too strong for that. Maybe not.

Next time you are on the boat watch how much water that step moves when the boat is moving in the waves, especially a big wave. That 1/4” pin doesn’t seem strong enough to handle those forces. I’ve broken 2 now and I was told the second one was an upgraded one to resolve the problem..

Mine broke last season and dealer replaced under warranty. Asked about the larger pin and said there wasn’t one. I never understood the need for it to lock in the down position anyway. As mentioned above, I to sit and watch the platform beat on that pin waiting for it to brake again.

TruckerTim wrote: Sat Jul 10, 2021 7:19 pm Mine broke last season and dealer replaced under warranty. Asked about the larger pin and said there wasn’t one. I never understood the need for it to lock in the down position anyway. As mentioned above, I to sit and watch the platform beat on that pin waiting for it to brake again.

I bought the replacement pin but I haven’t put it in and I’m not sure if I will. I just bought a $2 spring lock pin to keep in the hole while the step is up to keep it up and just let it float while down. We were out on the lake for a few hours this afternoon and only used the step once but it worked fine. We were on a smaller lake so we were the biggest boat out there so not very many big waves but we are planning on heading to the St Croix river tomorrow so we will see plenty of big waves tomorrow and I will report back.

After reading this tread, I looked at our swim step yesterday and could not figure where anything might break.
Anyone got pictures?

Here is my third replacement knob. I haven’t decided if I am going to put it in or just use the $2 1/4” spring lock pin that I got from my hardware store. This pin is $230! In the 6 years we have had our R5 two have broken and they always break when the step is down. If you don’t leave your step down or aren’t usually in big waves you will probably be fine. Notice how thin the middle of the pin is, that is where it breaks. I have 2 knobs in the bottom of the St Croix river.

Snowman8 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:15 pm Here is my third replacement knob. I haven’t decided if I am going to put it in or just use the $2 1/4” spring lock pin that I got from my hardware store. This pin is $230! In the 6 years we have had our R5 two have broken and they always break when the step is down. If you don’t leave your step down or aren’t usually in big waves you will probably be fine. Notice how thin the middle of the pin is, that is where it breaks. I have 2 knobs in the bottom of the St Croix river.

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I had been asking this question for a couple of years to folks on this forum who have the swim platform....what happens when you accidentally leave it down? Didn't get a response initially but now we are seeing this. I know I've left our ladder down accidentally multiple times. It was only a matter of time before the consequences of leaving the swim step down while underway would be felt. Wish Cobalt could have R&D'd this system better.

Snowman8 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:15 pm Here is my third replacement knob. I haven’t decided if I am going to put it in or just use the $2 1/4” spring lock pin that I got from my hardware store. This pin is $230! In the 6 years we have had our R5 two have broken and they always break when the step is down. If you don’t leave your step down or aren’t usually in big waves you will probably be fine. Notice how thin the middle of the pin is, that is where it breaks. I have 2 knobs in the bottom of the St Croix river.

Thanks for the picture. I could only see the larger areas. We usually leave ours down once someone uses it, and then put it up before we take off. It does get some amount of wave action. I guess I'll put it up more when drifting and waves are up.

AsLan7 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:33 pm

Snowman8 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:15 pm Here is my third replacement knob. I haven’t decided if I am going to put it in or just use the $2 1/4” spring lock pin that I got from my hardware store. This pin is $230! In the 6 years we have had our R5 two have broken and they always break when the step is down. If you don’t leave your step down or aren’t usually in big waves you will probably be fine. Notice how thin the middle of the pin is, that is where it breaks. I have 2 knobs in the bottom of the St Croix river.

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I had been asking this question for a couple of years to folks on this forum who have the swim platform....what happens when you accidentally leave it down? Didn't get a response initially but now we are seeing this. I know I've left our ladder down accidentally multiple times. It was only a matter of time before the consequences of leaving the swim step down while underway would be felt. Wish Cobalt could have R&D'd this system better.

Once the boat is up on plane I bet the step is out of the water completely so it probably doesn’t hurt anything. I wouldn’t make a habit of it. Just don’t leave the step down and trim the drive all the way up! That would be bad!

Snowman8 wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 8:27 am

AsLan7 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:33 pm

Snowman8 wrote: Sun Jul 11, 2021 8:15 pm Here is my third replacement knob. I haven’t decided if I am going to put it in or just use the $2 1/4” spring lock pin that I got from my hardware store. This pin is $230! In the 6 years we have had our R5 two have broken and they always break when the step is down. If you don’t leave your step down or aren’t usually in big waves you will probably be fine. Notice how thin the middle of the pin is, that is where it breaks. I have 2 knobs in the bottom of the St Croix river.

.
I had been asking this question for a couple of years to folks on this forum who have the swim platform....what happens when you accidentally leave it down? Didn't get a response initially but now we are seeing this. I know I've left our ladder down accidentally multiple times. It was only a matter of time before the consequences of leaving the swim step down while underway would be felt. Wish Cobalt could have R&D'd this system better.

Once the boat is up on plane I bet the step is out of the water completely so it probably doesn’t hurt anything. I wouldn’t make a habit of it. Just don’t leave the step down and trim the drive all the way up! That would be bad!

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Wouldn't it be bouncing on top of the water S8?....That's what our ladder does. Like a jumping bean.

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