I believe Parker changed the OEM tab manufacturer from Insta-Trim Boat Leveler to Lenco in 2001 or 2002, so the specifics of this project may have limited applicability to late-model Classic Parkers equipped with Lenco Tabs.
My goal was to upgrade the size of the tabs without drilling new holes in the transom for hydraulic lines and actuator supports. By staying with the Boat Leveler brand, I was able to upgrade my OEM 12X12 to 12X18 without moving my actuators or putting any new holes in my transom above the waterline.
If I had converted to ParkerNation’s favorite tab brand - Bennett, I would have had to re-route hydraulic lines, pump/solenoid mounting, wiring harness and switch assemblies. Bennett makes conversion from Lenco easy with special conversion kits, but not so for those of us with “older” Parkers wearing Boat Levelers.
Here is one of my original tabs. Note that they never had zincs, just Ablative paint. No issues with corrosion.
I bought the complete Insta-Trim Boat Leveler kit and would use everything except the wiring and switch.
This would be a complete “tech-refresh” of the moving parts and hydraulic hoses, and the only “intrusive” work to the transom would involve the new screws for the larger tabs plates. Total cost of the upgrade was less than $300
After removing the screws from the original tabs I used a putty knife, a heat gun, and hammer to separate the tabs from the transom. They had been fastened with a 5200-like adhesive at the factory and were still –very- much attached to the hull.
Here is a comparison of the old tabs on the ground VS. the new tabs temporarily tacked in place.
I used a hand tap with new twist drill to clean out old adhesive from the screw holes. In addition to removing the old adhesive the bit prepared the hole for penetrating epoxy.
West Marine penetrating epoxy was injected into each cleaned hole to wet out and prep the hole for standard epoxy filler.
Standard West Marine two-part epoxy was used following the penetrating epoxy to fill the holes. Epoxy was loaded in the screw holes and then quickly covered with duct tape to keep the material in place until cure.
Once all holes had been filled and cured, the area was sanded down in preparation for fitting the new tabs to locate new holes and define the increased tab area to clean.
This is where it was critical to leave the old actuator in place. Fitting the new tab to the old actuator allowed me to precisely align the new tab and mark the larger area that now needed to be sanded clean of all earlier bottom paint to accommodate the larger tab footprint.
After cleaning the larger footprint on the transom, the tab was re-aligned and the screw holes were marked. A wood shim cut to the thickness of the original tab offset from the hull bottom was used to insure a uniform offset along the entire length of the new tab.
I used a duct tape “depth gauge” on the drill bit to insure that I didn’t drill the new holes too deeply into the transom. I set duct tape at a depth shorter than the screw length to allow for the thickness of the stainless tab, and also to prevent a “pocket” in the screw hole at the end of the screw.
After wetting each screw hole with penetrating epoxy, and coating the back of the tab plate with 5200 I dabbed each hole with 5200 and installed the screws to mount the tab.
When mounting the new actuators and hose trim, I had to use a little heat to soften up the stiff hose enough to coax it into the “bend” so the trim plate would fit snugly.
Trim cover added, zincs installed, ready for bottom paint touch-up around the tabs. This time I decided not to paint the tabs themselves.
When doing any OEM tab replacement, you will need to replace either hydraulic hoses or electrical lines and you will be dealing with the “backbone” wiring bundle along the transom. This means you need to be prepared to replace all those nylon cable ties that are screwed into the transom to hold the bundle tight. This is a pet peeve of mine. The nylon screw-ties are single-use only, and every time you mess with the wiring bundle, you wind up having to replace the screw-tie.
I –know- that I will be back in that main wiring bundle before the season is out, so I replaced the black single-use screw-eye cable ties shown below with nylon cable clamps that are permanently mounted in their place.
I installed the cable clamps in the same screw holes for the old nylon cable ties. Then I just ran the new nylon cable ties through the permanent nylon cable clamps. This way, I can change out the cable ties all summer long without having to re-install the screws each time. This –is-the transom after all (albeit the drier side), and I shot each screw with a dab of 5200 as I installed them.
The pump/solenoid assembly was just a plug-and-play replacement for the original that sits in the Starboard aft battery box. Connected the hoses from the actuators, and re-used the wiring harness for the switch and power. Good to go.
Lessons Learned:
After many months of research, manufacturer inquiry, and learning from other installations, I am convinced that tabs, like shoes, are not “one-size-fits-all”. Depending on your hull size, deadrise, power, customary boating environment, and how you use your Parker, your optimal tab size varies.
Advice from manufacturers varies as well. Some will blindly tell you to just get the biggest tabs you can fit on your transom because bigger is always better. I have had other manufacturers caution me against “over-tabbing” a hull and the potential for serious handling issues.
The good news is that you are in the right place to begin to gather the most specific information that you can about tabs on your Parker. New tab projects are always being posted with different size tab/hull combinations. Eventually ClassicParker should have hull/power/use combination tab project to fit most common scenarios.
My goal was to upgrade the size of the tabs without drilling new holes in the transom for hydraulic lines and actuator supports. By staying with the Boat Leveler brand, I was able to upgrade my OEM 12X12 to 12X18 without moving my actuators or putting any new holes in my transom above the waterline.
If I had converted to ParkerNation’s favorite tab brand - Bennett, I would have had to re-route hydraulic lines, pump/solenoid mounting, wiring harness and switch assemblies. Bennett makes conversion from Lenco easy with special conversion kits, but not so for those of us with “older” Parkers wearing Boat Levelers.
Here is one of my original tabs. Note that they never had zincs, just Ablative paint. No issues with corrosion.
I bought the complete Insta-Trim Boat Leveler kit and would use everything except the wiring and switch.
This would be a complete “tech-refresh” of the moving parts and hydraulic hoses, and the only “intrusive” work to the transom would involve the new screws for the larger tabs plates. Total cost of the upgrade was less than $300
After removing the screws from the original tabs I used a putty knife, a heat gun, and hammer to separate the tabs from the transom. They had been fastened with a 5200-like adhesive at the factory and were still –very- much attached to the hull.
Here is a comparison of the old tabs on the ground VS. the new tabs temporarily tacked in place.
I used a hand tap with new twist drill to clean out old adhesive from the screw holes. In addition to removing the old adhesive the bit prepared the hole for penetrating epoxy.
West Marine penetrating epoxy was injected into each cleaned hole to wet out and prep the hole for standard epoxy filler.
Standard West Marine two-part epoxy was used following the penetrating epoxy to fill the holes. Epoxy was loaded in the screw holes and then quickly covered with duct tape to keep the material in place until cure.
Once all holes had been filled and cured, the area was sanded down in preparation for fitting the new tabs to locate new holes and define the increased tab area to clean.
This is where it was critical to leave the old actuator in place. Fitting the new tab to the old actuator allowed me to precisely align the new tab and mark the larger area that now needed to be sanded clean of all earlier bottom paint to accommodate the larger tab footprint.
After cleaning the larger footprint on the transom, the tab was re-aligned and the screw holes were marked. A wood shim cut to the thickness of the original tab offset from the hull bottom was used to insure a uniform offset along the entire length of the new tab.
I used a duct tape “depth gauge” on the drill bit to insure that I didn’t drill the new holes too deeply into the transom. I set duct tape at a depth shorter than the screw length to allow for the thickness of the stainless tab, and also to prevent a “pocket” in the screw hole at the end of the screw.
After wetting each screw hole with penetrating epoxy, and coating the back of the tab plate with 5200 I dabbed each hole with 5200 and installed the screws to mount the tab.
When mounting the new actuators and hose trim, I had to use a little heat to soften up the stiff hose enough to coax it into the “bend” so the trim plate would fit snugly.
Trim cover added, zincs installed, ready for bottom paint touch-up around the tabs. This time I decided not to paint the tabs themselves.
When doing any OEM tab replacement, you will need to replace either hydraulic hoses or electrical lines and you will be dealing with the “backbone” wiring bundle along the transom. This means you need to be prepared to replace all those nylon cable ties that are screwed into the transom to hold the bundle tight. This is a pet peeve of mine. The nylon screw-ties are single-use only, and every time you mess with the wiring bundle, you wind up having to replace the screw-tie.
I –know- that I will be back in that main wiring bundle before the season is out, so I replaced the black single-use screw-eye cable ties shown below with nylon cable clamps that are permanently mounted in their place.
I installed the cable clamps in the same screw holes for the old nylon cable ties. Then I just ran the new nylon cable ties through the permanent nylon cable clamps. This way, I can change out the cable ties all summer long without having to re-install the screws each time. This –is-the transom after all (albeit the drier side), and I shot each screw with a dab of 5200 as I installed them.
The pump/solenoid assembly was just a plug-and-play replacement for the original that sits in the Starboard aft battery box. Connected the hoses from the actuators, and re-used the wiring harness for the switch and power. Good to go.
Lessons Learned:
After many months of research, manufacturer inquiry, and learning from other installations, I am convinced that tabs, like shoes, are not “one-size-fits-all”. Depending on your hull size, deadrise, power, customary boating environment, and how you use your Parker, your optimal tab size varies.
Advice from manufacturers varies as well. Some will blindly tell you to just get the biggest tabs you can fit on your transom because bigger is always better. I have had other manufacturers caution me against “over-tabbing” a hull and the potential for serious handling issues.
The good news is that you are in the right place to begin to gather the most specific information that you can about tabs on your Parker. New tab projects are always being posted with different size tab/hull combinations. Eventually ClassicParker should have hull/power/use combination tab project to fit most common scenarios.
