Read over your THT posts, well, yes, identical!
Thank you for sharing.
You said Parker knew what happened; can you share what they said?
My guess, once the screws loosened (front port leg in mine) , bad things happen. Water gets in, and only two screws were used, so quickly the other loosens. Now it’s a guess. The front post is free to slam repeatedly on the deck, sending impulsive forces throughout the T Top, That can weaken the joints. Or, as one suggested to you, an imbalance resulted in high stresses at the welds.
Was it the top forward crossbar that cracked?
Yes, it was the forward bar that cracked.
As it was explained to me, for what it's worth, the T-top is really held by those spots that are mid-consol, those are the points that experience the most strain. The screws to the deck are important but the T-top is held in place by those mid-consol spots. If the screws come out for whatever reason on those spots, in sporty seas the system becomes unbalances and can fail. It appears as though the vendor that initially screwed the T-top in place at those vital spots did not do so in a way that was permanent and the screws came loose. Why that happened, who knows. Either way, when the screws came loose on that front spot, the T-top became unstable and started moving, pulling up the deck screws and causing the cross bar to fracture.
I was unaware of the danger and falsely assumed the T-top was fine. Now that I know the issue I am constantly checking the inside of the consol to ensure that the screws are tight, and if one looks like it is getting loose, I replace the screw with a new stainless screw and put multiple bolts covered in locktite on it. Since the issue in 2020, I've only had to replace one screw, so it's not a big deal, it just is a failure point that needs to be watched.
When it happened, I was very upset, as this was a brand new boat and I did not want to be out the 20k+ that probably was going to cost to replace the entire t-top system. However, my local shop (Hilton Head Boathouse) and Parker were totally on top of this issue and they had the entire system replaced. They kept in close contact with me throughout the process and I am forever greateful that the shop and Parker were willing to stand by their product and do what needed to be done.
Having been educated on the T-top's failure points and how to avoid trouble in the future, I am as happy as ever with my boat. I'll tell you though, limping in from going offshore with a broken t-top was not a happy day for me.
