[Reid Neal]

I've seen some fleeting discussions on this issue and its commonality, but would like to re-start the flame and try and get it all laying flat.

I just purchased a Maverick HPX-S with an Atlas Micro jack Plate. The seller warned me that the Micro has a tendency to lean to one side or the other and get a little sticky (shutter) on the travel up. Non-existent issue on the travel down as gravity helps lower the motor.

I've researched Atlas's recommendation on maintenance of their "ATLAS" (which has very pronounced rods) in regards to Dawn dish soap, but it's a little less clear as the Micro's drive rod is housed in a close-out area deeper in the plate, and much less pronounced.

1. Has anyone seen this issue and mitigated it?
2. Do we believe this issue is more influenced by debris internal to the drive rod or the side nuts that rubs against the slot as the plate actuates?
3. It also appears the drive rod actuator is not centered in the plate, contrary to their ATLAS model. Do we think this offset provides the "lean" as one side of the plate has a larger actuation force than the other? Is this "lean" just a product of the design and can't really be mitigated?

Some of my ideas to mitigate this issue are:

Grease the Nut/Bolts in the slot to decrease friction
Replace the phenolic washer in between the Nut and Micro slot to decrease friction
Spray the drive rod, slot bores and faying surface of the nut/washer with silicone
Adjust the torque on the fixed nuts (not my first choice)

Any help/recommendations are much appreciated!

 

[Smackdaddy53]

It’s a terrible engineering design. Here is a product to help the issue.

https://hullmarineproducts.com/micro-jack-reinforcement

 

[Omar_Guillen]

I had to take off the nut on the inside , then adjust the bolts to get them to be more even. The washer should all be able to rotate but not be too loose. Then add the nut or lock back to the inside. I spray mine with crc. They can be a pita.

 

[Smackdaddy53]

I had to take off the nut on the inside , then adjust the bolts to get them to be more even. The washer should all be able to rotate but not be too loose. Then add the nut or lock back to the inside. I spray mine with crc. They can be a pita.

When there is a bad engineering design there is not much that can fix it. If they would have centered the ram, the load would be equal left and right and there would not be the jumping side to side up and down and actuators would not get overloaded and burn up. I went through four.

 

[Licking_tails]

Hull Marine Mod for the win! Works great! Upgraded my old Jack plate with it and just installed another kit on a brand new one. The factory setup relys on the four bolts to stay tight in 3/8" thick threaded aluminum angle and a half nut. Once the aluminum angle threads become loose over time and with corrosion, the four bolts the assembly rides on will never stay tight.

 

[FSUDrew99]

Bobs or nothing for me... I always hated my buddies Atlas. Slow too....

 

[Smackdaddy53]

Hull Marine Mod for the win! Works great! Upgraded my old Jack plate with it and just installed another kit on a brand new one. The factory setup relys on the four bolts to stay tight in 3/8" thick threaded aluminum angle and a half nut. Once the aluminum angle threads become loose over time and with corrosion, the four bolts the assembly rides on will never stay tight.

It’s great to see guys here figuring out these upgrades and pumping out products with customer service on this side of the pond.

 

[Omar_Guillen]

When there is a bad engineering design there is not much that can fix it. If they would have centered the ram, the load would be equal left and right and there would not be the jumping side to side up and down and actuators would not get overloaded and burn up. I went through four.

I get what you are saying, but for those of us that still have them we have to do our best to maintain them. With that said it would be nice if they corrected the problems.

 

[Smackdaddy53]

I get what you are saying, but for those of us that still have them we have to do our best to maintain them. With that said it would be nice if they corrected the problems.

They are tough to get adjusted just right but it does help and a lot of lube to keep them sliding.

 

[new2theflats]

I’m running one on my new EVO with a 115. Requires tightening the friction screws before every trip and I lube at the same time. Will be putting on the reinforcement kit later this week. Will report back.

 

[Reid Neal]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations/comments. Inheriting the Atlas Micro means I'll pursue the Hull Marine Mod in lieu of a complete swap for another jack plate. I see now this has been a topic that has been discussed in detail so this thread may be moot! Like new2theflats mentioned, I'll report back the install process and any improvements.

 

[GladesFlyFishing]

I coat the whole assembly with Boeshield T9 after every trip. Seems to help.

 

[Inshore_Inc.]

I’m running one on my new EVO with a 115. Requires tightening the friction screws before every trip and I lube at the same time. Will be putting on the reinforcement kit later this week. Will report back.

Any idea on difficulty of install on the reinforcement kit? Please keep us up to date on this addition, thanks alot.

 

[new2theflats]

Update. Since removing the outboard from the jack plate is required, and tools I have to do that reside at Latitude 60, I opted to let a nearby shop do the install. Took them an hour. I can see a DIY project taking half a day doing something like unbolting the outboard, supporting it on the ground with a 2x6, and roped up top to the poling platfom (to keep it from falling over).

Now that it's on and I've run it up and down a few times this is clearly what Atlas should have done in the first place. There is no more play anywhere, and how could there be with the bolts torqued to 45 pounds now, compared to the friction bolt thing had constantly had to be tightened, but not too tight, but not too loose, but just right (like a goldilocks bad dream).

I'll report back once more after I've run it for a day or two. So far a thumbs up.

 

[TimR]

Update. Since removing the outboard from the jack plate is required, and tools I have to do that reside at Latitude 60, I opted to let a nearby shop do the install. Took them an hour. I can see a DIY project taking half a day doing something like unbolting the outboard, supporting it on the ground with a 2x6, and roped up top to the poling platfom (to keep it from falling over).

Now that it's on and I've run it up and down a few times this is clearly what Atlas should have done in the first place. There is no more play anywhere, and how could there be with the bolts torqued to 45 pounds now, compared to the friction bolt thing had constantly had to be tightened, but not too tight, but not too loose, but just right (like a goldilocks bad dream).

I'll report back once more after I've run it for a day or two. So far a thumbs up.

Where did you purchase the reenforcement kit? I google searched it many different ways but could not find anything. Thanks

 

[new2theflats]

He is here as HullMarineProducts

His website is: https://hullmarineproducts.com/micro-jack-reinforcement

 

[TimR]

Thank you sir!!

 

[new2theflats]

Promised to report back after running the reinforcement kit. Two thumbs up now. Zero wobble, the plate works faster (I assume that’s because it is going up and down straight). Yea including install labor it ups the price of the Micro by $300, but it’s by far the lightest jackplate and now it functions like I’d expect a plate too. Kudos to Hull Marine Products for doing what Atlas should have done. Highly recommended.