Cannon uni troll downrigger mounts

[dane]

I use the cannon uni troll mounts that fit in my boat's gunwale rod-holders for my cannon manual downriggers. Becuase of the torque on the mounts, they have caused the bolt at the bottom of the rod holder to bend and tear the metal rod-holder tube such that there is now a lot of "play" in the mount. This allows the downrigger to twist aft allowing the mount to dig into the fiberglass gunwale as well as make the downrigger a little difficult to use. The tear in the rod holder is getting worse and the one on the other side of the boat is starting to do the same.

Is there any product or means to beef up the strength of the rod holder that the uni troll mount is designed to fit in? I've looked at other rod holders at Cabelas, Bass Pro, and West Marine - none seem any more durable or stronger than what the factory installed.

Thanks for any suggestions

[G-Daddy]

Is there a lot of play between the rodholder and gimbal mount? Is the rodholder stainless steel? If yes to both, you can buy a vinyl liner from C E Smith that will fit down inside the rodholder to make the fit tighter. If not then - ????????. If the cross rod that the gimbal slots fit into is bent you may be need to replace the rodholder and make sure they are thru bolted and use metal backing plates.

[dane]

Solved my problem -

C.E. Smith does make a rod holder built to withstand the torque/stress from downriggers - however, won't work with the holes already drilled for the factory installed PERKO rod holders and they cost about $70 each.

The solution is to fit a stainless steele sleeve over the original rod holder and weld it in place - local metal shop came up with the solution and is charging $30 for two - installed and polished with a welded cross bar at the bottom for the gimbal mount to fit on. Great deal!

Read reviews on Cabelas website indicating similar probems with rod holders fitted with downrigger mounts.