Aftermarket hatch actuator for 22ZX?

[Donzi LG]

The factory AccuLift hatch actuator on my 2001 22ZX is getting pretty slow and noisy, has anyone replaced theirs with an aftermarket actuator like a Livorsi? I have a chance to pick up a 24" Livorsi SS actuator but I'm not sure if that will work on the 22ZX dimension wise. I found a thread where Dr. David provided the specs for the AccuLift actuator but I can't tell if the Livorsi 24" is an acceptable replacement. I'm curious if anyone out there is using an actuator different than the Acculift. Thanks!

John

[The Hedgehog]

I ran into the same sort of issue. I had a hard time finding one that matched the factory specs for my ZX. I went with a hydraulic ram actuated by a trim pump. It is a much better setup and I don't have to carry the load all the way to my dash and back. It is also about 10x faster.

[bigmc69]

i found one for mine at monstermarine. Mine is 30.3" closed 54.3" open they have one. check this site.

http://www.monstermarinestore.com/productdetail.cfm?productid=1469&incat=35

hope it helps you.

[Donzi LG]

i found one for mine at monstermarine. Mine is 30.3" closed 54.3" open they have one. check this site.

http://www.monstermarinestore.com/productdetail.cfm?productid=1469&incat=35

hope it helps you.

Those dimensions you give are the same as the Livorsi actuator I'm considering, that's good news. Is your boat a 22ZX? Thanks for the info..

John

[bigmc69]

Yes it is 98 22zx.

[Donzigo]

Try calling Motion Industries

[fasttrucker]

My 22zx made noise and I tried spraying it with lube.Sounds like duh:bonk: but after going up and down a few times it started to work like new.Try an airplane grade lube,not wd-40.Spray the shaft.:crossfing:

[Dr. David Fleming]

I had the AcuLift go bad while driving in the Detroit River a couple of years ago. The magnet in the AcuLift motor is a permanent magnet glued to the motor frame. Well it seems the first owner let the bilge get filled with water and this electric motor was half submerged, a condition which unglued half the magnet and rusted the insides of half the motor housing. The magnet then cracked in two pieces where it was no longer glued. One piece of this magnet attached itelf to the armature of the motor. This effectively locked up the Acu Lift in place. When I tried to run the AcuLift it went into a shorted condition and this shorted out the entire Donzi electrical including the engine.

I was running at speed and lifting the hatch slightly to get more air into the engine compartment as I noticed this increases the speed of the boat slightly. Well the short circuit, cut out the engine until the boat electrical circuit breaker automatically reset. I didn't know what was causing the short circuit condition but after repeating the whole sequence a couple of times the passengers in the boat were looking at me like "whats wrong" every time I hit the hatch switch the Donzi would violently slow down.

Couple of days later had the hatch off by removing the take apart hinges on the transom. Then with a long socket extension from each side undid the AcuLift upper bolt. Called AcuLift which is made here in Detroit and they said bring it over we will repair it while you wait. I opted for skipping the drive in traffic and reglued the magnet sections into the frame and greased the worm gear. Then just ordered a new motor from AcuLift, to be put in the following winter. My epoxey job to the AcuLift worked ok as an emergency repair but I did eventually replace it. Just a note there is Zerk fitting on the gearcase of the AcuLift - but too much grease will over fill into the electrical so this is just a one shot only deal.

Whole deal worked out Ok - I did consider the Livorsi but they looked like they had a Gilmer belt drive on theirs and it seemed much bigger than the AcuLift. There is not a lot of room in front of the engine crankshaft.

I did notice in a few photos of European 22ZX that have the Volvo engine - this engine uses a different fuel injection system with the air intake in front where the AcuLift is, in these photos Donzi used a two lift that worked in tandem - lifts are on the outer corners of the hatch. I think the twin system is a UNILIFT and both are made to raise and lower togeather.

Have the address and phone for Aculift if anyone wants it but you should be able to net search for it.

[ltl_mac2000]

Hey guys....i thought I would update you on how I got my failed actuator out when the hatch was in the closed position on my 99 22ZX.

My actuator was acting a little finicky and was cutting in/out recently. It finally stopped working while the hatch was in the down position. (I am kicking myself for closing it)

I was going crazy trying to figure out how I was going to get it out w/ out ruining anything. I ended up removing the battery switch cover from under the rear seat, and from a very awkward angle I was able to see the bolts to the actuator. I found the best position was to lay on my stomach on the hatch. You can only get one hand down at a time. Anyway, after no luck w/ trying to unbolt them, I used a grinder to cut them off. I then lifted the hatch up about 4 inches and removed the top bolt.

I figured I would document this solution since it seems I am not the only one that has had this problem. Once I figured out how to do it, it only took about 1 hour to complete the entire process. I spent about 4 hours getting to that solution though.

Now I am working on getting a replacement lift. I called Acculift this morning, they are saying about $300 shipped but they don't have any in stock. I spoke to Jamie at Lakeside later in the day and he thinks he should be able to help me out once I get him some dimensions.

Open: 47.25" (pin to pin)
Closed:29.5 (pin to pin"
Diamater of RAM: 1" (approx)

[Dr. David Fleming]

Congratulations! on "busting" your lift in the down position - that grinder you used through the battery switch access panel was very ingenious and it would be nice to have you describe it. Someone is going to do this again.

Your 22ZX photos are very interesting but I cannot access your album. Looking at your two small pics, however, your boat seems to be one or two special 22ZX equipped with a full windshield, not the more common half windshield. Donzi actually used this on the larger 26/27 ZX. I think I have caught only one or two other 22ZX so equipped - I wonder if this was a special order option. The other thing I notice is that your front seating seem to be full bolster seats used on the 26/27 whereas most 22ZX used a pair of swivel seats on a posts. Your rear hatch has the three headrests which is a 22ZX trademark the bigger boats used 4. Your paint job with the center stripe on the deck is common to 1999 22ZX models. So what is the history of your boat? Are you the original purchaser or was it a stock dealer inventory item?

Early 22ZX had no windshield, just a cockpit coaming and they had no headrests at all on the hatch cover, also a storage locker in the center of the floor at the entrance to the cabin. This was eliminated to make way for a larger fuel tank. The 22ZX also had a step hull starting in 1999 which made hull trim critical and handling sometimes unpredictable.

Early 22ZX boats had carburated big block Chevy power with the Carter/Webber four barrel carburator. Later 22ZX had a variety of fuel injected big block Chevy power with Mercruiser MEFI in generation one two or three setups. Also a 310 horsepower pickup truck engine was very common - Mercruiser L-29.

Starting in 2000 or so the big block Chevy was superseded by the new GM 496 engine in low and high performance formats. The pick up truck motor was replaced with the small block Chevy which made about the same 310 horsepower. According to the Donzi advertisements you could order the Mercury Racing 500EFI but I have never seen a photo of one.

22ZX went out of production in about 2006 - one of the site members - Mark is supposed to have the last production model - you should check out his thread on this site. Donzi has produced some 22ZX for the US government in the last few years for undisclosed reasons - ten or so.

Donzi production was never large, I am guessing 400 boats a year and not more than 40 22ZX per year if that many. Chris C the Donzi engineer who designed the boat verified this number. In ten or so years they manufactured the 22ZX my guess they never made more than 400 boats. I would guess your model with the windshield is a very rare boat.

Paint jobs varied over the years with the later ones getting really serious and making the boat a styling contender - check out the move "Eliminator" there is a 22ZX movie star in the beginning of the move - that's the one I have.

Guess I am a fanatic of the littlest Donzi "off shore" hull - the 22ZX. A really dynamite boat for small lakes. Just what would the Feds do with a boat like that anyway?

[bigmc69]

Congratulations! on "busting" your lift in the down position - that grinder you used through the battery switch access panel was very ingenious and it would be nice to have you describe it. Someone is going to do this again.

Your 22ZX photos are very interesting but I cannot access your album. Looking at your two small pics, however, your boat seems to be one or two special 22ZX equipped with a full windshield, not the more common half windshield. Donzi actually used this on the larger 26/27 ZX. I think I have caught only one or two other 22ZX so equipped - I wonder if this was a special order option. The other thing I notice is that your front seating seem to be full bolster seats used on the 26/27 whereas most 22ZX used a pair of swivel seats on a posts. Your rear hatch has the three headrests which is a 22ZX trademark the bigger boats used 4. Your paint job with the center stripe on the deck is common to 1999 22ZX models. So what is the history of your boat? Are you the original purchaser or was it a stock dealer inventory item?

Early 22ZX had no windshield, just a cockpit coaming and they had no headrests at all on the hatch cover, also a storage locker in the center of the floor at the entrance to the cabin. This was eliminated to make way for a larger fuel tank. The 22ZX also had a step hull starting in 1999 which made hull trim critical and handling sometimes unpredictable.

Early 22ZX boats had carburated big block Chevy power with the Carter/Webber four barrel carburator. Later 22ZX had a variety of fuel injected big block Chevy power with Mercruiser MEFI in generation one two or three setups. Also a 310 horsepower pickup truck engine was very common - Mercruiser L-29.

Starting in 2000 or so the big block Chevy was superseded by the new GM 496 engine in low and high performance formats. The pick up truck motor was replaced with the small block Chevy which made about the same 310 horsepower. According to the Donzi advertisements you could order the Mercury Racing 500EFI but I have never seen a photo of one.

22ZX went out of production in about 2006 - one of the site members - Mark is supposed to have the last production model - you should check out his thread on this site. Donzi has produced some 22ZX for the US government in the last few years for undisclosed reasons - ten or so.

Donzi production was never large, I am guessing 400 boats a year and not more than 40 22ZX per year if that many. Chris C the Donzi engineer who designed the boat verified this number. In ten or so years they manufactured the 22ZX my guess they never made more than 400 boats. I would guess your model with the windshield is a very rare boat.

Paint jobs varied over the years with the later ones getting really serious and making the boat a styling contender - check out the move "Eliminator" there is a 22ZX movie star in the beginning of the move - that's the one I have.

Guess I am a fanatic of the littlest Donzi "off shore" hull - the 22ZX. A really dynamite boat for small lakes. Just what would the Feds do with a boat like that anyway?

actually the stepped hull started in 1998. That is the year of my boat and it is a stepped hull

[ltl_mac2000]

Thanks for the history on the 22'....my father was actually the original owner of the boat which we bought at the Atlantic City Boat show in 1999. We designed the colors with the custom graphics package and the windshield was an option that we paid for directly to Donzi from what I remember. I don't remember an upgrade for the hatch but it's been a while.

I bought the boat from my father about 5 years ago and one of the first things I did was have the drop-down bolsters made. There is a thread on this site that I started that goes through the process. I had a guy in Cali design and fabricate them for me. We went back and forth with templates a few times and they worked out great. Honestly, it was the only thing I didn't like about the boat....so I fixed it. It was a lot cheaper than going to a 26'. The only other 22XZ that I know has similar modifications was one that FrankC from Typhoon did. There is a guy in this forum that owns it now.

http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45595&highlight=bolsters

As for the photo gallery...check out this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danny-mc/sets/72157624416185478/

That was right after I installed the bolsters and was waiting on the new carpet. Forgot to add that in when budgeting..lol.

As for motors, we ordered with the 502Mag and I think Donzi stopped offering that shortly after. We had a problem where the mounts actually broke through the fiberglass and the engine dropped about 3 inches. Donxi covered about 75% of the $5000 repair bill.

As for the actuator.....I actually started w/ a Rockwell Sonicrafter (similar to Fein tool) and wore out the blade on the first nut. Then I went and got my grinder out and cut the second nut off in about 30 seconds. Note to self...put some tape around the edges of the battery switch hole before you start...my arms are cut to shreds from rubbing on the fiberglass. It is very awkward and there is a lot of stretching and wiggling to get into position. Plus you have to cut blind because you lose your line of sight once your arm goes through the hole. The battery cables are in close proximity, so it is important to take your time. All in all...I guess it was better than having to break the hatch. I plan to put a quick release pin in the next one and have a string taped somewhere near the side of the hatch where I can pull it in case of an emergency.

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions. This site is great.

[LKSD]

Good to hear you got it out without toooooo much grief.. I will be here this week if ya need me.. :)

Have a good 4th.. :) Jamie

[ltl_mac2000]

Thanks Jamie. I'll give you a call Tuesday morning.

[LKSD]

Thanks Jamie. I'll give you a call Tuesday morning.

Thanks.. Catch ya later.. :) J

[Last Tango]

Just a quick post to give the link to my thread as Dr. Dave alluded to above. The link is in my signature.

[LuauLounge]

Does anyone know where to get an actuator with a sliding sleeve? It allows the hatch to be opened by hand at any time. The round sleeve has a slot on each side that a bolt slides in only when lifted by hand. I saw one on a Scarab, but didn't think to see where it came from.

[ltl_mac2000]

Thanks Mark. I have actually been reading that thread since you started it a few years back. I love the graphics on your boat...hope the summer season is treating you well.

[Dr. David Fleming]

ltlmac2000,

By the way, what did you do with your old bolster seats?

Thanks,

[ltl_mac2000]

I ended up giving them to a friend of a friend.

I listed them for sale on this site but not a single response.