Bolting the mast step

My 2 rivet step has come loose. One of my parts boat has the step bolted on and I think I will do that instead of replacing it with the 4 rivet version.

Is there a reason not too?

Without removing the step, you don't know how much material is there to thread into, but once that crossbar material strips out/corrodes, there's not going to be anything to hold your mast step on. Also, the crossbar is only about 1/8" thick or less, so there is very minimal material for the threads to engage into to begin with.

At the end of last season, I noticed the mast step on my beach boat was coming loose, so at the beginning of this season, I decided to re-rivet it. Some of the holes had become enlarged either due to corrosion or wear, so rather than just stick new rivets in the existing holes, I figured I would try to put backing washers on the inside of the crossbar to give the rivet more material to grab onto. I used 3/16" aluminum rivet washers available at Home Depot. First I drilled out the existing rivets and completely removed the mast step. Then, going in through the dolphin striker hole, I used a piece of clothes hanger wire to fish the washers into the inside of the crossbar and temporarily glued them in with silicone. Once the silicone cured, I was able to install the mast step and put the rivets in, passing through the mast step, crossbar extrusion, and washers. The rivets pulled in good and tight and so far, the step has been totally solid.

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Apparently I wasn't clear about this. My parts boat has bolts running thru the rivet holes with self locking nuts on them. A good quality 1/4" socket will go thru the opening allowing the bolt and nut to be tightened. I agree that just threading into the bar wouldn't be sufficient. I was thinking about adding a washer inside to spread the load as well.

What do you think?

Yea, I assumed something along the lines of a self-tapping sheet metal screw. But, I think thru-bolting would be a fine way to go if you're able to put a nut on the inside and tighten it up through the striker hole.

I would definitely go with a washer between the nut and the crossbar, and probably a plastic (nylon) washer between the stainless washer and the crossbar to act as an insulator to prevent galvanic corrosion between the aluminum crossbar and stainless washer. Also be sure to use loctite on the threads.

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Thanks! Thought it would be fine but never hurts to ask.