Akas: How floppy is too floppy?

My akas seem to have become significantly looser after 2 seasons of use.

Manifested in the form of excessive noise when taking chop broadside.

Or is it my imagination and everybody's akas flop around quite a bit ?

I'll try to borrow somebody's Hero cam for some more specific documentation.

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2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
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Interesting question, but, yes, I think you should get us a video so we can all see what you are concerned about.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon

Mine also appear to have become looser after two seasons, but like you I'm not certain it's a real problem. I was thinking of replacing the rivets. Hobie has a repair kit for this.

Actually it's not the rivets that are supposed to hold the AKA's from moving up and down (slop), the rivets are not designed to do this, and would not be able to either (not the way rivets work).
The knuckles are die cast, and being molded, the hole for the tube has to have draft (so they can get the core out after molding). When the aka bars are assembled at the factory they are tight at the bottom (near the rivets) and very loose near the opening (where the tube goes in) because of the required draft. What hobie is supposed to do at the factory is fill the hole with epoxy, then shove the tube in, then rivet the tube in place. The rivets are only capable of preventing in and out movement, (not up and down), It's the epoxy that prevents the tube from moving up and down (not the rivets).
If your AKA joints where the tube slides in are loose up and down, you need to remove the tube by removing the old rivets, reapply an adhesive (many different types can be used), then put new rivets in. The goal is to not allow the tube to move in the hole.
If you use the search function on the forum you will find many examples and methods of repair, most work just fine.
Note: on older boats (I think pre-2012) we had to do the epoxy ourselves (all the AKA bars were defective).
Hope this helps
FE

Movement at the aka's will loosen up some after use but there are a couple of ways to tighten it up. As per Fusion's suggestion, there is an Aka glue kit available (part# 81412001)to fix up any movement in the casting:
https://slhobie.com.au/gear/hobie-kayak-parts/island-parts/956-aka-casting-glue-kit

Some time ago we (SLH) experimented with nylon washers where the casting connects to the knuckle to eliminate excessive movement which makes a nice difference. We call it the aka dampening kit. The nylon washers we use are available from hobie, part# 8080740
https://slhobie.com.au/gear/hobie-kayak-parts/island-parts/645-island-aka-knuckle-dampening-kit

If the Akas are so loose that they aren't locking in properly you may need to look into replacing the Aka spring hooks (part# 79520601)
https://slhobie.com.au/gear/hobie-kayak-parts/island-parts/979-aka-xbar-spring-hook

and or the lock bearings (part# 79522201)
https://slhobie.com.au/gear/hobie-kayak-parts/island-parts/982-aka-lock-bearing

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So with the re rivet and 5200 mod, washers and hooks, she should be pretty tight! I did the re rivet job already and now I need hooks and washers. Oh the TI mod joy this will create!![emoji41]

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