pad eye breaking

Wondering if there is a work around for the constant breaking of the pad eyes that hold the seat in place. I have had my kayak for two months and broke 4 pad eyes already.

What year model? One issue can be the hook not sitting straight on the eye when loaded. Check that alignment.

Others have gone to eye straps riveted on I understand. I will ask my warranty tech staff to respond with a solution if they have heard one.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Here is a copy of the solution a came up with in an earlier thread to save the wear and tear on the pad eyes. Good luck.

I had the same two issues with my Compass. The solution to both problems for me was to knot a length of heavy parachute cord into a small loop and attach to the padeyes by pushing the loop through the padeye and running it back through the loop. I now attach the seat clips to the parachute cord making it easier to accomplish as well as lessening the chances of breaking the plastic padeyes (a common problem for many). Also the loops give extra length to the seat straps allowing more adjustment to move the seatback past vertical. Good luck with your new kayak.

The pad eyes look similar to those on my Lanai which have been fine for many years and a lot of use.
If they are breaking its most likely the hooks aren't straight and may be twisting them, or they are hitting the seat.
I just bought a compass and agree the pad eye location is terrible and just another massive design flaw of the compass (there are so many poorly thought out things on the compass a 2 yr old could have done after job designing it) - I only noticed a lot of these when I got mine home and had a better look at it
My/the best solution would be to add a loop of rope/cord to each pad eye to allow rotational movement and remove any flex and this will also make it way easier to clip the straps on and off. Same solution as already mentioned really.
Keep in mind Hobie are not a premium product like they were years ago, they have cut corners and are saving costs wherever they can, so you will see a lot more issues now and in years to come with an increasingly limited and poorly conceived range.
Other option is fit a vantage ct seat which Hobie should have done to begin (I have a vantage ct and could easily make it fit, just need a spare front seat bar if you can buy this part, otherwise make one) or easier option is to screw/bolt new eye bolts/saddles on the side rails reinforced with nylon backing plate and use existing seat, or a different kayak seat.

See this thread ...
https://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 38&t=65002

Mine also broke 1st time out. I contacted my dealer and they gave me 4 replacement eye pads.

The best modification is the SS Eye Bolt. It's pretty easy ... get a 2 inch eye bolt at your local hardware store. Get some washers that fit INSIDE the pad eye threaded section that the eye bolt can pass threw. Cut off the plastic loop on the pad eye (use your broken eye pad) and drill a hole the diameter of the eye bolt threw the top of the eye pad under where the plastic loop was. Bolt the eye bolt and washers in place, then fill the inside with epoxy ... let dry. You now have a solid eye pad that the seat can attach to.

This is not a one-off problem ... the plastic on the eye pads AND the clips on the seat of the Compass (that attach) do not stand up to the stress of the weight of a good sized guy peeling the Compass. I broke the eye bad on my 2018 Compass 1st time out. This past Friday the clip broke where the cloth strap passes threw the clip. What is Hobie doing about this?

What is the fix for the clip? It doesn't look like the strap will pass through to bar of a new clip?

I'm having the same problem on both of my Passports. And we're not even big people. And I cannot find replacement pad eye hooks on Hobie website or my local dealer. My dealer gave me the item number so I will be trying to buy online somewhere.