Hobie 18 #7877 wrote:
Just a little bit more information here to help. The washers that back up the rivets for the tramp tracks on the hulls need to have a slight curve to them to seat properly. If you leave them flat this will make the problem of the holes in the hulls getting larger. Like Matt said, there is just a shear force on the rivets. If you leave the backup washers flat, then the rivet will tend to wiggle slightly back a forth port to starboard to port.
When I replaced mine, I slightly bent the washers to the curvature of the lip on the inside edge of the hulls with pliers. As a result, they were easier to put on, allowed the rivet to seat properly, and distributed the load (tightening) of the tramp better.
I also prebent the washers. They are reasonably akward to fit. In my case I had to fix the holes and re-rivet the tracks as a couple of the rivets had pulled out. This was after double grommeting the tramp and lacing it with a skinny spectra line and probably tensioning it a wee bit too hard (I think I ate a can of spinach first). As Matt says - they are in shear so unless they are really loose or pulled out you can probably ignore them for a while.