Important Tips

A hinge kit comes with two connection points – each hinge has a hinge plate and a J Bracket. To attach the J Bracket to the EZ Port insert it in the top pocket with the hardware connector in the bottom pocket. This secures the part of the hinge that is mounted on the EZ Port. The other half of the hinge is a flat bracket with holes for lag bolts. The two pieces (J Bracket and Hinge Plate) are joined using a hinge pin which slides through the two pieces and is secured with a cotter pin. Be sure to use included 5/8” stainless steel flat washer as a backing plate behind the cotter pin. This prevents wear on the cotter pin from dock movement (see above photo).Once installed, it is easy to remove the Port from the floating dock – you simply pull out the cotter pin and then slide out the pin which will disconnect your EZ Port.TIP: Marking the location for the lag bolts will save you lots of installation time. So mark them well!EZ Installation Steps:

1. Mount the J Bracket and secure it to the EZ Port
2. Slide the hinge pin through the J Bracket and the hinge plate then secure it with a cotter pin
3. While standing/kneeling on the EZ Port, hold the hinge plate against the existing floating dock and mark where the lag bolts will be located

KEY: Make sure no one is on the dock you are attaching to and that your weight is on the EZ port when you mark the position for the lag bolts. This negative load will then insure that when your PWC is on the EZ Port the back end will rise and keep the jet drive completely out of the water. It is critical to make sure that you have a negative load on the installation when you mark the spot for the lag bolts.Note: Depending on the freeboard of your existing floating dock, the hinge plate can be mounted in the up/raised position (above the J bracket) or at the same height as the J Bracket.One hinge kit is adequate for securing up to three EZ Ports ® depending on the degree of rough water at the site.

Installation Tips

Building a floating dock is easy with EZ Dock of Texas for all your floating dock building plans and designs. Below is a quick tip on coupler installation.

1. Insert Coupler Bolt through bottom coupler section (square recess) and use hammer to set bolt into recess of bottom coupler.
2. Load bottom of coupler & bolt assembly into coupler installation tool.
3. Slide between dock sections and align coupler bolt with hole in dock pocket (start in center of dock and position tool for removal through open pocket side of dock).
4. Pull bottom coupler assembly into dock pocket until hole in coupler tool is visible (you can put a screwdriver into this hole to keep tool in position.
5. Put coupler nut onto coupler bolt and screw down at least three turns.
6. Use coupler pull-up tool or claw hammer to seat bottom coupler into bottom coupler pocket.
7. Remove coupler nut and insert coupler top into pocket being careful not to put excessive pressure that would push bottom coupler back out.
8. Use hammer or mallet to firmly seat top coupler into dock pocket.
9. Use the EZ Dock coupler installation tool and a 15/16″ socket to tighten the coupler nut. Be careful not to over-tighten coupler nut.
10. Slide coupler installation tool out through the un-coupled side of dock. You may need to tilt tool as shown to free it from bottom coupler.

Docking Tips for a Personal Watercraft – The EZ Port MAX 2i leads the market in PWC docks with a significant market share due to the fact that it handles any PWC provided today and even some larger models that are no longer in production such as the Yamaha and Seadoo SUV 4 seaters. With plenty of flotation to keep the entire PWC out of the water, it is the most friendly to the hull of your PWC. Adjustable rollers require no maintenance. These rollers can be custom-tuned to your PWC model. They can be easily re-arranged if you ever change your watercraft.

In the videos below are examples of the proper docking technique and an example of how easy it is to launch the PWC. When docking, ease up to the first roller in the water, stop, then provide a little throttle to climb the machine on to the dock. Since the EZ Port has rollers your hull does not contact the dock, only the rollers.

Tightening Couplers

If you are in rough water locations take a few minutes in the Spring and make sure all of your coupler nuts are tight.

EZ Dock is designed to move “with” rough water much like a catepillar moves across a surface. If you want to see the advantage in using EZ Dock visit our gallery of videos and watch EZ Dock in a hurricane.

The couplers allow the dock to move and flex in rough water which could loosen nuts that hold the top and bottom connector together. Simply snug them up and you are good for another season. To tighten a coupler nut you need the socket adapter that fits on a standard 3/4″ socket and drive – do not over tighten as you can break the poly bolt, just snug it up.

The socket adapater is part number 900005 and has a cost of $1. The official name of the part is DRIVE TOOL SOCKET FOR COMPOSITE PRODUCT.

Removing Couplers

If you are removing couplers for any reason remove the nut on the top coupler, tie a string around the threads of the bolt that the nut was covering and rock the dock by standing over the connection point. The bottom coupler will drop out and you can retrieve the bottom coupler and bolt easily for re-use.

Increasing the Efficiency of your EZ Port 2, 3 and 4

We hear from customers that over time, it becomes more difficult to launch your watercraft.  The solution is simple.

There are two things you can do to eliminate this problem and make launching and docking easy for any owners:

1. Grease the rollers each year – this requires a special tip that will fit on any grease gun and you can use the Lincoln Grease Needle LNC-5803 (see photo below). This part is available from several online tool stores on the web (google the phrase above) and we also try to keep these in stock. You might also be able to pick  one up from your local auto parts store.  The grease inlet hole on the roller is about 3/16″ in diameter.  If it is clogged with dirt or debris that prevents the grease from going in, try cleaning it out with a 3/16″ drill bit.

2. Adjust the rollers – the watercraft should be resting on the rollers, not the dock. If they are adjusted properly the machine will rock slightly from side to side when on the dock which keeps the watercraft off the dock while launching or docking. There are several roller adjustments you can make that either raise or lower the rollers with the third roller (on the Port 3) the most critical.

Please see this document for additional details.

NOTE: Be sure to use the proper technique for pushing your watercraft off.  We have found that if you grab the steering handle and pull it back until it locks with your bow-side hand and then place your other hand on the watercraft seat and push with your legs, even the heaviest watercraft are much easier to push off.