4 foot by Approx 1 inch stainless steel plate on keel

[jimbeam]

What is the purpose of the stainless plate bolted to the bottom of the keel on my R25.A couple of the bolts seem loose and I can't tighten them. It's as if they might be stripped. I noticed it when I loosened the keel bolt just above it to let water out.
Jimbeam

 

[S. Todd]

On our 2015 R25SC those bolts did not appear to be in straight but came from the factory that way and were tight the entire six years we owned the boat.

 

[BB marine]

The SS plate was used for two purposes. One it is a keel shoe to help protect the keel and keel extension. Two, to add support to the keel extension. Unfortunately when installed the factory does a poor job sealing the stainless steel lag bolts and machine bolts. Their ability to drill straight is not that good.

This is a photo of the keel shoe on my C26. When I was priming it to apply anti fouling paint I notices that all the lags and bolts were installed at angles and the shoe was not fastened properly to the keel. I removed the lag bolts that lag into the keel extension and resealed them. When I removed them water drained out. The boat was 1 year into service at that time. I would guess there are a lot of Ranger and Cutwaters out there that have that issue.
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Here is a post when I found the issue. I did remove the lags bolts because I didn't think they were sealed as Ronnie said they were. They were not and did have water drain out after sitting in storage for six months. I resealed and never checked them again.
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