DIY Jet Ski Sling

A jet ski sling is a nylon strap assembly that allows the personal watercraft to be lifted out of the water vertically, instead of being beached or loaded onto a water-bound trailer. Most commercial jet ski slings are a double-strap design with two single straps connected by a multipoint attachment to the gunnels of the jet ski. The two straps are run through a single joint above the craft that is hoisted aloft by a mechanical lift. A DIY design follows that design but has rings, permanently-attached to the gunnels of the jet ski, that can be snapped onto the sling.

Things You'll Need

  • Tape measure
  • Permanent marker
  • Utility knife
  • 1/4-inch-by-3-inch heavy nylon web strapping
  • Power hacksaw
  • 1/4-inch-by-2-inch steel bar stock
  • Steel vise
  • Power drill
  • Steel punch
  • 7/16-by-3-inch eye lag bolts
  • Black electrical tape
  • 3/8-by-3-inch stainless steel triangular ring
  • Grommet hole cutter
  • 3/8-inch stainless steel grommets
  • 3/8-by-3/4-inch machine bolts
  • 4 3/8-by-3 1/8-inch stainless steel carabiner rings
  • Socket set
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use a tape measure and marker to mark and cut two strips of 3-inch nylon web strapping 8 feet in length.

    • 2

      Measure, mark and use a power hacksaw to cut two pieces of one-quarter-by-2-inch steel bar stock, 24 inches in length.

    • 3

      Mount the pieces of steel in a steel vise and drill two three-eighth-inch holes, centered, in both ends of both pieces. Make the holes 1 inch and 4 inches from the ends. Wrap the finished pieces in electrical tape that matches the color of the nylon web strapping used. Use a punch or small screwdriver to punch through the tape covering the drilled holes.

    • 4

      Run one end of both nylon straps though a three-eighths-by-3-inch stainless steel triangular ring.

    • 5

      Fold the ends of the nylon straps over, 2 inches from the end. Use a grommet hole cutter to punch a hole through both thicknesses of the strap, centered and 1 inch from the end. Note: the first hole will be 1 inch from the end; the second hole will be 3 inches. Wrap the end of the punched strap around the end of the steel bar, at the inside hole 4 inches from its end, so that the strap is covering both flat sides of the steel bar. Insert a stainless steel grommet on both sides of the doubled strap and then insert a three-eighths-by-three-quarter-inch stainless steel machine bolt through the grommets, straps and bar. Wrench them tight. Repeat this procedure on both ends of both straps.

    • 6

      Measure, mark and drill two holes, 22 inches apart, through the top edge of the gunnels of the jet ski. Make the holes just under the curved surface of the upper lip of the gunnel. Drill these holes three-eighths of an inch in diameter. Drive seven-sixteenths-by-3-inch eye lag bolts through the four holes. Mount the lag bolts below the underside of the gunnel, screwed up through the gunnel.

    • 7

      Snap three-eighths-by-3 1/8-inch stainless steel carabiner rings into the holes in the ends of the steel bars.