22ve Ballast Upgrade

[eaglites2005]

I have read through everyones post looking for anwasers to my ballast questions. I have had boats all my life but bought my first wakeboading boat two years ago. Intially, there is nothing I would of changed on it. But just like any guy out there no matter how good something is there is always a way to make it better. My choice is more ballast. So here is my questions. I want to add ballast so that it is still controlled at the dash. I mainly wakeboard and I have the stock 900lbs in my 22ve. When I wakeboard should I fill all the sacs completely? Also if I add ballast how much do I add and how much does it cost to get it installed? Thanks for everyones help. This is the best frickin site in the world!

[chpthril]

When I wakeboard should I fill all the sacs completely?

Fill'm up and see if you like the wake? Wake size and shape are a matter of preference and level of tricks you want to pull off. In my opinion, a huge wake will not make you a great rider. Honing and perfecting your skills on a given wake will do better. Once your basics are solid, a larger wake will be a benefit.

The unique challenge of the 06-08 RZ's and Ve's is the fact that the rear hard tanks go across the transom and force the battery(s) and TAPS motor to be relocated partly into the v-drive storage.

One option is to use a sac like the Fly High W705 (12x26x62=650lbs). This sac will stretch out from in front of the battery/TAPS box to under-seat storage. My estimations are that it will fill to about 500+ lbs. So with a pair of these in the rear + the stock, that's about 1500 in the back. Now, then hurdle is to get that much in the front, or even better is better. One way to achieve this is to use the Fly High W706 Open bow triangle sac (1K lbs) and fill it in the bow on top of the seats. This would give you 1400 lbs in the front for a grand total of 3100 lbs. Too much??? Depends on what speed and line length you ride.

Another option is to pull out the factory hard tanks and basically make the rear storage as if it was a Tige without ballast. Then add in what ever sacs you wanted to to achieve the wake you desire. For the front, you could replace the factory sac with the W711 (unless it's already the gray Fly High W711, which it could be) and then cut out the bulk-head separating the bow storage from the mid-ship storage and allow the sac to fully expand. This would get you close to the W711's 650 lb rating.

One thing about a Tige, they like at least a 50/50 front/back weight distribution and a 60/40 front/back is even better.

Both of these options can be done by T'ing into the factory plumbing. At most, you may need to add an additional drain pump to the add-on sacs in the rear.

[eaglites2005]

Chpthril,
You are the man. Thanks for the help. I consider myself a rather average wakeboarder. I don't do any crazy tricks, I just like to try to get as much as air as I can. Last year I blew my knee out trying a 360 and decided I was not that young anymore. How far are you from Charleston, SC. I am military and getting ready to move there and have not found any shops locally dealing with Tige's. How much would you guess those ballast installs would run me? Again thanks for the help. Talk to you soon.

[Dave S]

Quote "For the front, you could replace the factory sac with the W711 (unless it's already the gray Fly High W711, which it could be) and then cut out the bulk-head separating the bow storage from the mid-ship storage and allow the sac to fully expand. This would get you close to the W711's 650 lb rating."

I have an 09 Z1 with a bow sack, but no idea which one. I was contemplating adding two bags in the midship storage and plumbing them into my bow sack.

So you say, I might already have a big sack and just need to make room for it or this is only for the 22Ve? How do I find out if I already have the big sack? If not how hard is it to add this to a Z1? Mine has 600lbs stock ballast 400 rear 200 front. I have only had the boat out a few times but I may want more ballast depending on the load of my crew.

[chpthril]

Quote "For the front, you could replace the factory sac with the W711 (unless it's already the gray Fly High W711, which it could be) and then cut out the bulk-head separating the bow storage from the mid-ship storage and allow the sac to fully expand. This would get you close to the W711's 650 lb rating."

I have an 09 Z1 with a bow sack, but no idea which one. I was contemplating adding two bags in the midship storage and plumbing them into my bow sack.

So you say, I might already have a big sack and just need to make room for it or this is only for the 22Ve? How do I find out if I already have the big sack? If not how hard is it to add this to a Z1? Mine has 600lbs stock ballast 400 rear 200 front. I have only had the boat out a few times but I may want more ballast depending on the load of my crew.

Somewhere in 08, I think Tige switched from their own bow sac to the Fly High W711 for the larger boats. I do know that the 08 Z1 did use a white Tige bow sac and not the F/H W711.

Does your Z1 have rear hard tank in the lockers, or are they below the floor? In 08 when the Z1 was introduced, we found that the ballast was closure to 900 lbs. The rear tanks measured out to 500 lbs, and the bow sac looked to be the same as what the other Tiges used, so we estimated it at 300+. The bow of the Z1 is fairly narrow, so just swapping sacs would not gain any additional weight, as you have probably concluded. So, the only way yo get more weight is to have room for a bigger sac that can stretch out and fill more. I dont see why not, one could cut a portion out of the bulk-heads and let the W711 expand. If this could be done without any serious detriment to the structure of the bow seating, then I would do it before trying to plumb in 2 additional sacs in the mid-ship storage.

[Dave S]

Sorry about the highjack. I will start a new post.

chpthril - I believe the rear tanks are below the floor.

I was leary about cutting away the bow for an expanding bag because I did not want to jeopardize the structural integrity of that area. That is why I was thinking of adding mdship bags.

Thanks again for your help!