2015 ASR Ballast for rear locker (RZX)

[Shep72]

Shep72, I dont have the Surf XL. I only have the factory 3000lbs ballast. which I was able to get an "okay" surf to entertain the kids with just listing the boat. I was thinking of adding the rear locker ballast and then using another 500-1000lbs of lead in the midship to the bow.

I’m guessing I’ve got XL ballast but I don’t know. There are two bags in the bow plumbed into the front floor tanks. Listing I got a descent goofy wave but I think with another 1k-2k lbs this thing will be legit. I’m going to throw a pump over the side and play with different sacs I’ve already got to see what works and then plumb something In that will fill/Drain with the stock system.

[Shep72]

Can someone tell me if the bow bags in a 15 ASR were factory or how would I tell if I have the Surf xl ballast?
Thanks in advance!

[bsreid]

I believe they all had the standard 3000 sub floor. There aren’t any bags in the bow besides the forward subfloor ones of that’s what you mean.

[Shep72]

I believe they all had the standard 3000 sub floor. There aren’t any bags in the bow besides the forward subfloor ones of that’s what you mean.

So bags in these areas are probably added on?
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[ZaneK]

Shep72, My understanding is Factory has 3000lbs, that includes the 2 front bags your describing and 2 rears that are hidden, if you have the XL your rear lockers will both have a visible 500lbs bag

[UNSTUCK]

That’s a whole different can of worms.. I had nothing but tire problems with the 18’s on my boatmate, so I’ve since switched my trailer to 16” wheels and E rated tires.. with a triple axle trailer, I wouldn’t worry about the extra weight, and with my new wheel and tire setup, I’m not worried about them... only thing I do is move the lead around until it’s evenly spaced over the axles, whether that’s lay it all midship, or leave even-ish weight front and back, and the throw the rest in the center.. I’m far happier trailering a little tongue heavy, so as long as the weight is kinda spread even and I have some tongue weight, I’m good.

Occasionally, depending how my truck is loaded, and where I’m going, I might yank half the lead from my boat and huck it into my truck... it’s one of those things you play with, see what works for your setup, and kinda go that route.. a lot depends on your truck and trailer setup.


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Zack, I know you’ve talked about these issues elsewhere, but can you give us a quick recap. Your boatmate is a dual axle trailer, right? 8000ish gvw? So it has the 5 lug wheels and not the 6 lug wheels, right? When you leave all the lead in your boat how much is in there and where do you store it? Besides saving tires, have you noticed any other changes is the towing quality with the new wheels and tires?
Thanks.

[Shep72]

Shep72, My understanding is Factory has 3000lbs, that includes the 2 front bags your describing and 2 rears that are hidden, if you have the XL your rear lockers will both have a visible 500lbs bag

The areas in red are factory sub floor. The areas in blue are the additional bags under the bow cushions. Sounds like they were added at some point.
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[ZaneK]

I have the same bags in the front, I assumed they were just stock

[Zackdogg]

Zack, I know you’ve talked about these issues elsewhere, but can you give us a quick recap. Your boatmate is a dual axle trailer, right? 8000ish gvw? So it has the 5 lug wheels and not the 6 lug wheels, right? When you leave all the lead in your boat how much is in there and where do you store it? Besides saving tires, have you noticed any other changes is the towing quality with the new wheels and tires?
Thanks.

Of course brotha. Looking back, it was most likely some user error, and poor engineering. There isn’t a tire with a decent weight rating for an 18” wheel that will fit in the trailer fenders. They run 18” wheel to look cool, not for function, which you don’t look all that cool changing tires out.. looking back, I would have looked harder for a triple axle, but just didn’t really calculate the amount of weight on each tire until I started having tire failures..

On the lake I run 300-400 in very front of the bow, 250 opposite me in the driver seat, and the other 500-600 I’ll run rider side in the ski locker, just because it’s way easier to swap than in my rear storage..

On the trailer, i just huck everything on the floor, kind of evenly spread over the axles.. with the E rated tires I’m running now, I don’t have to worry about them.. when I had the 18’s, I’d throw 500-600 in my truck, depending how far I was going.. If I’m going to our home lake, it’s pretty easy towing.. If I’m going over the sierras, it’s windy and steep, so I’m a little more careful about how I’m loaded..

I do have 5 lug axles. I don’t think it really tows any better or worse, the 18” were a little wider tire, so it floated a little better on sand, when towing on the beach, but that’s probably about the only difference, as far as towing. Peace of mind, for me, the tire change was so worth it.. I had so many tire issues, not to mention $250 a tire for replacement.. I’m sure me backing up the curb at my house, and carrying an extra 1000# was a major issue on the tires, I know I’m rough on stuff. But cutting it that close to the weight rating is also a major flaw in design, as far as I’m concerned, and when it’s solely to “look cool”, screw that. I’ll take function, every time.


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[UNSTUCK]

So you're pretty regularly hauling around 1000 pounds of lead in your boat right now? Looks like you've done good making the wheels/tires up to the challenge. How is the rest of the trailer doing? Any issues with bearings? Is your trailer leaf sprung or torsion sprung? I'm guessing torsion. Any issues there? Notice any frame bending or damage? I'm pretty sure I'll be getting a 3/4 ton truck this summer and am thinking about running some lead. Just trying to get an idea of what the real world load is that these two axle, 5 lug Boatmate trailers can take.

[Zackdogg]

Yeah, I have no worries about the frame, they’re pretty stout.. Visibly, the torsion suspension looks like it’s ok, and I checked the bearings at the end of the season, and they appeared to be fine.. I’m not saying it’s a great idea for anyone to do, I tow a lot and I’m pretty aware of what’s going on with my trailers, I’m also pretty good at checking things out regularly, and I wouldn’t do it if I weren’t running a tire with a heavier weight rating.. it has been fine for me, so far though. If I see tires starting to wear weird, or start having bearing problems, I’ll change my ways..


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[freeheel4life]

Boatmate claims that the ongue weight get subtract from gross trailer weight as the truck is carrying that weight on its rear axle. I dont quite like looking at tow weight that way but is logical. So that being said, any bow weight can probably stay in if you are towing with a HD truck and just roll a little tongue heavy. I scaled UNSTUCKs boat (sans gear) and drive axle was 3460 with trailer in tow. Drive axle was 2640. 3460-2640=820Lbs of tongue weight. This is mere speculation but Ive scaled other big boats, and a few campers and tongue weights up around 1100-1700lbs are often seen. Bow weight ought to be fine IMO.

[UNSTUCK]

From an email I received last spring...

...One thing I will say, is on our GVWR we do not exclude our tongue weight to get us a better rating.

Paden, give me your email and I'll forward you the entire conversation. Was like pulling teeth to get a straight answer out of them.

[freeheel4life]

Sounds about right. I was getting the runaround too. We all know it really just comes down to axles and hubs. If you can haul 38' cabin cruisers on 8 lug tandem trailers, or carry around big ol whopping "bumper pull" and 5th wheel trailers on tandems, triples arent needed for towboat segment. I think Boatmate is just seizing on the "cool" factor as the market seems to just think triples are sooooooo cool. My work email is paden@prestigewatersports.com

[bsreid]

I have 900 in lead in my rzx with a tandem axle. No problems so far but I don’t not trailer often or far.
When loading on trailer I move all the lead towards the back and then once loaded move it over the axles and put the bow weight back in the front. I also use a 3500 truck so no need to worry there.

If I had a 1/2 ton truck I would have opted for the triple axle to take some weight off of the tongue.

Looking at the new boatmates with 18s it almost looks like they’re running larger tires than before that are less low profile. That could make a difference.