As one of my winter projects, I am considering a ballast system for my 2005 24V. There has been plenty of information about this passed around, but it seems to be in the middle of a lot of different threads. I also have some specific questions that are not yet answered.
I think my wakeboarding wake is very good with no ballast. If I feel ambitious, then I put 550 pounds up front and it becomes outstanding, more than enough to hurt myself with. Occasionally (2-3x per year), I'm feeling crazy and also put 400 pounds in each rear locker as well. The wake then is unbelievable. I don't really care to have a ballast system for wakeboarding, but surfing. Surfing lets me feel really cool without getting hurt. I've found that I usually want both 400's in the port locker and the 550 on the back seat on that side. I then get a really good surf wake. I hate taking all of that time to fill sacks up. I also had the sac slide rearward and now the back wall of my port locker is 2 inches further back than it used to be.
Here's what I've been looking at:
1. Rival ballast system. I hear a lot of good things about this system. They have been building them for a while and seem to have it dialed in. I understand the Phoenix dealer does a lot of these. I talked to my Vegas dealer and he's done very few, and the time it took wasn't worth it. "I'd ask you what the most you are willing to pay and say it was $1,000 more than that" were his exact words. He has a smaller staff and can't afford to tie them up when people are waiting for their boats to get fixed. I could do it myself, and spend all winter getting it hooked up and praying I drill the fiberglass in the right spots. What are the advantages to this?
2. Tige factory hard tanks. I could even just do one on the port side. I would still have to fill at least one sac, but it would be better, and safer than exploding the port storage hatch.
3. The Pro-X series V-drive side sacks are just barely too long for that compartment (thus now they have made it a little longer). They custom make sacks I could custom order one that is much deeper, but it would still only get almost 700 pounds. It would make filling a lot easier, and I could just carry some lead.
Any thoughts on these or other options I've not considered?
I think my wakeboarding wake is very good with no ballast. If I feel ambitious, then I put 550 pounds up front and it becomes outstanding, more than enough to hurt myself with. Occasionally (2-3x per year), I'm feeling crazy and also put 400 pounds in each rear locker as well. The wake then is unbelievable. I don't really care to have a ballast system for wakeboarding, but surfing. Surfing lets me feel really cool without getting hurt. I've found that I usually want both 400's in the port locker and the 550 on the back seat on that side. I then get a really good surf wake. I hate taking all of that time to fill sacks up. I also had the sac slide rearward and now the back wall of my port locker is 2 inches further back than it used to be.
Here's what I've been looking at:
1. Rival ballast system. I hear a lot of good things about this system. They have been building them for a while and seem to have it dialed in. I understand the Phoenix dealer does a lot of these. I talked to my Vegas dealer and he's done very few, and the time it took wasn't worth it. "I'd ask you what the most you are willing to pay and say it was $1,000 more than that" were his exact words. He has a smaller staff and can't afford to tie them up when people are waiting for their boats to get fixed. I could do it myself, and spend all winter getting it hooked up and praying I drill the fiberglass in the right spots. What are the advantages to this?
2. Tige factory hard tanks. I could even just do one on the port side. I would still have to fill at least one sac, but it would be better, and safer than exploding the port storage hatch.
3. The Pro-X series V-drive side sacks are just barely too long for that compartment (thus now they have made it a little longer). They custom make sacks I could custom order one that is much deeper, but it would still only get almost 700 pounds. It would make filling a lot easier, and I could just carry some lead.
Any thoughts on these or other options I've not considered?
Just do the rival and you'll be stoked!!
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