RZR Surf Flap Mounting

[Duncan]

I had a full season on my floppy mat design. Towing was fine -- on several occasions I asked a driver behind me to watch it and there was no excessive flapping around. There was no negative impact on wakeboard wake. It might have cut down some spray but that was probably imagination. At transit or wakeboard speeds, the pad just rides over the water -- I think the floppy design may be better for transit speeds as there are no high speed torsion forces on a downward pointing mat; rather, the floppy mat is just being drug along.

Snaps are never going to hold that heavy mat up unless you have a lot of them. I thought about securing the mat but decided there was no need.

[Z3CO23]

If you use my design its fine for towing and wakeboarding. It doesn't flap around unless it has water pressure on it. The one on the bar might flap around, but probably not too bad. The horse stall mats are stiff, but water pressure moves them just fine.

My plan is to not tow with it on. The caps on the end allow for easy install so I'll just put it on before we launch the boat. If it was a floppy install I would probably be more inclined to tow with it on. I'm still going to cut the mat down 3 or 4 inches. Gonna test this one first. If it doesn't work great I'll go to a floppy style mat. We will have to see when I get it in the water.

[Duncan]

My plan is to not tow with it on. The caps on the end allow for easy install so I'll just put it on before we launch the boat. If it was a floppy install I would probably be more inclined to tow with it on. I'm still going to cut the mat down 3 or 4 inches. Gonna test this one first. If it doesn't work great I'll go to a floppy style mat. We will have to see when I get it in the water.

RZRCO23, I think you have we we refer to as a "floppy mat" design because there is nothing to keep the mat directed in a downward position. Unless I am wrong about your design, the mat and/or bar will rotate so that the mat mount orientation is no longer completely vertical (I admit, "floppy" is a bit of a misnomer). Looking at your pics, I did not see anything around the caps that would prevent the bar from rotating (sorry if I am mistaken).

In contrast, Duffy's stiff design mounts the mat pointing down so that neither the mat mount nor the bar can rotate, which presumably imparts more wave "shaping" and more torsional forces on the mount as the free end of the flap is pushed out horizontally while the fixed end remains mounted vertically.

[duffymahoney]

I would say no shaping, just more wave cleaning. Which is the goal.

[Z3CO23]

RZRCO23, I think you have we we refer to as a "floppy mat" design because there is nothing to keep the mat directed in a downward position. Unless I am wrong about your design, the mat and/or bar will rotate so that the mat mount orientation is no longer completely vertical (I admit, "floppy" is a bit of a misnomer). Looking at your pics, I did not see anything around the caps that would prevent the bar from rotating (sorry if I am mistaken).

In contrast, Duffy's stiff design mounts the mat pointing down so that neither the mat mount nor the bar can rotate, which presumably imparts more wave "shaping" and more torsional forces on the mount as the free end of the flap is pushed out horizontally while the fixed end remains mounted vertically.

Yeah, your seeing it correctly, the bar does rotate and will allow the mat to be pushed up against the platform while running. Your right though... duffy's mat having a rigid design probably is more effective at cleaning. I'll have to see how it works when I get in the water and make changes from there. I'm assuming this will be a trial and error revision project for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed

[houstonshark]

I've switched gears a bit and think I'm going to smooth out the bottom of my swim platform and at the same time fiberglass in an aluminum or stainless L bracket that I can use to through bolt the flap to.

Where is the best location on the swim platform to mount the flap as it relates to performance? It looks like most of the ones I've seen are mounted about halfway between the end of the platform and the transom. I assume you really just don't want it leaning right up against the TAPS plate.

[whiteflash watersports]

Ours is mounted about 4 inches in front of the taps plate. Our horse mat is not "floppy" but also not stiff like a board. It rides right on top of the water when under way smoothing "cleaning" the wave nicely. We were not going for any wave "shaping" just "cleaning and it works great.

[Enzo]

A question for those of you who have gone with the 3/4" mat installed where the mount does not rotate (stiff version). Is there any problems at wakeboard speed over cruising at 30 mph with this stiff mat? Or does the higher pressure just flex the mat up and no big deal?

squidswake - do you have pictures of how you mounted you matt?

Thanks all

[Stingreye]

No problems at all at any speed. It may actually flex less at planing speed because more of the hull is out of the water and the attitude of the boat is more level but I have never looked too closely.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

[Enzo]

Thanks Stingreye. Is the stiff mat most effective if it goes down as deep as the FAE or only as deep as the bottom of the hull?

[Stingreye]

I have not played around with the length yet (not sure if I will). It was a rush job when I made my first and only one and it works well so I haven't gone back yet. I got my dimensions from Duffy's thread. The opening on the down pipe for the FAE is slightly lower than my mat.

Not sure if I mentioned it before but I have since been on a few boats with FAE that did not have the spray and you can eliminate most of it with adjusting the down pipe. However, the flap (I would bet even without FAE) improves the cleanliness, run a broader range of TAPS settings, and seems to let you run more counterweight than without it.

I also can tell you there was an MB B52 and a Tige 22V (Topazsurfer who posted earlier in the thread) at Wake9's Polar Bear last October that had longer flaps and great waves. I was told by Derek who owns the B52 that his is only a few inches off the ground while on the trailer.

Here are some pics from Wake9 where you can see the flap while at surf speed.

I can't figure out how to embed the flickr photos but here is the links:

Dave's 22V (Topazsurfer)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wake9/...57636609150023

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wake9/...57636609150023

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wake9/...57636609150023

B52 Shot

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wake9/...57636609150023

Good luck!

[houstonshark]

Can someone give me an idea as to the width between the swim platform mounting brackets?

[mdamon]

Can someone give me an idea as to the width between the swim platform mounting brackets?

About 51 inches on my 2012 RZR

[whiteflash watersports]

ours is also about 51 inches - 2012 rzr

[houstonshark]

I broke down and installed a surf flap this weekend prior to going out Sunday afternoon.

I didn't take many pictures because I wasn't sure this would be my final design, especially from a mounting perspective.

I wanted to do a stiff flap and mount it in a way that wouldn't require drilling into the swim platform brackets or welding a square tube to a piece of all thread. What I came up with is actually pretty simple.

The underneath side of my 2012 swim platform has 3 raised rectangular pieces. After doing some measuring, the rectangular strip closest to the stern of the boat seemed to be the perfect place for the flap to mount to.

I pre-drilled, liquid nailed and screwed a 46" aluminum L bracket to that raised area using some large stainless screws.

The fiberglass there was at least 1/4" thick. I was able to tighten the screws down by hand with as much force as I could apply.

I let it sit over night before giving it some pretty good tugs. It didn't seem to be going anywhere so I mounted the flap and it worked great. I didn't get any good pics of the surf wake but it was a major improvement on the goofy side. I'll get more pics and video later.



It stayed on and didn't show any signs of stress. I can't say as much for my license plate, lol.