Upgrading Z3 ballast

[BJM]

I am thinking about upgrading to larger sacs in our 2015 Z3. We have the Surf XL right now. The wave is great! When you add 5 or 6 people in the boat it becomes unreal!

Our delema is, we surf often with just 2 total people. It would be great to have more weight to simulate the additional people.

MLA sacs would give us an additional 200-300 lbs per side. Ragboy said he can no longer get the wake9 sacs. New sacs would allow for a cross-over pump install too. Both Mike and ragboy said the dividers would need reinforcement.

I like the idea of all water ballast. It would take 500 lbs to get our desired results with lead or steel. I personally think 500 lbs in the back at all times would be noticeable. Moving lead/steel around is not an option.

Anyone out there upgraded their ballast on a 2015 z3? And how were the results or would you do something different?

Thanks

[brodee42]

I upgraded my 2013 Z3 sacs to the Enzo Sacs from Wakemakers. The best move ever! Not sure why these would work for a 2015 Z3...?

[Booms]

BJM - I am in the same situation that you are. I usually ride with my wife and two children in the boat. Let me know what you find out as I am thinking of getting larger sacs for our boat as well.

[chpthril]

I upgraded my 2013 Z3 sacs to the Enzo Sacs from Wakemakers. The best move ever! Not sure why these would work for a 2015 Z3...?

Can clarify for the OP, which sacs you actually have. The actual W712 ENZO is a Fly High sac, not a Wakemaker, and will not work as a replacement for the stock Tige surf sac. Wakemaker, like myself and Wake-9 do/did (i still do) offer a custom "enzo style" L shaped surf sac for the Z3. Although they are all L shaped like the original Fly High W712 ENZO, these customs are far from being an Enzo.

Also note, your 2013 had 350 lb surf sacs and the 2015 comes with 900 lbs ENZO style L shaped sacs from the factory. What the OP is wrestling with, is the 200-300 lbs difference between his current sacs and an aftermarket custom.

BJM,

If you do decide to retain the factory XL sac, we do have a means to add a port for a transfer pump system.

[BJM]

Thanks for the info and help every one. I know adding people in the boat helps, so 200-300 lbs would help with a 2 person crew. I don't want that much lead in the boat, so I feel my decision is made! Now it's just time to pull the trigger.

[007]

I'm interested to hear what you decide. We often surf with just 2. I prefer an extra 500lbs on the standard side when riding with a full tank and light on people. That's usually an extra fly high, I don't want to be moving around that much lead. I have the surf x bags, not the xl

[chpthril]

Whats the estimated capacity of the Surf-X sac in a 2015? I can only find ballast options for "Wake Pro" and "Surf-XL"

[007]

Whats the estimated capacity of the Surf-X sac in a 2015? I can only find ballast options for "Wake Pro" and "Surf-XL"

Curious to know more about your transfer system @chpthril

Based on the fact that mine followed @JLG 's, I'm gonna use his chart and say I have 1200 each side in the rear between hard tank and bag. The Surf XL single bag came out after mine was built and they dropped the Surf X hard tank and bag combo.

[chpthril]

Curious to know more about your transfer system @chpthril

Based on the fact that mine followed @JLG 's, I'm gonna use his chart and say I have 1200 each side in the rear between hard tank and bag. The Surf XL single bag came out after mine was built and they dropped the Surf X hard tank and bag combo.

Thats why I didnt see anything on the Tige site, thanks. I forgot they made that change in early production. So it sounds like your 15 has the same above floor surf sacs but you got lucky and still have the in-floor tanks. Basically, you got a 2014 hull with a 2015 HID and a few of the 2015 features mixed in with some 2014 carryovers.

We can add a port to any soft ballast sac for connecting hoses. From there, we use a reversible impeller pump with a custom labeled switch for moving water from sac to sac. It basically doubles the flow rate of the other pumps because you can drain the full sac, fill the empty sac and move water from the full to the empty at the same time. Takes about 5 minutes to transfer, leaving the hard tank full as a little off side weight.

[Bubba08]

BJM curious to know what you ended up doing here with aftermarket bags. I too am in the same scenario with typically just my wife and 3 little kids. I have the Surf XL package and feel like some additional weight would improve the port wave. Did you order from chpthril? Was it worth upgrading?

[Z3CO23]

I have this Z3 ballast dilemma as well........ My 2015 has the hard tanks as well, it was an early build that only had the 350 lb overflow bags in the rear. I swapped them for my W004's I owned before but it still leaves me 400 lbs short in the back. Seeing you guys say you want more than Surf XL weight makes me think I need to just make the jump to a custom larger bag.

[chpthril]

I have this Z3 ballast dilemma as well........ My 2015 has the hard tanks as well, it was an early build that only had the 350 lb overflow bags in the rear. I swapped them for my W004's I owned before but it still leaves me 400 lbs short in the back. Seeing you guys say you want more than Surf XL weight makes me think I need to just make the jump to a custom larger bag.

Going from the W004 to a custom would be a net gain of at least 500 lb.

[BJM]

I went with MLA's customs on both sides. Our Z3 has no hard tanks. Also added a crossover pump and cross vented and drained all at the same time.

Mike was great to work with and had every part you could need for the job supplied with the order.

I feel the biggest difference they made was getting the needed list while still having some offside weight. I feel the offside weight really helps make the wave more firm.

image.jpg

[Z3CO23]

I went with MLA's customs on both sides. Our Z3 has no hard tanks. Also added a crossover pump and cross vented and drained all at the same time.

Mike was great to work with and had every part you could need for the job supplied with the order.

I feel the biggest difference they made was getting the needed list while still having some offside weight. I feel the offside weight really helps make the wave more firm.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42919[/ATTACH]

This looks incredible. AVX I assume?

[BJM]

Yes with the AVX. The port wave was AVX at 6 and taps at 3 or 4. I was the only one in the boat and weigh 155lbs.

Starboard wave was AVX at 7 or 8 and taps at 2. Boat driver was 110. We are still trying to get the starboard wave a little cleaner. The lip will wash out easily if you get the taps above 2.