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Time to cut ties with Malibu? 3rd and last 'Bu


ChainSetter

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5 hours ago, Fman said:

I had a women at the Sac Boat show tell me that she witnessed a tower fall off a new 23 LSV Malibu on there lake.  It just fell off...no reason.

She actually was serious and able to keep a straight face.  I was deflated and felt depressed for the rest of the day.....but I continued to keep my fanboy enthusiasm and move on! sometimes you gotta take your licks and pick yourself back up!:)

Well you're not supposed to pull multuple tubers with Malibus.. 

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It’s a hard pill to swallow if you sunk all of your $100k retirement into a dream boat that ended up disappointing. 

With mass production and competition, things are just not made like they used to be. 

 Mistakes are going to happen and people forget things at work or it’s someone’s first day on the job.

Edited by sonny20
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I think this started and ended with 'third and last Bu'. Why would you get into a third one if the company was so bad? I am about to get into my first one so posts like this are a bit unsettling - especially with our dealer (which is an awesome one so far) being 2 hours away. My buddy has a brand new Mastercraft X10 that was delivered to him with a small puncture in the seat, and some gel cracks after a summer of usage...every company is going to run into a few issues (unavoidable when you're making boats by hand) - but I believe Bu and a good dealer will get you out of any trouble.

Having said all this I have to expect and be prepared for certain things not being perfect; my 2013 JX35 looks better than any car on the lot in a dealership, or any car coming out of a detailing, because after I am done cleaning it (almost daily) it is done my insanely clean way. This is something I have to dial back a bit :) 

Edited by WhiteWaterWeb
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14 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

 But, if you have a legitimate complaint or concern and take it to your dealer and Malibu in a sensible manner, you will be taken care of. Personalities shine through some of these posts. You can imagine how they handle issues with their dealer. 

Honestly, I don't really think that is completely true. Warranty departments can be funny, and try to deny claims that are perfectly valid. Especially, high dollar claims. The fact that I have the habit of letting such things "slide off my shoulder", without putting up a big fuss, has cost me quite a bit of $$ over the years. Rather than getting on a soap box, I am more likely to learn from the mistake, and move on to something else. The dealer has made a huge difference for me on this, because I have actually had a service manager take it upon himself to raise a stink about an issue, that I wasn't pushing hard enough.

I definitely know what being a "Passive and understanding" customer gets you (actually, doesn't get you) with some warranty departments. Your point is somewhat valid, and being a nitpicky, unreasonable, customer with an attitude, is not usually going to get you anywhere......... But there is a certain amount of validity to the saying- "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

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The trick here is that malibu continues to go with more tech, more features, and then make bigger...and bigger...and bigger boats.  Spidering, etc. Is going to happen when a boat can take on thousands upon thousands in ballast and plow around all day with 15 people on it.  Just the stress of that weight is enormous.  If you tow tubes off a tower and then complain of the same...thats just ridiculous.  The tech stuff has always been a problem area for boat manufacturers.  

Consumers are asking for giant, pretty, tech filled party crafts to wake surf behind.  The stuff going into these boats is far more complex than before, and consumers have always been malibus test bed.  If you're getting a brand new boat with brand new features you are going to be the ones helping malibu figure out how it holds up.

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Hearing the words 'Malibu' and/or 'wakesurf' or 'ski boat' in the same sentence as 'tubers' or 'tubing' makes my skin crawl. Call me what you will but I have a few rules on the power boat: no shoes and no tubing allowed. We have a pontoon boat with a 50 merc that can handle both of those nicely (fast enough for the little kids).

To each their own of course...I am not criticizing anyone who tubes with a wakesurf boat BUT anyone who tubes from the tower should have their boaters license taken away; elevated tow points for tubes make the tube/tuber lift out of the water which is not safe for anyone on the lake.

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5 minutes ago, WhiteWaterWeb said:

Hearing the words 'Malibu' and/or 'wakesurf' or 'ski boat' in the same sentence as 'tubers' or 'tubing' makes my skin crawl. Call me what you will but I have a few rules on the power boat: no shoes and no tubing allowed. We have a pontoon boat with a 50 merc that can handle both of those nicely (fast enough for the little kids).

To each their own of course...I am not criticizing anyone who tubes with a wakesurf boat BUT anyone who tubes from the tower should have their boaters license taken away; elevated tow points for tubes make the tube/tuber lift out of the water which is not safe for anyone on the lake.

I was having a discussion about this with a friend buying a boat and I couldn't find anywhere with authority that I could point to that said why you shoudn't do it.  He had to just take my word.  Do they at least put a warning/limitation in the new boats under the tower instructions?

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Apparently a lot of towers have it written in the warning label; I'm sure my old Monster Tower has it somewhere in the documentation. At any rate this company was created because it is unsafe to tow tubers from a tower point: https://turboswing.com/

Stay safe my friends!

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My buddy's super air nautique has a big warning on the tower.  

A Google search of "towing tubes from wakeboard tower" will net returns from dozens of sources, many industry leaders included.  All strongly recommending to never do this.  

You may break the tower, snap the tow line and have someone hit by it, or take a tube airborne.  

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9 hours ago, sonny20 said:

It’s a hard pill to swallow if you sunk all of your $100k retirement into a dream boat that ended up disappointing. 

With mass production and competition, things are just not made like they used to be. 

 Mistakes are going to happen and people forget things at work or it’s someone’s first day on the job.

Wow, a bit condescending, don't you think?  Why does it matter how someone funded their boat?  $100k is WAY too much to spend to have significant problems.  I know mistakes will be made on anything that is man/hand made.  But there should be a concerted effort to reduce those mistakes, and to take care of them when they came up.

The first two years with my boat I had way more problems than I think I should have considering the price (or even half the price I paid).  But Malibu and my dealer really stepped up, and I am loyal now because of it (although truth be told I am more loyal to my dealer than to Malibu).

33 minutes ago, WhiteWaterWeb said:

Hearing the words 'Malibu' and/or 'wakesurf' or 'ski boat' in the same sentence as 'tubers' or 'tubing' makes my skin crawl. Call me what you will but I have a few rules on the power boat: no shoes and no tubing allowed. We have a pontoon boat with a 50 merc that can handle both of those nicely (fast enough for the little kids).

To each their own of course...I am not criticizing anyone who tubes with a wakesurf boat BUT anyone who tubes from the tower should have their boaters license taken away; elevated tow points for tubes make the tube/tuber lift out of the water which is not safe for anyone on the lake.

 

26 minutes ago, formulaben said:

I was having a discussion about this with a friend buying a boat and I couldn't find anywhere with authority that I could point to that said why you shoudn't do it.  He had to just take my word.  Do they at least put a warning/limitation in the new boats under the tower instructions?

 

13 minutes ago, WhiteWaterWeb said:

Apparently a lot of towers have it written in the warning label; I'm sure my old Monster Tower has it somewhere in the documentation. At any rate this company was created because it is unsafe to tow tubers from a tower point: https://turboswing.com/

Stay safe my friends!

 

11 minutes ago, Pra4sno said:

My buddy's super air nautique has a big warning on the tower.  

A Google search of "towing tubes from wakeboard tower" will net returns from dozens of sources, many industry leaders included.  All strongly recommending to never do this.  

You may break the tower, snap the tow line and have someone hit by it, or take a tube airborne.  

When I bought my boat, I told my nieces/nephews that we couldn't tow tubes because it voided the Malibu warranty.  They were young enough to believe it. 

Now that they are older, my stance has not changed.  The only time I will tube is when we have guests on the boat that rarely go out, and that have very limited athletic ability.  Otherwise, no tubes.

That said, I did read my owners manual.  And it does say that you can tow tubes from tower.  I'll dig through my documents and find a post a photo of it if people would like.

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@RyanB I think this tower/tubes conversation likely is more a case by case.  Youre right - Modern surf boats are practically built around the tower now and may be safe for tubes.

Bolt ons obviously aren't going to handle that stress and the years inbetween even with factory towers are where we see warnings on the towers. 

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2 hours ago, Pra4sno said:

@RyanB I think this tower/tubes conversation likely is more a case by case.  Youre right - Modern surf boats are practically built around the tower now and may be safe for tubes.

Bolt ons obviously aren't going to handle that stress and the years inbetween even with factory towers are where we see warnings on the towers. 

Agreed.  My last boat was a sterndrive with a OEM tower that was not built for pulling tubes.  But since the OP has a 2015 247, I believe that it is safe to say his is rated to tow from it.  Or have we veered off the discussion of his boat in particular?

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55 minutes ago, RyanB said:

Agreed.  My last boat was a sterndrive with a OEM tower that was not built for pulling tubes.  But since the OP has a 2015 247, I believe that it is safe to say his is rated to tow from it.  Or have we veered off the discussion of his boat in particular?

Maybe we are taking the thread in a good direction...

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On 3/16/2018 at 11:44 AM, ChainSetter said:

Well that's what I've done and Malibu is telling me it was factory error in spraying the gel too thick maybe they will fix it but it's time and frustration for me and on a 100k boat it's unacceptable. Not too mention what this patch work of gel coat will eventually look like. If I slung mud it's because there are people on here that all but refuse to accept that Malibu QC isn't what it used to be and always blame the owner. That gets annoying. 

For the record many of the gel issues were there before I ever hit that bridge and I can prove that with my email thread If I need to. 

Was the too thick gel coat admission fixed? If so, how did it turn out?

What did they say about the seat cushions, non-working wedge, 3 dash screen comps, screw thru gel coat and smeared gel coat?

Of your 3 Malibus you’ve owned ,which one has been the most reliable and least defective?

 

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20 hours ago, WhiteWaterWeb said:

Hearing the words 'Malibu' and/or 'wakesurf' or 'ski boat' in the same sentence as 'tubers' or 'tubing' makes my skin crawl. Call me what you will but I have a few rules on the power boat: no shoes and no tubing allowed. We have a pontoon boat with a 50 merc that can handle both of those nicely (fast enough for the little kids).

Ohh come on now @WhiteWaterWeb ...50hp, ..how in earth could that be fun tubing? Haha jk jk..

Personally We tube a lot probably as much as we surf, although they are all under 5yrs mostly  so we are in the 14-20mph range nothing crazy, and don't pull from the tower, although we keep the tube behind boat mostly so it wouldn't be a big deal if we did... If we we did hard core tubing with older teenagers that's when you're tubes get off to sides and would be harder on the towers.

Obviously they are pretty strong for pulling, since  wakeboarders pull hard but at less of an angle than a tube in many cases. 

Just go pop-push from the side on your g3 or g4 and it would be enough to convince u it's not a good idea when u see the tower wobble laterally from a 20-40lb shove. Try a quick shove backwards to rear of boat .. Rock solid.. (towing forces) .. 

Malibu towers are more a 4pt construction, 2 bases and 2 top corner joints. Other style towers are more of a 2pt where the Tower is a giant single formed Upside down U mounted at bases. Less points/joints is going to mean less movement and stronger. If the top corners are joints and they move/flex any minute tiny bit from side forces then the bases joints will also rock as well and u have 4pts now moving/pivoting.  On a 2pt if there is a single formed tower and u pull from side/top and the top joints can't flex/bend or get off angle then the base joints won't flex or a lot less at least, and will put all the forces into rocking the boat to one side. That being said they should all be strong enough for average use and tubing.. if u get crazy with tubes and especially large tubes with multiple riders then you'll want a stronger tower for lateral forces. 

Obviously I wouldn't recommend it on a Malibu with larger/bigger tubing payloads and or crazy hard core teeenage tubing  out to the far sides.. ...whatever it's a price compromise, if u want to do it and feel safer go buy a different brand and spend a lot more money.. it is what it is..

Now on the other hand to never use your Malibu for tubing? (Buuuuuu) haha , there is no better way to show off a beautiful Malibu than by tubing while blasting Disney music from the tower and making all the kids on the lake tell their parents they want a Malibu! 

They truly are great family boats! The numbers don't lie.. 

 

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Good points...never say never. I mean if I have a 5 year old kid who doesn't want to surf, ski or wakeboard but wants to be pulled by a tube on the 'fast' looking boat I won't deny him/her. Kids always win :)   I will always pull that small child/tube from the ski pylon though - not the tower.

If any big 'kid' (young adult, kid at heart) comes to be wanting to get steamrolled on a tube with the Bu...well you probably know what my answer will be. Going slow with the young kids to give them a thrill is a good time...burning surf/wakeboard gas to only have someone fly through the air and limp back to the dock (or worse) just doesn't work for me. To each their own though - I don't judge. Have fun BUT be safe on the water for everyone (people in, behind, and around your boat).

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I believe the reason that pulling a tube connected to the tower is discouraged, is for when that tube plays submarine, at speed, and presents a 2k lb load.

BTW, all this talk about "my boat's too good to pull a tube" is part of what creates the  bad Malibu owners stereotype image.

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With all due respect @MadMan I hope you're not including me in that statement above; I have delicately tried not to judge anyone who wants to tube with any boat...conversely, I would hope folks respect those who don't want to tube with their boats for various reasons - none of which include because I think I or my boat is above it. For me it's a safety, economics, and athletics standpoint. These are the some of the same reasons I don't paddle a whitewater kayak in a pool, or drive a Ferrari in bumper to bumper traffic. To each their own though, whatever floats your boat.

P.S. no, I don't own a Ferrari...I sat in one at a car show once though :)

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yeah personally I don' like tubing, too hard on the body. I do pull tubers if they want to tube. I tie at a center tie point, down low on the transom. my biggest gripe about tubing is having one more item in the boat that generally doesn' get used much.  

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I don't tube out of my boat.    

I don't have a tower or room for a tube.  Heck, on an echelon it gets cramped if you bring too many towels.  

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3 hours ago, MadMan said:

BTW, all this talk about "my boat's too good to pull a tube" is part of what creates the  bad Malibu owners stereotype image.

FWIW, I hate tubing for a handful of reasons, but easily the #1 reason is that as I'm towing someone (and trying to hold a straight line) I have no idea where this tubing bozo is going because they're too busy randomly making hard left and right turns or even 360s all the while looking backwards at their kids instead of looking forward as the driver should be doing.

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27 minutes ago, formulaben said:

FWIW, I hate tubing for a handful of reasons, but easily the #1 reason is that as I'm towing someone (and trying to hold a straight line) I have no idea where this tubing bozo is going because they're too busy randomly making hard left and right turns or even 360s all the while looking backwards at their kids instead of looking forward as the driver should be doing.

When we pull tubers who ever is driving is always DRIVING, not looking back. And lets be honest, I see plenty of drivers pulling wakeboarders or surfers looking back over their shoulder as well. Hell, I see many times one driver and one boarder/surfer no spoter except the driver. We have spotters even for the tubers, even if we are turning or doing 360s. And we ALWAYS are aware of any other boaters around us. 

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