Anyone ever swap out the Illusion X tower for a Titan III?

[Bill_AirJunky]

In the last month I've SkySkied behind at least 5 different Malibus, comparing how they drive, the size & shape of the wake & fuel mileage. A pretty wide range of boats too:

- 2007 23' LSV fully weighted with stock ballast

- 2007 21' XTI with the SV25 Diamond hull & no ballast

- 2003 21' XTI with the SV23 Diamond hull & no ballast

- 2003 21' XTI with the SV23 Wake hull & no ballast

- 2006 21' V-Ride with the SV23 Wake hull & 1000 lbs MLS full

The LSVs had awesome wakes but suck the gas & take a while to get up to speed. Plus their expensive as he11.

The XTIs get great mileage, but the wakes leave a lot to be desired, especially the older SV23 hulls. I couldn't tell the difference at all in the Wake & Diamond hulls. But the SV25 Diamond had a descent wake, drives great & gets great mileage...... just a bit spendy.

The 2006 V-Ride with the rear & mid ballast full had a descent mid-size wake & still drove great. Sounds like fuel consumption isn't so bad either. My only gripe is the Illusion X tower, it's too short & blocks the easiest access into the boat. I'd like to look into what it take to swap it out to the Titan III. I understand it's got a big spring in there for lowering it easily, which might make the tower hard to pull out, or retrofit into another boat if I were to sell it.

Anyone ever tried removing the Illusion X? Even looked into it?

[Bill_AirJunky]

Ha! 60 views & not a one, huh. Guess the Illusion is all that & more.

Thanks anyway for lookin.....

[fever5]

I am not the best person to comment, as I've never thought of removing my Illusion tower. Personaly I wouldn't do it for two reasons. I think the Illusion makes Malibu unique, and I like the clean lines from only two supporting structures. Secondly, I think it would be a huge job to remove the tower and then to have the base supports look nice. I am not sure how you'd fill up the area where the tower was. I think it could be done, but to be done well would probably take a lot of effort. Physically removing the tower shouldn't be too bad in itself, but again, I have no experience.

[Ronnie]

I changed from a Swoop to an Illusion (23WSLSV). That Swoop was the last tube tower I will own. I agree, the 23 is easier to enter with the Illusion though.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Typically I share your opinion, Ronnie. I just walked down our dock & shook a few towers just for grins. The new Mastercraft X1 & X2 tower is the ricketiest POS I've ever seen...... I can't imagine the movement it would have with 2 SkySkis, 4 speakers & a bimini on it in the chop. But the Titan is stout as can be, especially the I & II, but even the III is up there. One of my buddies has an LSV with the Titan III with 8 wakeboards, a SkySki, 4 speakers full of dynamat & a bimini........ and it's still pretty sturdy.

Fever5, I agree that the swoop forward makes the Malibu unique, and it's pretty sturdy too. But the funky tower mirror, blocking the easiest access in the boat & the lack of height (I'm 6'1" & knock my head on it as I stand up from the driver's seat).

My brother removed the old Illusion tower from his '03 XTI & upgraded to a Titan. All it left was one hole in each gunwale, and a Traxx pad across that took care of it easily. And the change in the look didn't suffer a bit.

Judge for yourself:

Before:

After:

Edited September 9, 2007 by Bill_AirJunky

[Ronnie]

I carried two Skyskis, two - four surf boards and Skylon Deafcon III's on my Swoop and I felt like it would flop around so much it would throw everything in the racks off the boat. I have to say that the swoop is NOWHERE near the tower that the Titan I,II or II is but neither is that old original Illusion on the boat in the picture. I think either the Titan or the NEW Illusion are a toss up. Both of those towers would be up to the owner to decide which one they like the best. IMO, I just don't see much improvement in the new style Illusion with the way the speakers, Bimini and lights works so well with it. You know the Comp Tech racks will work well for both towers as well as a few others. Much better than the old Air Boom racks we used to have to use.

[fever5]

When I was mentioning Illusion I meant the new style. I find it's a solid tower. Could maybe be a little higher for reasons you mentioned.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Thanks again guys. We went back down to the Coeur d'Alene Resort boardwalk today & talked to the dealer again. Nice guys & really easy to talk to. I think we're going to order an '08 V-Ride that is exactly what we want. So we'll start off next spring with something that is exactly to our liking. Which means I'll probably have a ton of questions about what to order.

- like what does everyone think about the stereos direct from 'bu?

- or would you get the 320 hp LCR or the 340 hp Monsoon? (900 lbs of ballast plus riders & gear.... I wonder if the 320 will still have the holeshot).

Edited September 10, 2007 by Bill_AirJunky

[vlx wakesetter]

Thanks again guys. We went back down to the Coeur d'Alene Resort boardwalk today & talked to the dealer again. Nice guys & really easy to talk to. I think we're going to order an '08 V-Ride that is exactly what we want. So we'll start off next spring with something that is exactly to our liking. Which means I'll probably have a ton of questions about what to order.

- like what does everyone think about the stereos direct from 'bu?

- or would you get the 320 hp LCR or the 340 hp Monsoon? (900 lbs of ballast plus riders & gear.... I wonder if the 320 will still have the holeshot).

I would at least get the speakers installed if nothing else and do your own stereo. JMO As far as the motor goes I would only own a Monsoon or better, but hey the LCR is a so it will have plenty of power left even when full of ballast, just repop your boat and you'll be fine if you don't want to pay for the upcharge on the Monsoon.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Yea, the dealer said if you put the 14x14 prop on the V-Ride with the 320 LCR, it'll outrun the same boat with the 340 Monsoon from beginning to end.

[Cbrown]

In the past I would have told you to pass on the radio from Malibu and do it yourself, but for 2008 with the new "black box" from JBL I would say go with it. If not you have to create a spot for the Headunit which is not a problem for some. As far as Monsoon vs LCR I always recommend the Monsoon but you cannot go wrong with either. The LCR is essentially the Monsoon 325 that was most commonly found in the vlx up until 2002. As far as why the Monsoon imo is due to the ETX/Catalst. They do reduce the emissions but many have seen an increased fuel economy due to the catalst. Out of the hole either boat will perform well with the ACME 1235 just comes down to what you want.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Cbrown

[fever5]

i would go with stock stereo as well. you can always upgrade amps later. i would also go with the monsoon if it's not too much more. helps re-sale.

finally, i'd also look at difference between VLX and v-ride. our dealer almost sold us a stocked v-ride which was only a few thousand less than our vlx. we felt our vlx would maintain its value better. v-ride is a great boat. you'll be happy with whatever you chose.

[wakeup]

We have owned a 06 Vride for over a year and love it. 320 LCR was recommended by the dealer over the 340 and we've been VERY happy with it. If I had a VLX, the dealer said min would be the 340 or better simply because it was a bigger boat and weighed more overall, more ballast, etc, plus people look for more options and power on those boats on resale.

Can't go wrong with either and is not much $ to upgrade, but on a Vride most people are looking to save money and the options can get pricey when the list is done. So IMO the LCR will do anything you want on a Vride and at least in my area you will not see much if any difference in resale on this price point boat. My buddy just sold a 06 Vride last month and it went for above NADA with the LCR and sold it in two weeks. I just think these boats sell fairly quick simply because it's in more people's budget range and many people looking to get into the sport are willing to try these boats, but that's just an uneducated opinion. I got an offer on my boat at a tournament last weekend from a guy in an I/O looking to get into an entry level wakeboard boat, so I guess that's a good sign.

I can't speak to skyski's or the sport, but we have ours full of people all the time and all three ballast full and power wedge down while pulling some big boys wakeboarding and surfing with never a problem at all. And knock on wood, not one problem thus far. I'm also 6'1" and I love the Illusion X tower, but we rarely are standing under it other than getting into the boat. Have four wakeboards, and two surfboards on it all the time, along with two speakers and never a rattle. But we also leave ours up all year round.

As far as stereo, we ordered ours without anything and had a custom stereo installed from a local company next to the dealer which worked out great. Got much more bang for the buck and it has worked great.

As far as price, I can only speak to 06's since I've been out of the market since then, but in my location there was much difference in a equally equipped VLX and Vride then. We priced both and we negotiated on the VLX and just could not meet on price. We went with a Vride and custom ordered it and it was more than 10k difference with same options (except the 340). But my wife and I like to haggle. Our Vride was just under 20% off MSRP and was in June of 06 not long before the 07's were beginning to peak. We got most all the options (all ballast tanks, power wedge, yada yada). And that was with the dealer already having one in the showroom unsold, but we didn't like the color or options.

Probably more than you needed, but hope that helps. Good luck.

[CTSunsetter]

In the past I would have told you to pass on the radio from Malibu and do it yourself, but for 2008 with the new "black box" from JBL I would say go with it. If not you have to create a spot for the Headunit which is not a problem for some.

I thought the 2008 "ride" boats were not going to get the new electronic dash/switches? If they are not then I wouldn't get anything more than the factory installed speakers and do the rest afterwards.

Ask yourself how much you use the stereo. We use ours so little that if order an '08 I will go with the factory installed speakers, install my own amp and just hook a MP3 player up and call it done.

Edited September 10, 2007 by CTSunsetter

[Bill_AirJunky]

Great stuff, guys. Thanks for all your input.

CTSunsetter, I think your right. I was told they were staying with the old guages & throttle on the Ride series for 08. No big deal as thats all I've ever driven in the past.

Wakeup, sounds like your getting all your money's worth out of your vRide. Thanks for all the input, especially on the engine. I'd like to think the 320 will be plenty for us.

The vRide w/ Illusion we drove on Saturday sold to someone else on Sunday for full asking price. Come to find out, the guy was slightly uninformed on it though...... it didn't have any rear ballast at all. So I rode with it fully weighted.... just the middle though. So I assume the extra 400 lbs in the rear will add a little to the wake, and hopefully not rob too much of the power.

I've seen this one on Craigslist a couple times recently. On one hand I almost wish I could get past my issues with the Illusion, and I'd jump on it. Pretty loaded & not a bad price.

I ran across this one on BoatTrader but it's thru a dealer that I'd rather not work with at all. I may go over & look anyway.

I know, picky batstard, huh.

So I'll keep watching the used listings for a Titan equipped vRide. If nothing else, we'll order one sometime this fall or winter. The dealer quoted 6 - 8 weeks for delivery. Seems really quick, but puts us out at Thansgiving already. So might as well wait & shop around a bit more.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Bill_AirJunky

[Hack]

In the past I would have told you to pass on the radio from Malibu and do it yourself, but for 2008 with the new "black box" from JBL I would say go with it. If not you have to create a spot for the Headunit which is not a problem for some. As far as Monsoon vs LCR I always recommend the Monsoon but you cannot go wrong with either. The LCR is essentially the Monsoon 325 that was most commonly found in the vlx up until 2002. As far as why the Monsoon imo is due to the ETX/Catalst. They do reduce the emissions but many have seen an increased fuel economy due to the catalst. Out of the hole either boat will perform well with the ACME 1235 just comes down to what you want.

Sorry for the hijack but how would a CAT reduce fuel consumption? Seems to me that added back pressure would increase fuel consumption.

[Cbrown]

I am not technically inclined enough to describe it in detail but my understanding is use of O2 sensors allowed indmar to fine tune air/fuel ratios and also engine timing much more accurately and precise resulting in a more efficient engine. It is now a completely closed loop fuel system.

Like I said not mechanically inclined enough to describe it but we have had mulitple customers that have had previous model year boats 05 and 06 23LSVs and VLXs that now have 07s that have commented on fuel usage from year to year and all have seen less fuel consumption by catalst motors.

[Hack]

I am not technically inclined enough to describe it in detail but my understanding is use of O2 sensors allowed indmar to fine tune air/fuel ratios and also engine timing much more accurately and precise resulting in a more efficient engine. It is now a completely closed loop fuel system.

Like I said not mechanically inclined enough to describe it but we have had mulitple customers that have had previous model year boats 05 and 06 23LSVs and VLXs that now have 07s that have commented on fuel usage from year to year and all have seen less fuel consumption by catalst motors.

Interesting, thanks. I'm sure someone here will pipe in wiht some actual statistics that will be helpful. The manufacturer keeps those stats so it must be recorded somewhere.