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Add Wedge to my '05 RLXI?


ed obermeier

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The '05 RLXI I bought recently has no Wedge on it. Personally I could care less (I'm slalom specific) but my son is a pretty darn good boarder (4- 5 inverts, can throw 7's from both sides etc) and the wife wants me to consider it. I wouldn't mind it if it's not too difficult or crazy expensive to do.

Can the Wedge be added after the fact or must it be built in at the factory? I assume there is a pretty serious backing plate on the inside of the transom and it's thru-bolted etc. My guess is that's all done before the floor is put in so doing it after the fact may be a pretty expensive deal. Just wondered if anyone had any info/experience with this issue. Thanks in advance for the input.

Ed

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The '05 RLXI I bought recently has no Wedge on it. Personally I could care less (I'm slalom specific) but my son is a pretty darn good boarder (4- 5 inverts, can throw 7's from both sides etc) and the wife wants me to consider it. I wouldn't mind it if it's not too difficult or crazy expensive to do.

Can the Wedge be added after the fact or must it be built in at the factory? I assume there is a pretty serious backing plate on the inside of the transom and it's thru-bolted etc. My guess is that's all done before the floor is put in so doing it after the fact may be a pretty expensive deal. Just wondered if anyone had any info/experience with this issue. Thanks in advance for the input.

Ed

Oh Ed, You are going to make GT cry!!

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Ed, It can be done. I was able to take the brackets on and off on our 2000 RLX without any problems. The RLXi is a different story, Malibu doesn't give you a lot of room to install the backing plate and bolts, gas tank may need to be slid forward unless you have small arms and hands. If you decide to do it I would go with the new floating wedge and maybe have a dealer do the install. I had the dealer do the bracket swap out, went to SS version. I believe that I could of done it myself, but as I get older I'm not as inclined to do as many projects as before.

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So what I'm getting from that is that it CAN be done without cutting into the floor etc, I may have to move the fuel tank to get to the inside of the transom though (I don't have very small hands)? I'll have to take a look at it come spring to see how much work it's going to be. Also have to look into what the wedge setup costs and what a dealer would charge to just do it. I'm like you, I'm less inclined these days to mess with it myself plus I have enough projects going as is.

As I said, it's the wifes idea. The son has plenty of people to ride with who have real wakeboard boats so that's not the issue. When we do the family time thing he likes to ride behind our boat occasionally but it's been some time since he outgrew the wake a boat like this can produce. He'll do surface tricks, 3's and 5's etc but is pretty limited on the inverts cause of the wake size. Actually I'm kind of looking for a good enough reason to blow it off ("Sorry honey, I'd really like to do it but it'll cost too much...") but as I said, IF it wasn't too big a deal I'd consider it.

Ed

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So what I'm getting from that is that it CAN be done without cutting into the floor etc, I may have to move the fuel tank to get to the inside of the transom though (I don't have very small hands)? I'll have to take a look at it come spring to see how much work it's going to be. Also have to look into what the wedge setup costs and what a dealer would charge to just do it. I'm like you, I'm less inclined these days to mess with it myself plus I have enough projects going as is.

As I said, it's the wifes idea. The son has plenty of people to ride with who have real wakeboard boats so that's not the issue. When we do the family time thing he likes to ride behind our boat occasionally but it's been some time since he outgrew the wake a boat like this can produce. He'll do surface tricks, 3's and 5's etc but is pretty limited on the inverts cause of the wake size. Actually I'm kind of looking for a good enough reason to blow it off ("Sorry honey, I'd really like to do it but it'll cost too much...") but as I said, IF it wasn't too big a deal I'd consider it.

Ed

Hey Ed - I'll be happy to give him a pull behind my 05 RLXi with a Wedge for him to get an idea of what it'll be like. Maybe a spring trip to Table Rock?

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Since you're talking about the manual wedge, yes it can be done & yes I'd echo onamission's comments about the floating wedge. Parts will probably be around $1k (maybe closer to $1200), not sure on labor for the dealer to do it. If you were talking about the power wedge, that's a different story. But the manual is totally doable, although I can't comment on ease of installation on that boat.

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Hey Ed - I'll be happy to give him a pull behind my 05 RLXi with a Wedge for him to get an idea of what it'll be like. Maybe a spring trip to Table Rock?

Hey Edwin, I'm all about it! I've got a couple of buds living in Nixa (for those not familiar - Nixa is just south of Springfield, Mo and about 30 minutes north of Table Rock Lake Missouri), one of them's parents have a place right across the main channel from Little Cow so the wife and I try to make that trip a few times a season. We stay with him at their place or at a resort right down the road so we're like 5 minutes from the course. We'll definitely have to hook up, especially since we're sporting the same vintage LXI's and all. Let's remember to touch base come spring and schedule a date!

Ed

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Since you're talking about the manual wedge, yes it can be done & yes I'd echo onamission's comments about the floating wedge. Parts will probably be around $1k (maybe closer to $1200), not sure on labor for the dealer to do it. If you were talking about the power wedge, that's a different story. But the manual is totally doable, although I can't comment on ease of installation on that boat.

You're an incredible wealth of information Tracie, thank you for the cost and other info. Yeah, I'd definitely want to do the manual version if I do it at all. Can't imagine what a powered version would involve or cost, way more than I'd be willing to get into especially for no more than it would get used. Junior's 21 now and doesn't hang with mom 'n dad too much these days, mostly vacations and occasional weekends at the local wally lake if he's not working.

Ed

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Ed,

It can be done, just a lot of work to do it. A couple of points to consider IMO. First, you will be adding that weight at the very back of the boat, so you will slightly affect the wake in a negative manner. Second, the boats I have experienced with wedges, not many so just a very small sample size, did exhibit some issues with water catching the wedge even when in the up position, thus sending some water up through the platform. I considered doing it to my boat but decided against it for those reasons and the fact that I almost never board. You might want to get the weight of the wedge and then add that amount of gas and check the effect as a test to see what you think.

I would also think that an RLX or RLXi is about the last boat one would want to board behind, I have found mine has about the least interesting board wake of any other boat I have skiied behind. I guess that is why they are such killer ski and footing boats!

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Ed,

It can be done, just a lot of work to do it. A couple of points to consider IMO. First, you will be adding that weight at the very back of the boat, so you will slightly affect the wake in a negative manner. Second, the boats I have experienced with wedges, not many so just a very small sample size, did exhibit some issues with water catching the wedge even when in the up position, thus sending some water up through the platform. I considered doing it to my boat but decided against it for those reasons and the fact that I almost never board. You might want to get the weight of the wedge and then add that amount of gas and check the effect as a test to see what you think.

I would also think that an RLX or RLXi is about the last boat one would want to board behind, I have found mine has about the least interesting board wake of any other boat I have skiied behind. I guess that is why they are such killer ski and footing boats!

I've been in and around '03 - 05's with a Wedge on them but never paid much attention because like you I'm not a boarder. I know they can throw an OK wake which is all Junior would need for what he could/would do behind a boat like this but again, I'm not all that excited about it. Good point though on the weight issue Dwight. We have fat sacks and a Fat Seat as far as that goes (and an extended pylon), not as easy as just dropping a Wedge but would do the trick if I really had to I'd think. Lot's more PITA though.

On back-of-the-boat weight. I didn't realize until I read through the owners manual that the RLXI has a 40 gallon fuel tank. Kind of tangent to this discussion but how does a full gas tank affect slalom wake opposed to say a 1/2 full tank? Noticable or no? GT?? The Supra had a 28 gallon tank and having it half full made a slight but noticable difference. I don't know that I'll ever fill that tank over maybe 2/3 full unless maybe on a Big Lake vacation trip just, for the wake issue.

Ed

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The amount of gas in the tank hasn't changed the ski wake in any other RLXi"s that I ski behind, now our old RLX was a different story. As far as the wedge being in the water, that doesn't change a thing either. The new solid swim platforms don't have that problem with the water coming through.

Our family has a lot of fun boarding behind our RLXi, Thumbup.gif . Where not good but do wake to wake spins and grabs, we run around 16-19 mph and a 65 - 60 foot rope.

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Ed,

It can be done, just a lot of work to do it. A couple of points to consider IMO. First, you will be adding that weight at the very back of the boat, so you will slightly affect the wake in a negative manner. Second, the boats I have experienced with wedges, not many so just a very small sample size, did exhibit some issues with water catching the wedge even when in the up position, thus sending some water up through the platform. I considered doing it to my boat but decided against it for those reasons and the fact that I almost never board. You might want to get the weight of the wedge and then add that amount of gas and check the effect as a test to see what you think.

I would also think that an RLX or RLXi is about the last boat one would want to board behind, I have found mine has about the least interesting board wake of any other boat I have skiied behind. I guess that is why they are such killer ski and footing boats!

I've been in and around '03 - 05's with a Wedge on them but never paid much attention because like you I'm not a boarder. I know they can throw an OK wake which is all Junior would need for what he could/would do behind a boat like this but again, I'm not all that excited about it. Good point though on the weight issue Dwight. We have fat sacks and a Fat Seat as far as that goes (and an extended pylon), not as easy as just dropping a Wedge but would do the trick if I really had to I'd think. Lot's more PITA though.

On back-of-the-boat weight. I didn't realize until I read through the owners manual that the RLXI has a 40 gallon fuel tank. Kind of tangent to this discussion but how does a full gas tank affect slalom wake opposed to say a 1/2 full tank? Noticable or no? GT?? The Supra had a 28 gallon tank and having it half full made a slight but noticable difference. I don't know that I'll ever fill that tank over maybe 2/3 full unless maybe on a Big Lake vacation trip just, for the wake issue.

Ed

I can't say I have done the fuel level experiment on an RLXi, but on others (Echelon / Response LX) I can certainly tell the difference. I guess that is why my boat has no back seat and a relatively empty tank all the time. At 6 lbs / gal. you can see how much difference you are making, full tank of fuel is 240 lbs. The 300 lbs. I took out of my boat made a significant difference, easy to tell since there is a similar boat on our lake that stayed stock so one can do a side by side comparison.

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Can't speak for the newer version ('07-current), but the wake on my '03 RLXi is almost completely unaffected by the amount of fuel in the tank. I've always thought this to be an amazing achievement - seems to defy the laws of physics. Thumbup.gif

That said, fuel level does have a significant effect on the Perfect Pass times through the course (we do not have Stargazer). I end up accounting for it by adjusting the crew weight setting accordingly.

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Can't speak for the newer version ('07-current), but the wake on my '03 RLXi is almost completely unaffected by the amount of fuel in the tank. I've always thought this to be an amazing achievement - seems to defy the laws of physics. Thumbup.gif

That said, fuel level does have a significant effect on the Perfect Pass times through the course (we do not have Stargazer). I end up accounting for it by adjusting the crew weight setting accordingly.

The people that seem to want to run with less gas for weight purposes tend to be those with non-diamond hull boats (Sportys & pre-'98 Responses). The consistent comment that I see about this is that the RLXi wake is much less affected by that weight than a Sporty or non-diamond Response is.

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OK, What did you guys say to him?

He's pacing around in the back yard mumbling something about "drilling holes in the boat." I'm going to have to get out the blow gun and the tranquilizer darts again.

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I have an 07 and can't say I see much difference from a full tank to a light load. I will say I don't run with much less than a 1/4 tank. Never know when the CEO will want to go for a ride after I ski. And then you need to account for the Bu fuel gage. Whistling.gif

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OK, What did you guys say to him?

He's pacing around in the back yard mumbling something about "drilling holes in the boat." I'm going to have to get out the blow gun and the tranquilizer darts again.

Jeez Mrs. GT, I'm sorry!! I was just asking for the sake of gaining a little information. I bought the boat for pretty much the same reasons Bill did originally which is why I wanted a boat without a tower and wedge. My wife MADE me ask.

Knowing Bill no better than I do I'm guessing you probably go through a LOT of tranquilizer darts... Whistling.gif

Ed

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OK, What did you guys say to him?

He's pacing around in the back yard mumbling something about "drilling holes in the boat." I'm going to have to get out the blow gun and the tranquilizer darts again.

Knowing Bill no better than I do I'm guessing you probably go through a LOT of tranquilizer darts... Whistling.gif

Ed

You ought to see it...all the little toads are quite skilled with the blow gun, easily taking GT down at moment's notice if the signal is given.

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  • 1 month later...

Install is a pain on the DD boats. You have to pull the whole trunk/back seat apart to move the tank forward. Otherwise the actual install of the wedge plate is easy, just drill a few holes, seal em up and call it a day.

-Chris

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