Sunsetter Ballast

[CMA]

Hey, my first post as a new Malibu owner. Just picked up my "new" 2002 Sunsetter (only 130 hrs) and have it in the shop, cleaning, admiring, figuring stuff out. It has a Titan II tower and Wedge plate, and also came with a 3 bag Fat Sack system. Just wondering what the wake will be like with the wedge only, and from that point where is the best placement for the sacks and how full to fill them. The previous owner even included his original brochure in which it describes not needing ballast, but just the wedge to create a decent wake. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

[scott_fx]

Hey, my first post as a new Malibu owner. Just picked up my "new" 2002 Sunsetter (only 130 hrs) and have it in the shop, cleaning, admiring, figuring stuff out. It has a Titan II tower and Wedge plate, and also came with a 3 bag Fat Sack system. Just wondering what the wake will be like with the wedge only, and from that point where is the best placement for the sacks and how full to fill them. The previous owner even included his original brochure in which it describes not needing ballast, but just the wedge to create a decent wake. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

i have a 98 sunsetter vlx and after talking to tons of people, shops and asking a ton of questions here ive decided to go with two v-drive sacs and a ski locker sac. if you have the wedge; i believe, you want to add additional bow weight as well. but a lot of people that i've talked to don't use the wedge after they set up a proper ballast system.

here is a thread i started that may help you some too.

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....showtopic=18779

[YJim]

You'll want to add a sack in the bow or at least a locker sack to compliment the wedge. Be prepared to use alot more fuel than no weight/ wedge up.

[geogilbert]

I recently upgraded from a 97 direct drive sunsetter. we had it pretty well down to a science. I had a sack in the locker that pretty much filled the space. A large sack under the back bench seat and we put about 200lbs of lead in the front. . The lead in the bow made it kinda scary when the rear sack was not full but we usually left the dock with it full.

I don't remember the sizes on the sacks, sorry. but the locker sack was a tube that like i sad filled the whole locker front to back. And the rear sack was big enough to go all the way across the transom and was probably about 650 -700lbs full.

We usually did not run the wedge unless we were feeling crazy.

[skicrave]

A Fly High Rear Seat Sac will fill the factory ski locker almost perfectly. If you plan on surfing, Fly High Fat Sacs on either side of the engine compartment work well and can be filled only partially for wakeboarding. Otherwise, Fly High Side Sacs are a good choice for weighting the center of the boat.

The SV23 hull used on that era Sunsetter tends to work best with 40% of the weight in front and 60% of the weight in back. If you like a steeper wake put more weight in back, if you like a more mellow wake with a longer transition, put more weight up front.

[CMA]

Thanks to all for your replies. This gives me some good info and some good direction... sounds like I'll have to experiment a bit and see what I like best, but that's half the fun! This is my first DD, otherwise just boarded behind my 225 Crownline with a tower. That got so frustrating, trying to build a wake, but still plane out without going 30mph. Can't wait til summer, although my wife is a bit concerned about getting too wild with the wake, did a face-plant last summer and seperated my shoulder. Amazing how quickly landing with the front edge of your board down brings you to a compete stop. Couldn't let go of the rope fast enough, and POP! Spent winter months re-habbing and feels almost 100% now.

Again thanks for the advice. Later.