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[jhodnett]

Hi! I am new to the site but have explored here before when trying to decide what boat we should purchase. We decided to get an 08 vlx that was a carryover. Im excited about this boat. We have only had it out once since we got it last weekend, but everything was so nice. I couldn't believe how quiet the engine was and how smooth it ran. It has the 340 hp Monsoon engine, power wedge, 4 ballast tanks (1250lbs), and it has the Acme 537 prop. Unbelievable boat, I'm sooo happy with it, with one minor exception. Last weekend I ended up with about 1700lbs of people ballast, the ballast was loaded, and the wedge all the way down. It took a long time for the boat to plane even with people in the bow and the bow tank loaded. The wake was awesome! I talked to Acme about the prop and they recommended going to their 1235 prop. My dealer said they would swap this prop out for me no charge. My question is, how much did it affect your performance in alll areas? How much did it change rpms at pulling and cruising speeds? I am not really worrying about top end as I never tried to top end our last boat. Acme gave me a fairly good idea of how much it would change rpm, but I just wanted to get some real world ideas or opinions from people that actually made this prop swap and which they like better. We typically don't run that much ballast, usually not much more than the factory ballast. So I just thought I would post up and get some ideas from youu guys. Thanks. Oh, and great site.

[jhodnett]

I will post up some pics as soon as I get some good ones.

[Chia]

i run the 1235 and love it. can't give you the rpm info you are looking for though. If your dealer is willing to swap it out for you, he is likely to let you try it out before deciding which one you want. Just remember to drop the 537 off when you switch to save yourself a trip back to the dealer to do that.

Did you get one of the '08's with the Malivue option?

congrats and welcome to the site.

[jhodnett]

Thanks. No it doesn't have the maliview option.

[68Slalom]

Give it a little time and I'm sure wakegirl will chime in

Welcome to the crew

[Malibudude]

OJ 468 is the prop that fits the VLX perfectly, we run it. IIRC at 30mph the rmps are in the 4200 range. While I prefer the 468 to the 1235 a free trade for the 537 would be hard to pass up. Keep mind you'll want to have a backup prop just in case while you're out and on damage the prop you can install the spare and keep on ridn'

[WakeGirl]

OJ 468 is the prop that fits the VLX perfectly, we run it. IIRC at 30mph the rmps are in the 4200 range. While I prefer the 468 to the 1235 a free trade for the 537 would be hard to pass up. Keep mind you'll want to have a backup prop just in case while you're out and on damage the prop you can install the spare and keep on ridn'

[Chappy]

OJ 468 is the prop that fits the VLX perfectly, we run it. IIRC at 30mph the rmps are in the 4200 range. While I prefer the 468 to the 1235 a free trade for the 537 would be hard to pass up. Keep mind you'll want to have a backup prop just in case while you're out and on damage the prop you can install the spare and keep on ridn'

I switched to the OJ as well. I lost about 2 mph on the top end but the does a great job when loaded down.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Definitely upgrade the prop.

And remember that you have to base your ballast & wedge settings on what is going on on the lake or in your boat. If you have 9 people in your boat, it's probably not necessary to have another 1200 lbs of ballast in it and the Wedge down when you have the one of the smallest engines sold by Malibu. If you find it's necessary, then you should consider an engine upgrade the next time around. Try draining the ballast. Or raising the Wedge. Both will improve performance under those conditions.

And the prop upgrade will definitely help too.

Edited April 21, 2009 by Bill_AirJunky