Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Recommended Posts

Hey guys...This is my first post on here so forgive me if someone has already asked this question. So here is goes...We have a 2000 Sunsetter LXi and we hit the wedge on a tree and bent it Cry.gif . The only thing thats bent are the two side arms. We keep trying to bend them back to the original shape, but no luck so far. Dontknow.gif Do you guys have any tips or hints on how to straighten it out?

Thanks for all the help!

Craig

Link to comment

Probably just easier to replace it. And while you're at it, you could upgrade to a stainless floating style seen here. If you want to keep it stock, check out that seller's store, they sell all the wedges and wedge parts you'll need.

Link to comment

I'll look into that. My dad was able to get most of the bend out, but he said it was going to need to be rewelded due to a crack....Do you think this would be a problem? We will probably end up getting a new one, but we just wanted to get it fixed for this weekend.

Thanks,

craig

Link to comment

The arms are made of nibral I believe. The same material as the props. If that's what's got the crack, I dunno about welding that.

Link to comment
Probably just easier to replace it. And while you're at it, you could upgrade to a stainless floating style seen here. If you want to keep it stock, check out that seller's store, they sell all the wedges and wedge parts you'll need.

What is the difference between the two wedges? It appears to only have 1 set of locking pins, is that the only difference? Just curious.

Link to comment

The floater just.....well it floats there, it doesn't lock in. The idea is that it naturally finds the best spot depending on your speed & the attitude of the hull. IME, it really out-performs the old wedge & is a pretty nice upgrade for those that need to replace a bent or broken wedge. The entire assembly (foil, arms, bracket) is all SS & the foil is welded to the arms rather than bolted, eliminating the bolt shearing issue. Downside is that you need a complete setup, foil assembly as well as a new bracket since the old mounting bracket won't work with it. Figure about $1100-1200 in parts, but the good news is that it bolts right up. No drilling required. :)

Link to comment
we hit the wedge on a tree and bent it Cry.gif .

Craig,

This is one of those ah-ha moments when you realize why you need to have someone spot for you while you're backing up Yes.gif

No flames intended - just feelin' ya here, as we've all had one of those times, (maybe not hitting the wedge, or even the boat) ... but backing into something when we thougt we could do it by ourselves Whistling.gif

Link to comment

RiverRat,

The problem was we were just wakeboarding down the middle of the lake were we always do and hit it. We've checked that place dozens of times for trees and stuff, but I guess it just wasnt our day. Dontknow.gif

Craig

Link to comment

Oh, crap, you hit the tree in the water while at wakeboarding speed? I assumed the arms are just a little tweaked... maybe you need to show some pics for us to give you any repair advice.

I'd say, outside of just slightly tweaked, you're looking at replacing the arms and foil..

Link to comment

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but surprisingly there was no damage to anything but the arms. The foil is still perfect as well as the hardware. There were no cracks in the jellcoat and all the bolts were still tight. The arms are just bent over and back. My dad almost got it straightened back, but then noticed a crack in one of the arms.

I just priced a two new arms and they are $160 each. It looks like it might be just as cost effective to buy the one from the ebay store that Pistol Pete posted. I also thought about just buying a couple more fat sacs to put beside the motor. Any suggestions?

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

Don't mean to hijack your thread, but I really didn't want to revive a post from 2006 discussing similar issues... It finally happened to me this weekend, while wakesurfing and trying to make a right turn on the river the boat wouldn't turn. I killed the engine and hoped in to check my underwater gear and was a little freaked out because I knew we hadn't hit anything.

Turns out, the same problem that lots of people had with the first and second generation manual wedges happened to me. The bolts attaching the foil to the arms on the left side of the wedge sheared off and bent the right arm around along with the foil. Luckily I only use my wedge when we surf so we weren't going that fast when the bolts sheared and no additional damage was done. I was reading a post from 2006 and you guys thought Malibu might replace this because it was a design flaw or something to that effect... Do you think this is still a valid concern of Malibu's and they will consider replacing it? My boat is an 04 and only has around 140 hours on it, so I can guarantee that it is not from abuse and know for a fact we did not hit a thing. I have some pics, I just have to resize them and upload them.

Link to comment

I will be calling the factory today... Meanwhile, here are pics of the carnage!! Whistling.gif

BTW, does anyone have a contact at the factory or a number??

Edited by JBuck
Link to comment
I will be calling the factory today... Meanwhile, here are pics of the carnage!! Whistling.gif

BTW, does anyone have a contact at the factory or a number??

Yea, they went to a two bolt attachment. On the original wedges, they used three bolts. I, knock on wood, have had no issue with my older all aluminum wedge. I wonder if there is room to put another bolt, in this model of wedge, between the two that are there?

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...