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Illusion XS Tower Hoop


G-Mack

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I am looking to buy the 2" diameter hoop for an Illusion XS tower off a 2008 23 LSV. The boat is about 4" too high to fit in our garage (8 foot doors). With the tower down the hoop sticks up so am going to modify one but would rather buy one rather than cut up mine in case of an error then I have no hoop. With Metcraft gone it is a bit tougher to source.

I can sneak it into the garage if/when I really need to by letting air out of the tires but that gets pretty old for day to day storage.

Any help finding one would be great.

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I am looking to buy the 2" diameter hoop for an Illusion XS tower off a 2008 23 LSV. The boat is about 4" too high to fit in our garage (8 foot doors). With the tower down the hoop sticks up so am going to modify one but would rather buy one rather than cut up mine in case of an error then I have no hoop. With Metcraft gone it is a bit tougher to source.

I can sneak it into the garage if/when I really need to by letting air out of the tires but that gets pretty old for day to day storage.

Any help finding one would be great.

Why don't you just take the hoop off before you put it into the garage. I know it sucks because I have to do it everytime. I can do it in under 5 min now. Sure sounds like alot less fuss than letting air out of tires.

I'd be carefull modifying the tow bar like you're thinking of doing it.

Edited by 06vlx
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If you drop the tower first, it is a lot easier to remove/install the hoop. It only took me a year to figure that out. XTP in Tennessee bought Metcraft's tooling. I have no idea if they are making the hoops or not. Maybe worth a call. I would also call Malibu and see if they have one laying around.

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Why don't you just take the hoop off before you put it into the garage. I know it sucks because I have to do it everytime. I can do it in under 5 min now. Sure sounds like alot less fuss than letting air out of tires.

I'd be carefull modifying the tow bar like you're thinking of doing it.

The fear I have of removing the hoop is the aluminum threads on the tower and wrecking them with continuous use. The tire deal is once or twice season. But is sound like you have not had an issue.... When to comes to the modification I have access to a fab shop and journeyman welders so the quality should be fine. What I was going to do was to build a jig for the hoop to maintain the dimensions, cut the hoop, re-roll the radius of the hoop and weld back together and gusset the connection.

Edited by G-Mack
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If you drop the tower first, it is a lot easier to remove/install the hoop. It only took me a year to figure that out. XTP in Tennessee bought Metcraft's tooling. I have no idea if they are making the hoops or not. Maybe worth a call. I would also call Malibu and see if they have one laying around.

Thanks for the heads-up, sent them an email

Edited by G-Mack
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The fear I have of removing the hooping is the aluminum threads on the tower and wrecking them with continuous use. But is sound like you have not had an issue.... When to comes to the modification I have access to a fab shop and journeyman welders so the quality of the work will be safe. What I was going to do was to build a jig for the hoop to maintain the dimensions, cut the hoop, re-roll the radius of the hoop and weld back together and gusset the connection.

The threads are very course and think it would be pretty hard to mess them up unless you stopped using the anti-seize on them. I do always lower the tower first as well, it's easier to lower the tower with the hoop on anyways.

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Short thread hijack.....

I was trying to take the hoop off of my XS tower and could not find exactly what type of whench or allen bolt holds it on.... could you guys enlighten me?

End of hijack....

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Short thread hijack.....

I was trying to take the hoop off of my XS tower and could not find exactly what type of whench or allen bolt holds it on.... could you guys enlighten me?

End of hijack....

You need a long allen wrench that should have been supplied to you by your dealer. Check your glovebox if it's not in there I'd get one from your dealer. You insert that into the shaft and then I use a ratchet and 3/8" socket IIRC on the end of the long allen wrench. When you put the hoop back on you HAVE to torque it down with a torque wrench to 50-55lbs. Make sure you put some anti-seize on the threads when you put it back on as well. The bolt and threads are dissimilar metals and need the anti-zieze for smooth operation.

Edited by 06vlx
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I would also investigate the "low" ride option for your trailer, mine fits in my garage otherwise I'd be faced w/ the same issue.

You'd still have to take the hoop off the XS with the low rider option as it sits nearly a foot taller than the X lowered with the hoop on.

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Didn't think there was that much difference, good point.

I was pretty bummed out when I found out I could no longer just back the boat in the garage with the tower down anymore. Taking that hoop on and off is a pain. I rolled around without it during break-in.

Edit: I should add that it's not just the tower itself but the wider beam of the boats make them sit higher up on the trailers now also. My VLX sat between the fenders on the extreme trailer, now with the 102" beam on the LSV it sits above the fenders making the whole package higher. Not sure if a person is that close in height if the low rider option is even worth the $$ as it wouldn't help anything.

Edited by 06vlx
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I was pretty bummed out when I found out I could no longer just back the boat in the garage with the tower down anymore. Taking that hoop on and off is a pain. I rolled around without it during break-in.

Edit: I should add that it's not just the tower itself but the wider beam of the boats make them sit higher up on the trailers now also. My VLX sat between the fenders on the extreme trailer, now with the 102" beam on the LSV it sits above the fenders making the whole package higher. Not sure if a person is that close in height if the low rider option is even worth the $$ as it wouldn't help anything.

IIRC the low ride option is about 4", so no it's probably not going to be helpful unless removing the garage door molding and the low ride option make it fit. With a foot needed probably not going to make it. Otherwise removal of the hoop is the only real alternative. Is wider better....lol not in this case... W/ the low ride option the rise in my driveway creates a situation that I must come in at an angle to avoid scraping the prop guard. I bet we could start a construction company solely to modify garages to make recreational vehicles fit....Thumbup.gif

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I am looking to buy the 2" diameter hoop for an Illusion XS tower off a 2008 23 LSV. The boat is about 4" too high to fit in our garage (8 foot doors). With the tower down the hoop sticks up so am going to modify one but would rather buy one rather than cut up mine in case of an error then I have no hoop. With Metcraft gone it is a bit tougher to source.

I can sneak it into the garage if/when I really need to by letting air out of the tires but that gets pretty old for day to day storage.

Any help finding one would be great.

another crew member (WadeF) and I have been discussing this exact thing lately. We are trying to figure out how to modify the the hoop so that it comes off quickly with pins instead of the bolts. I am certain that he would be interested in your thought process as well.

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I am looking to buy the 2" diameter hoop for an Illusion XS tower off a 2008 23 LSV. The boat is about 4" too high to fit in our garage (8 foot doors). With the tower down the hoop sticks up so am going to modify one but would rather buy one rather than cut up mine in case of an error then I have no hoop. With Metcraft gone it is a bit tougher to source.

I can sneak it into the garage if/when I really need to by letting air out of the tires but that gets pretty old for day to day storage.

Any help finding one would be great.

another crew member (WadeF) and I have been discussing this exact thing lately. We are trying to figure out how to modify the the hoop so that it comes off quickly with pins instead of the bolts. I am certain that he would be interested in your thought process as well.

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By all means, please keep posting your ideas regarding the hoop. I also find the process of taking that thing off everytime I put the boat away to be a PITA. I've developed a process so it's not nearly as painful as the first couple of times, but still a pain.

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Visited my Malibu dealer today.... these guys rock.....asked about a replacement hoop and they walked into their back 40 and hooked me up with one. Props to Wizard Lake Marine way to have just what a guy needs. Everytime I visit these guys they are great to talk to and work with.... I thought I was just throwing the hoop idea out there and didn't have a snow balls chance in h... that they would have one.

Once I have the mods done I will post a picture of the new hoop.

On that... I am also very interested in the low ride option what does it look like. I have the same problem with the 102" beam, my boat is over the fenders on a boatmate trailer.

G

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G,

It'll depend on which manufacture you have but you'll gain about 4" roughly. Not sure if other manufactures offer it but I know Extreme does.

I checked out extreme's website and it looks like the low ride option is lower profile tires with fenders that are set further down which allows the bunks to be set lower... is that correct? If so , it is a good idea.... I guess I'm stuck with my highboy. All the considerations and decisions that need to be made when buying.... kudos on your call for the low profile option.

G

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I checked out extreme's website and it looks like the low ride option is lower profile tires with fenders that are set further down which allows the bunks to be set lower... is that correct? If so , it is a good idea.... I guess I'm stuck with my highboy. All the considerations and decisions that need to be made when buying.... kudos on your call for the low profile option.

G

My dealer lowered my standard Extreme trailer by readjusting the spindles. My 09 VLX with the XS hoop removed fits under a 7' door.

Terry

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Lst year I found a way that made taking the hoop on and off easier. PM'd with someone about it last year. If I can figure out how to get in my message box I will post it.

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Found it!

I was going to make a customized swoop just for this season. I am building a new shed with a 12' door so wont have to worry about towers shortly. Had talked with my dealer and they had a extra swoop piece they would send me to cut up and fabricate with. I needed the "cone" piece that fits over the "male cone" on the tower. I cut the ends off of the "swoop" and was going to fab something up. First thing I found was that if you take a 3/8" bolt,,,you will find that the thread in the "tower" sections of the cone are actually about 1" down inside the male cone piece. but once you get those threads backed all the way out,,,there is still alot of "outward" pressure on the bolt pushing the threads very tightly against the side. This is so tight,,you actually have to keep "un-threading" the screw to get it out. Actually makes mark in the sides of the male cone whcih appear to be threads when you look down into it.

What I did to help matters :

I "Carefully" drilled out the top of the male cone piece to a bigger hole. Marked my bits as i did so i wouldnt go deep enough to get into the threads that are down in there. just have to take a piece of wire or something to puch the shavings that fall into the thread down into the tower. Made the top hole a couple sizes bigger. This helped relieve some of the "outward pressure" on the bolt once backed out of the threads. Then the other trick that really helps is by removing in these steps::

1- loosen one bolt about 1/2 way,

-- 2:-go to the other side and remove that one all the way,,once you get out of the "threads",, hold some "inward pressure" on the arms to get it the rest of the way out,,this is where increasing the size of the upper hole helps.

3-- now let the swoop rotate down a little so it isnt trying to fit over the other cone and has no pressure pushing out on the side that remains attached. This will now allow the remaining side to come right off as soon as you get the bolt backed out of the threaded section.

I can do mine much more easily now and am not as mad about the design as i was. Let me know if you have any other questions Dale

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I am looking to buy the 2" diameter hoop for an Illusion XS tower off a 2008 23 LSV. The boat is about 4" too high to fit in our garage (8 foot doors). With the tower down the hoop sticks up so am going to modify one but would rather buy one rather than cut up mine in case of an error then I have no hoop. With Metcraft gone it is a bit tougher to source.

I can sneak it into the garage if/when I really need to by letting air out of the tires but that gets pretty old for day to day storage.

Any help finding one would be great.

As my buddy KB3 mentioned we have been looking at an easier way to remove the hoop. I too have an 8' garage door and not happy Im 4" to tall as well. I use an 8" drop hitch to get it in the door. What a pain but less painful than taking off the hoop. I called Malibu note the factory is less than an hour from my house in CA they just want to send me a video on how to remove the hoop. the response from the factory is that the 2010 boats will have a tower that will fit in my garage that being said it doesnt help with the new 2009 sitting in my driveway. I have some ideas but would like to speek with you in person please send me an e-mail with your phone number and we can talk.

Thanks

Wade

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