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Wakesetter manual wedge mods


Iron gator

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Has anybody made any modifications to the manual wedge (mine is a 2008).

I have heard that the power wedge can adjust to different positions and that the most down force was not in the fully down position.

I was thinking of drilling some new sets of holes for the locking tabs to lock into at about the 45 degree position, and was wondering if anyone has tried this yet.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. thx

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Has anybody made any modifications to the manual wedge (mine is a 2008).

I have heard that the power wedge can adjust to different positions and that the most down force was not in the fully down position.

I was thinking of drilling some new sets of holes for the locking tabs to lock into at about the 45 degree position, and was wondering if anyone has tried this yet.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. thx

I've never checked, but I am willing to bet 45 degrees is out of range for a power wedge. Personally I would not jury rig my manual wedge that far out.

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I've never checked, but I am willing to bet 45 degrees is out of range for a power wedge. Personally I would not jury rig my manual wedge that far out.

Ya I'm a little scared to start drilling unless someone else has already successfully done it

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I think I remember someone doing that on here a few years ago. You might search for it (good luck though). Must not have caught on since we don't see more of it.

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The thing with the manual wedge on a 2008 is that it is a floating wedge. It does not lock into any position (except when up in the stored position). So the water pushes it into the optimal position. It does not create as much downforce as the power wedge, but the power wedge only creates the full downforce at the ideal position at the ideal speed. The power wedge is great because you can customize as you go, but in terms of downforce I am willing to bet that there isn't that much difference between the downforce of the floating wedge and the power wedge.

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I too would love to hear anyone else's experience with this. I have modified my floating wedge, however mine is homemade (recent thread in the mods forum). It was built to mimic the factory one so I think is relevant to this (exactly the same size foil, same angle, etc.).

Since mine didn't have holes for the stopping points (the bolts that keep it from hitting the rudder), I tried to mimic a factory one for placement. Well, I screwed up and drilled the holes in the wrong spot; the bolts ended up stopping the wedge earlier than I planned (wedge didn't go all the way down). After trying it out, I liked it, but then added a second set of holes and moved the bolts down like I originally intended. This time it didn't seem to have as much downforce or effect on the wake. When I moved them back, it had a noticeable difference.

I'm happy with it, but have thought about trying an even more aggressive position with a third set of holes that stop it even earlier. Takes just a few minutes to move the bolts, or you could even use a stainless pin and maybe adjust it while in the water. I think I'll leave mine as is now, but I think it would have an effect.

I'm no engineer but my personal opinion is that the floating wedge is angled to dive itself down as far as possible and kick back when needed. I don't think it constantly adjusts itself much. I could be wrong, but either way I hope my experience give you some idea.

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We tried to see if the "floating" wedge did just that on our last boat. We watched it and felt it at different speeds. It was always locked against the stops when it was down. I don't know if Malibu ever used the term "floating" wedge. That term was created here IIRC. On the power wedge, you know if it's not all the way down. The more clicks that you raise it from all the way down, the higher the bow comes up. I never had that problem with the "floating" wedge. My thought is the floating wedge has no locking feature so that it can raise up if something hits it hard enough to do damage to the transom unlike the old style wedge that locked into place when it was down. The power wedge will break the rams if something hits it. IMO...

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The Floating wedge does move up an down depending on the angle and the speed of the boat. It doesn't drive itself all the way down and it does adjust as your drive. It does drive itself part way down though since the idea is to pull the boat downwards, not act as a brake, that is the reason for its angle. The design is not to protect the transom, since the prop and rudder sit lower in the water than the wedge and the wedge sits directly behind them. The reason the wedge doesn't lock in the down position is because that would not create as much downforce. By floating the wedge can create ideal downforce at different speeds and angles. Mainly the floating wedge is cheaper than the power wedge, creates a little less downforce, and is pretty much hassle free.

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We tried to see if the "floating" wedge did just that on our last boat. We watched it and felt it at different speeds. It was always locked against the stops when it was down. I don't know if Malibu ever used the term "floating" wedge. That term was created here IIRC. On the power wedge, you know if it's not all the way down. The more clicks that you raise it from all the way down, the higher the bow comes up. I never had that problem with the "floating" wedge. My thought is the floating wedge has no locking feature so that it can raise up if something hits it hard enough to do damage to the transom unlike the old style wedge that locked into place when it was down. The power wedge will break the rams if something hits it. IMO...

Well put. That's my experience also. But to answer the poster's question, I don't think moving the manual wedge lock points will work well. The foil is a different angle to the arms than the PW and floating (new manual) wedge. Wish I could have a PW.

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The Floating wedge does move up an down depending on the angle and the speed of the boat. It doesn't drive itself all the way down and it does adjust as your drive. It does drive itself part way down though since the idea is to pull the boat downwards, not act as a brake, that is the reason for its angle. The design is not to protect the transom, since the prop and rudder sit lower in the water than the wedge and the wedge sits directly behind them. The reason the wedge doesn't lock in the down position is because that would not create as much downforce. By floating the wedge can create ideal downforce at different speeds and angles. Mainly the floating wedge is cheaper than the power wedge, creates a little less downforce, and is pretty much hassle free.

I can show you pics of Manual wedge arms that are broken or bent from a contact with a stump. In this instance, the prop & rudder were never touched.

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I could also show you pics of a rudder that are lower than the wedge, plus the wedge doesn't stay all the way down when the boat is moving. It would be very difficult to miss the prop and rudder but hit the wedge, you would have to come withint 6 inches of hitting the prop on either side to hit the wedge and still the wedge doesn't sit all the way down when under power. In reverse would be a different situation.

Edited by wakeboy
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A couple quick google searches brought me to some forums talking about this topic. Every instance where the wedge was damaged the prop and rudder also were damaged. I couldn't find any that had the wedge damaged but not the prop and/or rudder. I am sure it is possible and I wouldn't be shocked if it has happened before but the chance of hitting something with that kind of vertical slope that is that hard in water that is deep enough to allow everything else to be untouched and just in the right place seemd to be a very extreme circumstance. Like anything else with boating, you always have to be careful especially if you are in unfamiliar waters.

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A couple quick google searches brought me to some forums talking about this topic. Every instance where the wedge was damaged the prop and rudder also were damaged. I couldn't find any that had the wedge damaged but not the prop and/or rudder. I am sure it is possible and I wouldn't be shocked if it has happened before but the chance of hitting something with that kind of vertical slope that is that hard in water that is deep enough to allow everything else to be untouched and just in the right place seemd to be a very extreme circumstance. Like anything else with boating, you always have to be careful especially if you are in unfamiliar waters.

Sorry for pushing this forward but just think about surfing. When you surf and have that bow-rise I'm willing to bet that wedge sits lower in the water than the prop and rudder. Not to mention as much as I understand your argument it is irrelevant if Ronnie has seen or had it happen. Now your just horse.gif

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Sorry for pushing this forward but just think about surfing. When you surf and have that bow-rise I'm willing to bet that wedge sits lower in the water than the prop and rudder. Not to mention as much as I understand your argument it is irrelevant if Ronnie has seen or had it happen. Now your just horse.gif

I would be willing to bet it was from a fixed wedge, from what I have seen the floating wedge would have a tough time even with bow rise to sit any significant distance lower than the prop and rudder. I know I could be wrong, but I just don't see how it is possible.

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I too know for a fact my wedge has hit a stump missed by the prop and rudder.

The wedge is wider - maybe only a bit wider than the prop but I know of more than a few that have had this experience - talking about a true stationary manual wedge.

The real world doesn't always folow the charted theory.

Ken River Runner did a lot of study on modifying the manual wedge back in the day when there was only one kind - all of that should be threads on this site unless it was pre-TMC

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I too know for a fact my wedge has hit a stump missed by the prop and rudder.

The wedge is wider - maybe only a bit wider than the prop but I know of more than a few that have had this experience - talking about a true stationary manual wedge.

The real world doesn't always folow the charted theory.

Ken River Runner did a lot of study on modifying the manual wedge back in the day when there was only one kind - all of that should be threads on this site unless it was pre-TMC

Ya exactly, the stationary wedge. The OP has a 2008 which is a floating wedge. Plus locking the floating wedge or any wedge at 45 degrees would put it out of the way of any danger. Not that I think he should do it. I would love to see an example of these wedges hitting something and leaving the rudder and prop in tact. It would be interesting to see what the owners had to say about it and it seems like enough people say they have heard of it, does anyone happen to have any links to a forum or anything that talks about this?

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  • 2 weeks later...

This thread got way off track so I'm not sure who cares anymore. But I can now answer the OPs question with experience. Yes, you can modify the floating wedge. I just returned from 4 days of boating. I drilled holes in my bracket to change the angle (stop it sooner). I have three settings now -- (all the way down, middle and just under 45 degrees with the arms) all change the wake/boating performance at wakeboard speed. Just like the power wedge, all the way down = less down force, up some = more. But without a power wedge it's set until you pull the boat out of the water to change the bolts (or add a stainless pin that you can change in the water.)

Power wedge = the best. floating wedge = still cool IMO.

Edited by rugger
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This thread got way off track so I'm not sure who cares anymore. But I can now answer the OPs question with experience. Yes, you can modify the floating wedge. I just returned from 4 days of boating. I drilled holes in my bracket to change the angle (stop it sooner). I have three settings now -- (all the way down, middle and just under 45 degrees with the arms) all change the wake/boating performance at wakeboard speed. Just like the power wedge, all the way down = less down force, up some = more. But without a power wedge it's set until you pull the boat out of the water to change the bolts (or add a stainless pin that you can change in the water.)

Power wedge = the best. floating wedge = still cool IMO.

Would you say that any of the "new" positions give you a bigger wake boarding wake than the original "all the way down" position?

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I was outside taking a pic. of something so, I shot a pic. of my manual wedge down and where everything lines up.

Seems to me that the prop is way lower than the wedge in the locked down position but, the wedge is much wider than the prop. I suppose any scenario is plausible as far as what would get damaged and what wouldn't.

IMG_0157.jpg

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Would you say that any of the "new" positions give you a bigger wake boarding wake than the original "all the way down" position?

No question it made the wake a little bigger and rampier/firmer for my boat. My boat is older, and I'm using just a locker sac and of course the wedge. I'll probably keep mine in the middle setting most of the time, which is up from stock, but less than the (near) 45 degree setting I also tried.

Obviously the PW is the best because you can adjust it on the fly for weight/people/sport of the moment. But if you're a perfectionist and willing to tweak, you can change the floater too since the water pushes that foil (and the boat down) to your stops under constant speed.

The 2:15 mark of this video shows the premise here.

I tend to spend more time adjusting the weight of my cooler anyway. :biggrin:

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Of course the 45 degrees I mentioned is the arms of the floater, which I think has the same angle of the foil to arms as the PW. The same setting on the older wedge would have the arms at less of an angle because of the difference in the foil to the arms attachment.

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I wonder how difficult it would be to get sheer pins that would be able to with stand more than enoguh force for wakeboarding at optimal deployment while having still not being stronger than the transom. I guess it can get mucky when you have to consider load, weight distribution, speed, angle of the bow rise, and turning all to make sure that the wedge can handle enough force without being to strong. Maybe if the wedge was made of a softer metal that is more likely to bend or tear it might help prevent damage to the boat in some situations.

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