'03 with MLS, Need Sack Help

[LouisburgBluesMan]

Hey folks,

Wanting to increase wake for both board and surf. Have an '03 VLX with factory MLS hard tanks on both right and left outter hull area, in the rear lockers (no wedge). I believe those are what? 450lbs each. Also have a factory sack in the ski locker in middle of floor board that is removable... think it's 600 lbs.

I would like to add a Fly High Pro X bag on each side of the hard tanks, between the tanks and the engine compartment, but no idea what size will fit there. Was thinking the 16 x 16 x 42 400lbs... will those fit? In addition, I was going to add another on the floor in the bow, under the playpen seat cushion or under those seats in the front bow. Not sure which one fits up there best. ANY help would really be appreciated. Surely there are bags that fit in these spots perfectly.

I'm not a slacker... I've searched. Can't tell which answers fit which year boats, etc. Sorry if this info is already out there.

Thanks guys,

'Bone

[Ndawg12]

We basically have the same boat, my rear hard tanks were 200lb each. Center midship tank is hard and 500lb, can't help you with your bag. I replaced my rear tanks with 400's and it made considerable difference in the wake. But now I'm getting into surfing and wish I had went with 750's, that much weight would be overkill for boarding on our hulls, especially without a bunch of weight up front also. So you should be able to fit the 750's back there, as for the bow, I can't remember...w707 or w711 is the bow bag you could use to keep it hidden, it's supposed to fill to 750lbs I've heard that you can actually only fill it to 350lbs or so and still keep it under the seats.

Bow bag link

[cowwboy]

Hey folks,

Wanting to increase wake for both board and surf. Have an '03 VLX with factory MLS hard tanks on both right and left outter hull area, in the rear lockers (no wedge). I believe those are what? 450lbs each. Also have a factory sack in the ski locker in middle of floor board that is removable... think it's 600 lbs.

I would like to add a Fly High Pro X bag on each side of the hard tanks, between the tanks and the engine compartment, but no idea what size will fit there. Was thinking the 16 x 16 x 42 400lbs... will those fit? In addition, I was going to add another on the floor in the bow, under the playpen seat cushion or under those seats in the front bow. Not sure which one fits up there best. ANY help would really be appreciated. Surely there are bags that fit in these spots perfectly.

I'm not a slacker... I've searched. Can't tell which answers fit which year boats, etc. Sorry if this info is already out there.

Thanks guys,

'Bone

Personally I'd switch to a set of bags and toss the tanks. I believe the tanks are 250 each.

I'm putting in 750's from wakemakers and has been a easy swap.

The biggest bonus I have is when / if I work on the motor I can now sit next to the motor and with the hard tanks I really couldn't.

[REW]

We basically have the same boat, my rear hard tanks were 200lb each. Center midship tank is hard and 500lb, can't help you with your bag. I replaced my rear tanks with 400's and it made considerable difference in the wake. But now I'm getting into surfing and wish I had went with 750's, that much weight would be overkill for boarding on our hulls, especially without a bunch of weight up front also. So you should be able to fit the 750's back there, as for the bow, I can't remember...w707 or w711 is the bow bag you could use to keep it hidden, it's supposed to fill to 750lbs I've heard that you can actually only fill it to 350lbs or so and still keep it under the seats.

Bow bag link

Could also put in a couple of tube sacs under the seats. you can probable get 2 X 250's under there and still get them close to full. This would also allow you to fill only one bag if you wanted to surf.

These

http://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-side-sacs.html

Edited May 14, 2011 by REW

[Lance B. Johnson]

There are so many good reasons to remove the hard tanks and replace with 750s....

Your storage will double.

You can work on the engine much easier, even when changing the oil.

Your wake will improve.

The one downer is you have to monitor how much water to put in the rear when your wakeboarding.....I do this by turning on all the ballast switches at the same time. Watch the center tank fill. When the center tank is 50 percent full, thats where I like it, so I shut off the rear pumps and allow the center to keep filling. It comes out to be just a little more than factory ballast this way. The wake can be fine tuned by adding water to the side that is washing out or simply by moving a crew member.......the guys I hang with are all trained in this......ahem I mean they trained me in this...

Now if you are really set on keeping your hard tank, you can drop a 400 in there but it won't fill all the way.

Either of these options will present the need to reinforce the divider IMHO.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Ruffdog

[Lance B. Johnson]

Another suggestion since you are doing both surf and wakeboarding:

I didn't go with the integrated bow sack for a couple of reasons.....

You might find you like more weight up there. The other reason is that you will want the ability to put the weight on the surf side.

We use a 400# bag up front so that we can center the weight for wakeboarding and move it to the side for surfing.

Also for our boats you'll need that 400 in the bow and you'll want at least another 400 on or under the seats. I put a 400 sack on the seat and another tube under the seats.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Ruffdog

[LouisburgBluesMan]

Ruff: This is the exact info I was looking for... but still confused. (I'm getting used to the feeling...)

First: I don't understand how removing the hard tanks gives me more room. They're tucked into the far back corners and are molded to the same size as the floor and hull. So how will removing them and replacing with something the same size give me more room? What am I missing? Do I remove floor panels or something??? If I keep them, the way I see it is I have "1/2 of the whole" at this point. I just need to add the other half. It's the size of the other half I'm not sure about.

Second: For the bow, I have to keep the playpen free of bags. I want to keep the cabin "clutter free" and we sit up there quite a lot after the boarding is over. Under the middle cushion bag isn't the best, but as long as it doesn't stick down into the aisle too far, that's fine. AND I like the idea of moving it to the back for surfing. Great point there. Do I need that bag AND an under seat bag?

Finally: If I do decide to remove the rear hard tanks, how hard is it? Seems like I would have to cut them into pieces to get them out of the lockers.

Thanks again all!!

'Bone

[shawndoggy]

You must have weird hard tanks? All of them that I've seen are sorta rectangle/parallelogram shaped and are one the far (hull) side of the storage compartments. They are attached with angle brackets and remove quite easily (they didn't build the boat around the tanks after all). At least that's how my tanks were.

They give more room because you can get to all that room under the gunnel where the tank was. A bag will conform to the contours of the space, where the tank leaves some space unused. You will definitely get more weight in the locker with the tanks removed and a big bag than you will with the tanks and a bag beside it. With the bags empty, your storage effectively doubles in each locker.

Talk to Jason or Spencer at wakemakers.com if you decide to go this route. They really know their stuff and will be able to sell you a kit with all of the ancillary parts you need (for instance, you'll probably need check valves on the fill lines to prevent siphoning).

As for the front of the boat, I really like weight in the center tank and bow for wakeboarding because it makes the wake rampy and super firm. I'm still beginnerish and spaz out on a real lippy wake. When we have lots of kids on the boat, I'll put them up there, and when it's just a few of us, I fill a 400 lb sack and put it on the seats. Takes about 5 minutes to fill / 5 minutes to drain by hand.

I've also got a couple of the fly high fat bricks which are "small" (150lb) bags with handles on them so you can move them around the boat. These are really helpful for sorting out where weight needs to be to get it "just right" for your intended use.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Looks like Shawn summed it up. Totally get the bow sack thing, we don't use the bow very often. Maybe when I get home I'll put my paint skills to the test and draw something up.... Should make it clear.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Here is what I do.

[68Slalom]

Don't forget if your not worried about weight in the boat the whole time you can also add lead ballast bags. Small and you can move them around anywhere you want.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Don't forget if your not worried about weight in the boat the whole time you can also add lead ballast bags. Small and you can move them around anywhere you want.

Good point.....with some lead he could accomplish the same thing and keep the bow open...

[shawndoggy]

Good point.....with some lead he could accomplish the same thing and keep the bow open...

Don't know 'bout the rest of you, but that's where I try to keep the heavy stuff like my anchor(s) and such too.

[cowwboy]

Kind of a off question but with everyone putting ballast under all their seats, where do ya store your jackets / bumpers / anchors etc???

My back compartments have bags but my bow and side are full of gear so no room for ballast.

[Lance B. Johnson]

Guess I don't have as much gear as you? I am even thinking about adding another sack under observers seat. Still don't have a problem.

When wakeboarding the rear lockers aren't even close to full. When surfing the lightweight gear goes in the non surfside rear locker

[cowwboy]

Guess I don't have as much gear as you? I am even thinking about adding another sack under observers seat. Still don't have a problem.

When wakeboarding the rear lockers aren't even close to full. When surfing the lightweight gear goes in the non surfside rear locker

I keep enough jackets for 11 and i guess I could empty those out except for holiday weekends.

Especially these boats with amps and batteries throughout the boat I wonder where they store anything.