how to weight 2001 wakesetter vlx for wakeboarding

[BoilerUp]

I picked up a new to me 2001 wakesetter vlx earlier this year, and have scoured these forums for help as my boat was pretty much stock, and needed a few things fixed. First off, a big thanks to everyone, there is so much valuable information on here.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the ideal ballast setup for wakeboarding on this boat, and came to a conclusion that is sort of different than a lot of the stuff I read on here. It seems like most people like a lot of weight in the nose of the boat, with a modest amount throughout the rest of the boat. After a lot of trial and error, and buying more ballast bags than I really need, here's the setup that was the best on my boat, hands down.

750s in the rear lockers, as full as possible. I would estimate 600 lbs each.

Stock mid ship ballast full. 300 lbs?

450 lb sack full in the front, and laid across the bow filler cushion.

Manual wedge down.

I run at 23 mph.

The rear of the boat sits a little below the D rings, and the swim platform is a few inches under the water.

I usually have a pretty light crew, so I'm not sure how much this would change given a full boat. On one occasion with a full crew and 400s in the rear, I had the wedge up and the boat rode much better FWIW.

Now I'm debating putting a new prop on there, but I've already gone waaaaaay past this year's budget.

The biggest takeaway would be to anyone that is looking to upgrade the rear lockers on an older vlx, take most everyone's advice and go straight for the 750s. They are superior for wakesurfing, and in my experience, wakeboarding as well.

Miscellaneous things that I did:

Removed the stock ballast tanks in the rear, replaced with wakemaker's tankbuster kit. This kit didn't work out of the box for me, as the bags kept draining. I added check valves on both fill lines and vent lines, and ball valves on the combined drain and vent lines.

When you take out the stock ballast tanks, just cut them out, they really won't come out of the boat otherwise

Moved the battery from the rear port side to under the passenger console, got 14' 2/0 battery cables from great lakes skipper, definitely the best prices [probably could have gotten away with 12.5' cables].

Stiffened up engine divider panels with 3 aluminum angles on either side, if this ends up not being enough, I'll add two more sections to either side. This was easier for me to handle and cheaper than stainless steel.

['01 wakesetter vlx]

Did you consider 1100's for the rears? I also have an '01 ws vlx (and am also a boilermaker, btw), but I have 400# v-drive sacs in the back - this winter I'm looking to move the batteries up front and upgrade. Torn btw 750s and 1100s, we wakeboard most of the time but also surf both sides...not sure how well the 1100 will fit. Thanks!

[BoilerUp]

Did you consider 1100's for the rears? I also have an '01 ws vlx (and am also a boilermaker, btw), but I have 400# v-drive sacs in the back - this winter I'm looking to move the batteries up front and upgrade. Torn btw 750s and 1100s, we wakeboard most of the time but also surf both sides...not sure how well the 1100 will fit. Thanks!

"I also have an '01 ws vlx (and am also a boilermaker, btw)" Awesome.

I didn't consider the 1100s. Perhaps you could squeeze a bit more weight in there with the 1100s with the 24" height instead of the 20" height of the 750s, but I don't think it would be more than say 75 lbs. The lockers on mine are really full, the bags are pushed out to the walls of the compartment and don't quite fully expand in that direction, and they are pretty tall as well, leaving only a couple of inches below the sundeck lid. If you really wanted to push it, perhaps put some lead under the rear seats, but that would be annoying to move for surfing.

Oh, and I also moved the rear drain pumps to the other side of the engine divider walls so the bags don't sit on them. I bought elbow quick disconnect fittings and hose extension pieces to mod the tankbuster kit in that way as well.

My surf setup is the rear 750 full, midship full, front 450 full, and wedge down. It makes a really tall wave, but I think it still rides a little close to the swim platform. If anything, I think I need to put more weight up front for surfing, so in that regard, I don't think the 1100 would be necessary.

['01 wakesetter vlx]

Sold, 750s it is. I have reversible pumps, mounted on the engine side of the dividers, so the 750s should fit fine once I move the batteries.

I guess I have a pair of year-old v drive sacs for sale....