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Noobie Bu' owner w/ noobie Bu' ?'s


MtnRider

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Hi guys and gals, first let me say that I've been trolling the site for a few weeks and it's incredibly informative and helpful. I'm about to become a first time Malibu owner in the next few weeks. I've owned I/O Sea Ray's in the past and I'm not a noobie to boats...just to direct drive ski boats. I've been water skiing for the past 4 years behind a friend's 95' Sunsetter and the wife and I are finally ready to get our own family boat. I'm looking at a 2003 Wakesetter DD that is being dewinterized and gone through with a fine tooth comb. Great shape but high hours (800 +/-). I think it's going to treat me and the family well as a quasi crossover boat. The wife skis and I ski/surf and the kiddos (8yr old girl and 6 yr old boy) are learning to ski, surf and wakeboard. I also am looking to make this a fair to good wakesurf boat. I'm looking at 2x 750lb sacs to compliment the 500lb MLS in the center.

My questions are on a few things that I will need to do to the boat and whether or not any of you have done them yourself as I consider myself a fairly good DIY'er

-Rub Rail is gone...channel is in place and in good shape...just no actual rub rail. Anybody ever try to replace this your self and is it as much of a PITA as I suspect?

-Manual Wedge Plate is installed but no wedge...first, it seems like these used to be more readily available but I'm having a hard time tracking a new or used one down. Second, it seems that there are more than one model of manual wedge out there...which one should I be looking for?

-The Hull- someone on here had done a good job explaining the difference between the SV23 Wake hull and the SV23 Diamond...in their posted pictures it appeared to me that the wake hull didn't have any "hook" on the back corner of the hull, basically it was a 90 corner and that the ski hull did have a "hook". Here's my dilemma...the boat that I'm looking at has the hook...is this strange for a wakesetter that per the specs is on the SV23 Wake hull?

-Bimini for the Titan II rack that comes with the boat...is Menace Watersports essentially the only source for this item? Currently no bimini and I would prefer an "over the tower" style bimini but I just can't honestly say I like their design...any other recommendations.

-We live in the mountains of Colorado so any tips for high altitude boating are also appreciated.

Thanks to any and all that have time and effort to share their $0.02

-MtnRider

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Alright, another 2003 DD owner! Is it an XTi?

About the only thing I can offer is on the high altitude. As with all boats, you might have to re-prop the boat depending on where it is coming from and where you plan on running the boat. I run a 3 blade 525 13x11.5 from McPhee Resevoir at ~6800' to Lake Powell at ~3600' feet without having to re-prop. I prefer not to run in lakes higher than McPhee, because the water temp. becomes an issue when you have to jump in!

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I believe your boat is basically a sun setter LXi with ballast, so that will be a diamond hull. Check out the resources page on this site to confirm. The specifications section lists the model and hull. Did you try bakes for the wedge?

Correction, now that I'm on a computer (not an iPad) I looked at the resources. 2003 Wakesetter is the Wake hull, but you know that. Do you have a pic of the transom?

Edited by Asmodeus2112
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:welcome:

For your rub rail, You will need a rubber mallet to beat it into the rail. I would give paul at Bakes Marine a call and he can order the correct one, if Malibu still has them. I changed mine on a 99 VLX, I would recommend that you let it sit in the sun to allow the plastic to get soft, once its soft you can begin the install starting with the back and working your way around the boat. The hardest part will be the nose of the boat. The key is to make sure it's HOT.

You will also need one of these...

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1086

Once you get into it send me a PM and I can walk you through the process.

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Yeah sounds to me it could very well be the Slxi with the wakesetter package. Is the boat 21' or 21'8", is the beam width 93" or 93.5"? If it's the higher of the two it would be the Slxi with the wakesetter package. If you could post some pictures I'm sure we could confirm which one it is.

Edit: I have the titan II tower and have the titan bimini, I assume thats what you meant when you said titan rack. With that said, I love my bimini but have yet to see one mounted over the tower on the series II.

RR

Edited by RockinRod
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Alright, another 2003 DD owner! Is it an XTi?

-no sir...21' wakesetter only...not XTi

About the only thing I can offer is on the high altitude. As with all boats, you might have to re-prop the boat depending on where it is coming from and where you plan on running the boat. I run a 3 blade 525 13x11.5 from McPhee Resevoir at ~6800' to Lake Powell at ~3600' feet without having to re-prop. I prefer not to run in lakes higher than McPhee, because the water temp. becomes an issue when you have to jump in!

We run mostly in the mountain lakes and wetsuit up if necessary...with the low snow year the temps should be more tolerable this year.

I believe your boat is basically a sun setter LXi with ballast, so that will be a diamond hull. Check out the resources page on this site to confirm. The specifications section lists the model and hull. Did you try bakes for the wedge?

-checked the resources page which is where my confusion began b/c that's where the specs say it should be a wake hull. I had a local Malibu dealer run the hull I'd and he confirmed it as a 2003 Wakesetter. I haven't tried "Bakes" yet but will look into this...thanks!

Correction, now that I'm on a computer (not an iPad) I looked at the resources. 2003 Wakesetter is the Wake hull, but you know that. Do you have a pic of the transom?

No pics of the transom... The boat is in Denver and I'm 100 miles away. I'll try to post some simple pics but won't have any of the transom itself.

:welcome:

For your rub rail, You will need a rubber mallet to beat it into the rail. I would give paul at Bakes Marine a call and he can order the correct one, if Malibu still has them. I changed mine on a 99 VLX, I would recommend that you let it sit in the sun to allow the plastic to get soft, once its soft you can begin the install starting with the back and working your way around the boat. The hardest part will be the nose of the boat. The key is to make sure it's HOT.

You will also need one of these...

http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=1086

Once you get into it send me a PM and I can walk you through the process.

Sweet! Thank you so much...how long did it take you and would a heat gun help?

Yeah sounds to me it could very well be the Slxi with the wakesetter package. Is the boat 21' or 21'8", is the beam width 93" or 93.5"? If it's the higher of the two it would be the Slxi with the wakesetter package. If you could post some pictures I'm sure we could confirm which one it is.

Edit: I have the titan II tower and have the titan bimini, I assume thats what you meant when you said titan rack. With that said, I love my bimini but have yet to see one mounted over the tower on the series II.

I will try and post the simple pics I have...did your Bimini come stock or aftermarket?

RR

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going thru the Flickr process as we speek...should be up soon. The whole work thing really gets in the way, ya' know.

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Definitely not a Slxi with wakesetter package, good looking boat none the less.

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That's the 21" hull, not the 21'8" with the step in the back that the LXi's have. The Sunsetter LX's had the wake version up until 2002 when the Sunsetter LX got the diamond and the standard wakesetter DD took over the wake hull from the Sunsetter. One thing to look at is the USCG plate in the cockpit and see what model is listed there.

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If you go back and look at the thread with the pics of the wake vs. diamond hull I think you'll see a slight hook on the wake hull. Since the one in the pic is black, and it's at an angle that is almost in line it hides the slight hook. The diamond has a much more pronounced hook in comparison.

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Thanks guys I think this puts to rest my "confusion" on what hull it is. Looking at the pics above they do in fact have a slight hook...and I think Asmodeus2112 had it right when you look at the other threads pics its just hard to tell that there is a slight hook on the wake hull.

Well I found out that I can get the rub rail complete for about $85 from my local (105 miles away local) malibu dealer and they can install it in about 2-21/2 hrs. This tells me I could do it in about 3hrs with maybe a beer or two worth of assistance.

I'm currently talking with another gentleman here on the crew about a slightly used floating wedge...so that's a good step forward

I'm still open for suggestions on any other bimini companies that manufacture either a regular bimini or a over the top of the tower bimini....that is other than Menance Watersports. I'm in no means bashing them I'm just curious if there are other options out there.

By the way the guy is asking $18,900 for the boat...this seems pretty fair to me after checking NADA...any suggestions?

Finally, thanks so much for all the input and suggestions...it almost makes me feel normal to realize that I'm not the only one out there that is obsessing about a boat. I'm getting more excited everyday about making this boat mine. It goes in on May 8 for its run through by the Malibu dealer. Hopefully they find the boat in as good a shape as it appears to be in. Then I'll take her for a test spin on a local lake just to make sure she meets our expectations. So far I've learned that my list of needs/wants is growing everytime I get on here.

So far:

Box anchor

Shore spike w/ 2x Danik hooks

Fenders and fender quick mount thing-a-ma-jigs

Anchor and mooring lines

...and the long list of cleaning products to keep everything looking good

Thanks again,

MtnRider

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I believe my 95 SS hull is the same as above. Asmodeus, can you clarify what the hook part is ? Is that the rounded center portion between the exhaust ?

Steve B.

Steve outside edges of the transom on the bottom...slight downward "hook"...sorry can't think of a better way to describe

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Here is the thread being referred to on wake vs. diamond hulls. Asmodeus is right in that the black hull in the pic makes it difficult to see. With all the boats on this site, we need to take a better wake hull pic. Maybe I'll run out to the driveway now.......

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/page/articles.html/_/diamond-vs-wake-hull-r9

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Ok, back to the Wedge question...Bakes online has three wedge foils available. 1. is for the Diamond Hull...ok that is out 2. Manual Floating Stainless...quite blingy but no reference to any hull type. 3. Foil for SV23 Wakesetter Hull...ok bingo that's what I have, BUT can I use the Floating Stainless. The reason I ask is two fold, first the gentleman that wants to sell his has a stainless floating...would love to pick it up for a good price BUT only if I know for sure that its not going to cause any handling issues or worse with my boat.

Can I assume that this is what you meant Gaffster?

Any suggestions/ideas?

The floating wedge the better of the two designs.

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Here is a photo of the wake hull, although I'm not sure it is much better than the photo of the black hull already posted. The "hook" is a fairly flat angle, but just enough to do tricks with the light when taking photos.

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And here is a straight on view of a Diamond hull. Oddly enough, my 'Wakesetter' has the Diamond Hull and not a Wake hull

IMAG0095.jpg

  • Like 2
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And here is a straight on view of a Diamond hull. Oddly enough, my 'Wakesetter' has the Diamond Hull and not a Wake hull

IMAG0095.jpg

Can't help but chuckle at this considering this is exactly what started this whole thread...

Thanks again for the legwork and the picture. IMHO they should replace the other pic comparing the two hulls it would help other folks like me in the future.

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