Vinyl ripping at the seems on my new wakesetter

[LJboater]

It's like saying well your fuel pump, blower, ballast pumps, malivue, etc... Shouldn't be covered under warranty because it's a WEAR issue because they get used constantly. I have read many threads of newer malibus having this problem so it's obviously an issue. Maybe they should design the seats to flip or some other fancy way of stopping this from happening. Until then they should be rectifying the problem.

Your right it shouldn't be covered under warranty "If its out of warranty" I don't mean to be rude. but you don't buy something if it has a know issue and your not ready to accept that issue.

[dalt1]

So far so good on my 06 with 920 hours. No splits yet and get stepped on all the time. Probably just doomed my seams by posting this!

[TallRedRider]

One of the cooler idea I saw at the boat show was the Tige boat flip seat. The seat on the corners you could flip upside down, and the bottom side was stiff plastic with carpet so you could step on that. The seat fixture was designed to accomidate the shape on both sides, so it wouldn't work as easily on a malibu, but malibu should add that idea to their new boats.

Reading on the Tige forums, it seems that those little corner seats are too small to be useful, and of course, you have to go to the trouble of turning them over if you want to sit in the corner, which is usually the best seat in the house, other than next to the driver. So it is not a perfect solution, but definitely it is thinking outside the box a little bit.

[Indyxc]

Reading on the Tige forums, it seems that those little corner seats are too small to be useful, and of course, you have to go to the trouble of turning them over if you want to sit in the corner, which is usually the best seat in the house, other than next to the driver. So it is not a perfect solution, but definitely it is thinking outside the box a little bit.

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Yeah, but you could always make it better. I was really impressed overall with the Tige boats at the boat show, probably more than any other vendor. They seemed to put the most thought into multi-functionality into their boat. Vs. just get in and sit.

[Bill_AirJunky]

One of the cooler idea I saw at the boat show was the Tige boat flip seat. The seat on the corners you could flip upside down, and the bottom side was stiff plastic with carpet so you could step on that. The seat fixture was designed to accomidate the shape on both sides, so it wouldn't work as easily on a malibu, but malibu should add that idea to their new boats.

I like this idea too. Nautique used to have it on the rear, middle seat for stepping to the swimstep. Wish I could find some pics of the Tige corner seats. Would be a cool mod to make on my boat. The existing corner seats don't stay in place worth a damn anyway.

Edit: Found a couple of pics of the 2011/12 Tige RZR on Onlyinboards.com with these corner seats flipped over. Looks like a pretty cool idea to me. Doesn't show the support structure underneath though. I think you'd have to build/install a piece that completely covered the seat base opening so the cushion had good support across the whole seat when it was flipped.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Bill_AirJunky

[cwkoch]

I like this idea too. Nautique used to have it on the rear, middle seat for stepping to the swimstep. Wish I could find some pics of the Tige corner seats. Would be a cool mod to make on my boat. The existing corner seats don't stay in place worth a damn anyway.

Try out the Seat Savers. They work great. If you have a regular crew, you've just got to tell them that those are the steps, and not to step on the vinyl. When I have new people come on the boat, I just show them the Seat Saver as they're boarding, and ask them to step on that rather than the seats. People catch on pretty quick. Getting your crew "trained" is not as tough as some people may think.

[bound4er]

I just had Chee make a rear seat skin for my '99 - it took 13 years but it finally gave way. The biggest issue I see from stepping on seats isn't necessarily the load put on it but the grit that transfers from foot to seam. Once in the seam it acts like little shards of glass, slowly cutting into the stitching.

[OskiD]

Thanks all of you for covering this. Have two friends with torn seats in back. I just bought a new 2014 VLX and ordered 2 seatsavers today to avoid the problem...

[Sixball]

Its not a Malibu only issue. I had it on other inboards. As said seams are the week spot. When I had my last boat redone I took most of the seams out of the seat bottoms and left them in the backs only. I also now use 303 protectorate, keeps the vinyl soft. My 07 is still looking and feeling like new. I had the seats on my old boat done by a guy who does Hot Rods. Like I said we did a design that picked up the backs but dumped most of the seams on the bottoms.

[isellacuras]

As a finance manager at a car dealership, I sell paint and fabric sealant. I use the interior vinyl and leather sealant and conditioner on my boat and it seems to work real well. It's still pretty new but we will see how it holds up over the course of time. I am a believer of the product on cars as long as it's used as directed.

[OskiD]

I just purchased a 2014 VLX, and have 2 friends with older VLX's both with torn seat issues. I just ordered seat savers, but had not heard of them before reading all this. I hope to avoid the problem. I odered my boat with the walkway between the 2 sunpads also to avoid vinyl damage...

[Nitrousbird]

'01, 400 something hours now and no issues with stepping on the seats. I'm sure the previous owner did too. I will admit I replaced one rear skin with a Chee replacement, but that was from a cut in the seat from the previous owner vs. seams pulling. Myself and most of my friends are 200+lb folks too.

[dalt1]

Had over 1000 hours on my 06 VLX seems were just starting to seperate when I sold her. She held up better than most of the newer models it seems. I did use 303 on the the whole time.

[Bawshogg]

70 ish hours on 2012. Both rear seats popped at the seams.

[dalt1]

113 hrs on my 2012 now hope it holds up.

[3sport]

70 ish hours on 2012. Both rear seats popped at the seams.

Malibu warranty it?

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[Bawshogg]

Yup. My previous 2007 VTX had all three seats in the rear replaced under warranty. First one around 100' second around 140 and third at about 175. Q

[Malibuzer]

175 hour on my 2012 and they look great.

[Fman]

I just purchased a 2014 VLX, and have 2 friends with older VLX's both with torn seat issues. I just ordered seat savers, but had not heard of them before reading all this. I hope to avoid the problem. I odered my boat with the walkway between the 2 sunpads also to avoid vinyl damage...

2011 at 236 hours had a seat bead tear apart on step down corner. Same issue last year on my '13 with 125 hours, dealer replaced both under warranty. Currently have 146 hours on it and no more issues at this point. Would be nice if Malibu could figure out a way to help reduce this issue and triple stitch these specific seats, they seem to have issues.

The center transom walkway is a great feature, I like it for wear and tear reduction and it also stays cooler to stand on than vinyl roasting from the sun.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Fman

[Bawshogg]

Looking at all the failures I have had myself , it doesn't appear that the stitching is the thing that fails. It's actually the vinyl itself. The vinyl rips out at the stitch because of the perforation from the needle during the stitching.

They make the seats so tight that when the seats are stepped on the only place they give is there at the seams/piping line.

[Chattwake]

Don't let people step down on the corners of your seats. That's elementary.

[dlowry81]

I'm in no way claiming Tige is a better boat than a Malibu, and honestly I'd never buy a Tige. Having said that its interesting that a company who can innovate surfgate can't figure out from warranty claims and customer complaints to redesign that seat like Tige does where the back corner of the cushion is hard plastic and some traction material. With the forward swooping towers that is literally THE place to step when trying to get boards out of racks. One of my biggest complaints about the forward tower designs is how their mounting location affects entry into the boat. Damn tower is located where everyone enters my older boat. Anyone notice the G23 has the the small steps on the side sunpad cushions so you can step on it and then step direction into that transon walk through. To me what Nautique did on the side sunpads, Malibu should do on those corner cushions.

[dlowry81]

Don't let people step down on the corners of your seats. That's elementary.

Please tell me where you step and the process to get boards out of non-swivel racks? Saying don't step on seats is a great tip, but when a company doesn't put a little thought into ergonomics and how people will interact with a product there sometimes isn't a whole lot of choices.

[Bawshogg]

Don't let people step down on the corners of your seats. That's elementary.

The corners don't rip. The top does. It's from stepping in the middle of the seat.

Asking every single person to not step on the seats is a little bit ludacris. You dang near have to

step on them to get in and out of the boat. Especially on the boats with higher freeboard.

[MEYJR]

Does anyone use their type 4 throw cushion like a seat saver? Would that work? Just curious since it is suppose to be out and accessible anyway.

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