Tower Tow loop- G3 won't go back on!

[CJAY]

If you didn't have any tower speakers the standard hoop is pretty easy to deal with. But taking the hoop on and off with the Exile speaker brackets is a huge pain in the butt. You have to first unbolt the board rack mounts, then unbolt the Exile speaker brackets (the exile bolts are behind the board rack brackets), let those brackets hang by the speaker wires, then uninstall/reinstall the hoop, and then bolt everything back together, each and every time the hoop comes off. I would just get the straight hoop and mod the bimini with an extra hole.

Litterally my boat only goes in and out of the garage once a year, it's worth looking into I guess to modify the bimini.

[Brett B]

Ah, gotcha. All good then. Once a year would be no big deal, 2-3 times per week would suck.

[Gregg97007]

As cwkoch said his was the first. I showed his pictures to my dealer to convince them it could be done, and they worked to have the Malibu factory make it for me. Thanks again cwkoch for such a great idea!

It's true the bimini hole does not line up. We rarely use the bimini so that is not an issue for us. If Im going on a long weekend trip in the middle of the summer I just swap the original hoop back on. It would also be very easy to mod the bimini with an additional hole for the tow ball if you used it frequently which is what I will probably do.

The only other issue is that the wakeboard rope gets caught on the board racks more easily when turning sharply at idle to pick up a downed rider since the tow point is further forward. If there are boards in the racks it's usually not a problem though, somebody just need to keep a closer eye on the rope, or you need to widen your turn.

Those are very minor nit-pick compared to how quick/easy it is to get the boat in and out of the 7 tall garage now. We take the boat out 2-3 times per week, and being able to get it out of the garage, stand up the tower, and be on the road in about 5 minutes is well worth it. Like I mentioned, I have no head clearance issues with it and Im not exactly a short guy. Hopefully Malibu is making this as a normal factory part now, with a jig to make more, and its not a custom one-off each time. My dealer said that was the plan after they made mine but Im sure priorities at the factory can get moved around.

Original hoop and garage clearance hoop comparison pictures below:

Garage clearance hoop part number:

Pictures of the garage clearance hoop installed:

This information is incredibly helpful. Can't thank you enough. I just sent that part number to my dealer to see if they can order it.

[Molarbu]

How can we have a thread like this and not once have someone with a T3 berate the current tower for bending because of some speakers? Sometimes I feel like I don't know you guys any more!

[Gregg97007]

So update- I ordered the straight bar from the factory but not thinking about it I ordered the same part number as Brett. After trying to put it on today I realized he has a VLX not a VTX. As a result it's 68 inch vs 65. So new question- has this ever been done on a VTX?

This was totally my oversight.

[Bawshogg]

Greg, I talked with Jerry a bit about this yesterday. I told him to take it over to Scott at Samson and have him cut the 1.5" inches out of the ends and re TIG the ends back on. Should be cheaper to do that versus shipping back,restocking ,ect. Easy fix really. Drive the boat over to him with the bar and he will get it done. I would do it for ya, but I don't have a TIG setup anymore. Stainless will polish right back up once its done. Scott has all the right stuff to get it done.

[Gregg97007]

Greg, I talked with Jerry a bit about this yesterday. I told him to take it over to Scott at Samson and have him cut the 1.5" inches out of the ends and re TIG the ends back on. Should be cheaper to do that versus shipping back,restocking ,ect. Easy fix really. Drive the boat over to him with the bar and he will get it done. I would do it for ya, but I don't have a TIG setup anymore. Stainless will polish right back up once its done. Scott has all the right stuff to get it done.

That's a great idea. I talked to Scott a little and he wasn't overly interested in making one but maybe for active he will have more motivation. I will see if Gerry can drive it. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ps saw your new boat. That is an amazing machine, thing is massive! Low the look and color.

[Brett B]

So update- I ordered the straight bar from the factory but not thinking about it I ordered the same part number as Brett. After trying to put it on today I realized he has a VLX not a VTX. As a result it's 68 inch vs 65. So new question- has this ever been done on a VTX?

This was totally my oversight.

Sorry I didn't even think about the beam differences for a VTX either. Shouldn't your dealer be able to help fix this for you? I would have them order the correct bar for your VTX, and if the dealer won't take back the incorrect one I'm sure you can sell it on here. Plenty of VLX owners seem interested.

[Fman]

I would have be interested in the bar, the dealbreaker for me was no bimini that will fit the bar.

I wish Malibu would just make this a known option/package to all dealers and customers. It could also include a bimini that would work with it.

[Gregg97007]

I'm going to pick this up again tomorrow and report back. Can't believe how much work this is lol.

[dalt1]

I'm going to pick this up again tomorrow and report back. Can't believe how much work this is lol.

Did you ever get this bar to work for you? I am currently looking for one for a 2012 VLX. If you still have the unmodded one, I would be interested.

[Brett B]

Once brief update to my old posts in this thread. I ended up modding my bimini last summer with an extra hole in it for the garage clearance hoop and it works perfectly.

[dalt1]

Once brief update to my old posts in this thread. I ended up modding my bimini last summer with an extra hole in it for the garage clearance hoop and it works perfectl

As cwkoch said his was the first. I showed his pictures to my dealer to convince them it could be done, and they worked to have the Malibu factory make it for me. Thanks again cwkoch for such a great idea!

It's true the bimini hole does not line up. We rarely use the bimini so that is not an issue for us. If I’m going on a long weekend trip in the middle of the summer I just swap the original hoop back on. It would also be very easy to mod the bimini with an additional hole for the tow ball if you used it frequently which is what I will probably do.

The only other issue is that the wakeboard rope gets caught on the board racks more easily when turning sharply at idle to pick up a downed rider since the tow point is further forward. If there are boards in the racks it's usually not a problem though, somebody just need to keep a closer eye on the rope, or you need to widen your turn.

Those are very minor nit-pick compared to how quick/easy it is to get the boat in and out of the 7’ tall garage now. We take the boat out 2-3 times per week, and being able to get it out of the garage, stand up the tower, and be on the road in about 5 minutes is well worth it. Like I mentioned, I have no head clearance issues with it and I’m not exactly a short guy. Hopefully Malibu is making this as a normal factory part now, with a jig to make more, and it’s not a custom one-off each time. My dealer said that was the plan after they made mine but I’m sure priorities at the factory can get moved around.

Original hoop and garage clearance hoop comparison pictures below:

Garage clearance hoop part number:

Pictures of the garage clearance hoop installed:

Brett

I tried this part # at 1 dealer and they said nothing came up. What dealer did you use? I think we need a group buy set up for this.

[dalt1]

So update- I ordered the straight bar from the factory but not thinking about it I ordered the same part number as Brett. After trying to put it on today I realized he has a VLX not a VTX. As a result it's 68 inch vs 65. So new question- has this ever been done on a VTX?

This was totally my oversight.

I need what you can't use. Did you ever modify it or sell it?

[dalt1]

Looking at this thread and wondering if I could put the joints like what my T3 tower had at the top joint to remove the G3 top bar. What do you all think? It would be a quick dismount bar that way. Still have the original shape to the G3.

[dalt1]

Looking at this thread and wondering if I could put the joints like what my T3 tower had at the top joint to remove the G3 top bar. What do you all think? It would be a quick dismount bar that way. Still have the original shape to the G3.

Talked to Starone wakeboard towers about this. He was the original designer of the T3 And G3 towers. Said he didn't have a source for the joints anymore. Any ideas where these may be found?

[Bawshogg]

A quick coupler with the handscrew connections should not be to hard to come by . I am thinking tongue and groove fittings for the ends on the cross bar with a handscrew knob threaded through each end. They could be fabbed at most good fab shops if you can't source them. Cut the crossbar and weld them into the ends. Weld the other ends to the flanges that bolt to the tower. I would orientate the flanges so they are vertical do the load is on the coupler and not the threads of the handscrew.

Measure the OD of the crossbar. Hopefully someone can come up with the ID and possibly contact Scott at Samson Sports. They build towers with those couplings regularly.

It may take some leg work and might not be cheap, but well worth it in the long run.

Edit. Found these in 5 minutes of looking, just not stainless. Can't be welded but you could use them with mechanical connections to the stainless tube worst case. Or buy a set and take them to a machinist and have stainless made from the sample parts.

http://www.diywake.com/store/flat-lap-joint

http://www.bigairwaketowers.com/parts/

Edited February 23, 2014 by Bobby Bright

[dalt1]

Good find Bobby. Got my gears turning. Still searching. If you come up with anything else, post em up. Would kind of like a little more engagement like the old T3 joints to help lock them in. Also prefer to be stainless to weld in. I know there is up to and above 600 Lbs of pull while towing at times. I keep my Comptec release set to 550lbs.

[Brett B]

Brett

I tried this part # at 1 dealer and they said nothing came up. What dealer did you use? I think we need a group buy set up for this.

I'm confused by what you mean by "nothing came up". It sounds like they typed it into their standard options list and couldn't find it, and that is all the further they went.

Have your dealer call the factory, send them the picture with the part number, and ask them to order it for you. If your dealer isn't willing to do this for you try a different dealer or call the factory to talk with your regional Malibu sales rep. The part you need exists at the factory, it just may take a little extra effort on your dealers part to get it for you. I used my local dealer and ordered it when I ordered my boat without any problems. Maybe the factory changed the part number, regardless just tell them you want the garage clearance hoop and show them the pictures.

[dalt1]

I'm confused by what you mean by "nothing came up". It sounds like they typed it into their standard options list and couldn't find it, and that is all the further they went.

Have your dealer call the factory, send them the picture with the part number, and ask them to order it for you. If your dealer isn't willing to do this for you try a different dealer or call the factory to talk with your regional Malibu sales rep. The part you need exists at the factory, it just may take a little extra effort on your dealers part to get it for you. I used my local dealer and ordered it when I ordered my boat without any problems. Maybe the factory changed the part number, regardless just tell them you want the garage clearance hoop and show them the pictures.

Finally got the price from Great Wakes boating. They ordered 2 to have in stock and I will probably pick up one of those. Two weeks delivery time to them.

[Bill_AirJunky]

A quick coupler with the handscrew connections should not be to hard to come by . I am thinking tongue and groove fittings for the ends on the cross bar with a handscrew knob threaded through each end. They could be fabbed at most good fab shops if you can't source them. Cut the crossbar and weld them into the ends. Weld the other ends to the flanges that bolt to the tower. I would orientate the flanges so they are vertical do the load is on the coupler and not the threads of the handscrew.

Measure the OD of the crossbar. Hopefully someone can come up with the ID and possibly contact Scott at Samson Sports. They build towers with those couplings regularly.

It may take some leg work and might not be cheap, but well worth it in the long run.

Edit. Found these in 5 minutes of looking, just not stainless. Can't be welded but you could use them with mechanical connections to the stainless tube worst case. Or buy a set and take them to a machinist and have stainless made from the sample parts.

http://www.diywake.com/store/flat-lap-joint

http://www.bigairwaketowers.com/parts/

Google "interlocking tube clamps" and you should find a ton of them. Their also used on cages on Jeeps & rock crawlers.

[dalt1]

Google "interlocking tube clamps" and you should find a ton of them. Their also used on cages on Jeeps & rock crawlers.

Thanks Bill, Lots of them listed but have not found one that will work with the 2.25" G3 tower tube dia yet. Wish I could find the one used on the T3 it would be perfect.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Thanks Bill, Lots of them listed but have not found one that will work with the 2.25" G3 tower tube dia yet. Wish I could find the one used on the T3 it would be perfect.

So how about calling someone like this place & see if that can help?

Or this one.

Or another

Last one

[dalt1]

Thanks Bill, Lots of them listed but have not found one that will work with the 2.25" G3 tower tube dia yet. Wish I could find the one used on the T3 it would be perfect.

So how about calling someone like this place & see if that can help?

Or this one.

Or another

Last one

Checked with them all. Nothing over 2". The search goes on. Need to find a boat that has damaged the T3 and cut them out of that.

[dalt1]

Gregg sorry we derailed your topic. As to your original question, you have to lift the hoop up higher than the tower holes and lower it in place. The tower support legs are slightly angled in towards the rear of the boat, so if you just try and push the bar back into position from the rear you will get binding. Use 2 people, lift the hoop up above the legs, and let one side of the hoop drop into alignment with the holes first, then the second side should drop it. Try moving it around in a few different positions and angles to make it fit. It took me a few tries to learn the trick as I was also removing my hoop each time before my "straight" hoop arrived. Also try contacting your dealer, I'm sure they have a tech there who has done this before and can help you out. Hope this makes sense.

Lastly, If you have the Exile 2-speaker tower brackets, those have to be removed first to get the hoop back on. I've gotten it to where I can remove just one, but it's tricky. If you have both Exile brackets still installed while trying to re-install the hoop then that is your problem.

Got my new straight bar today. Installation is a breeze when you get the process right. It seems that I had to drop my bar below the tower and raise it to position instead of raising it above and dropping to position. As Brett said, put one side in and other will slide right in but not from the top. It will look about a half inch too wide that way. I did have to remove my Exile speaker mounts to get this done.