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Installed Fresh Air Exhaust today


L39driver

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It mounted easily, although the directions have very little to do with the application to a Malibu. It took about an hour, and the only changes we made were to add a couple of small spacers to the crossbar isn't resting on the bolt heads. It really helps to remove the swim platform. I expect that we will be tightening the hose clamps for a while as the rubber connectors compress.

I bought it as much for the noise reducing attributes as for the safety benefits. After installation we took it out for a test run and the noise level in the cockpit is unbelievably improved. The driver can have a reasonable conversation with passengers in the rear cockpit without screaming while traveling at 30 mph. The loudest noise is the V-drive.

There is a little spray in the wake close to the boat above 30 mph, but it is unobtrusive at skiing, surfing, or boarding speeds. It does not impair the function of the wedge, and while expensive, it appears to perform as advertised.

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I have the FAE sitting in the garage.

I was hoping to get a chance to go back to back makiing sure it did not suck any power.

I am just waiting for a chance to weight my boat down, do a couple of 0-24 MPH runs and see how fast it happens both with and without the FAE. I have a buddy that put one on his Malibu just like mine, and he was sure that he lost power. Says he could not get on plane, but I think he went to a lake a little higher in elevation and also piled more people in his boat than ever before. So I am hoping to have some factual data on how it goes with my engine and boat.

If it sucks power, I am hoping that they will take it back. Between bad weather and my schedule getting fouled up, I have had it for longer than the stated initial return policy dictates.

I am really getting tired of seeing my wife make that 'who farted?' face whenever she gets a tiny whiff of exhaust.

You did not notice any decrease in power?

Edited by TallRedRider
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I have FAE on this boat now.... It is so good, very highly recommended, I would never want another wakeboat without it.

I have the STEs and like them. Much quieter, but can still hear the v8 gurgle....which is nice.

You don't miss the sound of your massive v8 under your hood??

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We surf primarily... So the results are more prevalent... Especially for the surfer. When you are surfing, the loudest sound is waves crashing. You can barely hear the boat at all.

Inside the boat its wonderful. Like OP said, 30-40mph, normal voice conversation.

I do not miss the roar of the V8 one iota!!!

What's awesome is when you are in the water behind the boat... And the crank the engine up from being off... You feel the compression in your chest, but there is hardly any noise.

Hard to describe... It's just makes the entire boating experience more pleasant, less noise, exhaust fatigue. Hard to understand how that'd be worth the 600$ or whatever it costs... But WELL worth it IMO. Not to mention ZERO exhaust around the back of the boat... As long as the prop is spinning, exhaust doesn't come up till 20ft behind the boat.

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We surf primarily... So the results are more prevalent... Especially for the surfer. When you are surfing, the loudest sound is waves crashing. You can barely hear the boat at all.

Inside the boat its wonderful. Like OP said, 30-40mph, normal voice conversation.

I do not miss the roar of the V8 one iota!!!

What's awesome is when you are in the water behind the boat... And the crank the engine up from being off... You feel the compression in your chest, but there is hardly any noise.

Hard to describe... It's just makes the entire boating experience more pleasant, less noise, exhaust fatigue. Hard to understand how that'd be worth the 600$ or whatever it costs... But WELL worth it IMO. Not to mention ZERO exhaust around the back of the boat... As long as the prop is spinning, exhaust doesn't come up till 20ft behind the boat.

I have never really considered the FAE, but after reading your comment, I might give it a try..thanks. After 30 years of DDs, I gotta imagine it would take some getting used to.

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I've been thinking about this as well. We've been doing some more cruising this fall and you really can't talk without yelling at 30MPH.

BUT, I REALLY like the way my boat sounds when I'm wakeboarding :rockon:

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L39driver is correct in that we (Fresh Air Exhaust) need to improve/update our installation instructions. We tried going "modern" this year with all instructions sent by email. We've decided for next season to go back to the old fashioned paper instructions in the box.

As part of our instructions upgrade we are seeking a few new customers in the Austin Texas area that can bring the boats to our shop for free installation. This applies to all brands of boats. As of now, we are still seeking a Malibu with the Floating Wedge.

Thanks

Larry Mann

Fresh Air Exhaust

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I've been thinking about this as well. We've been doing some more cruising this fall and you really can't talk without yelling at 30MPH.

BUT, I REALLY like the way my boat sounds when I'm wakeboarding :rockon:

Levi, if you get an FAE, you will REALLY like the way your STEREO sounds when you are WakeBoarding! :rockon:

I have it on my V-Drive and there are times when I don't even realize the boat is running when sitting at the dock...Seriously, it IS THAT QUIET...

ALSO,

For those of you that want a little more performance, or a little less wake disturbance at the 39-43 mph range, Larry can make you a shorter exhaust tube, like I had him make for me when I used to use my V-drive for barefooting, but since we went to using two different boats for footing and surfing, I could go back to the longer exhaust tube or leave it short like I did. The shorter tube does allow for big golf ball size water droplets that come up while surfing and sometimes hits you in the head....they do not hurt, it is just an annoyance sometimes...I have been too lazy to switch it back to the longer tube....now that i actually wrote this, I think I am going to switch back to the original longer tube in the spring

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Since there are so many that DIY'ers... one of my customers created the Redneck Exhaust System to quiet down his Sportster about 10 years ago.

It's really similar to the FAE, but it doesn't drop the exhaust into the water. He tried a number of different versions, but found (as FAE and CC did) that by combining the two exhausts into one outlet, the frequency of the exhaust note is raised and the perceived sound level is noticably quieter.

Since he is also a Redneck Engineer, he performed due diligence measuring sound levels with a decibel meter and back pressure in the exhaust, both before and after. If you ride in the boat now, you don't believe the decibel meter is accurate, as the sound level drop is HUGE. He can drive by on the water and almost all you hear is the water.

Here is his email to me :

I added the fiberglass exhaust with cross over after I bought and the boat it did a little.
Then I added the SS mufflers after the exhaust manifolds it did a little.
Then I installed the REDNECK and it worked!

Here is a chart of noise & back pressure taken at the exhaust manifold.

idle 1000rpm 1500rpm 2000rpm 2500rpm 3000rpm 4000rpm 4800rpm

exhaust with fiberglass & SS mufflers

62db 70db 80db 95db 82db 93db 91db 96db

0 0 0 0 0 0 .5psi 3psi

REDNECK exhaust

60db 69db 77db 84db 81db 87db 92db 95db

0 0 0 0 0 .5psi 1.5psi 4.5psi

DSC_31930001_zpsdda27827.jpg

DSC_31940002_zpsd54bab85.jpg

DSC_31970005_zpsb0018bd2.jpg

DSC_31990007_zpsea487b89.jpg

DSC_32010009_zps3b20396a.jpg

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With the way they are angled, I got nervous until I realized he LEFT THE EXISTING EXHAUST FLAPPERS in the boat.....otherwise here come hydrolock....

That Redneck scenario is pretty ingenious, however it obviously won't address CO2 like the FAE does

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Id like to here more from those that have done this before we modify our boats. Does it affect warrantees as an example.

Response from 350 monsoon engines as we are at the bottom of the power curve.

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In another thread we've been discussing air flow quite a bit, and increasing exhaust hose size, manifolds, etc. as well as intake & carb sizes. It seems like this or the factory FAE would restrict exhaust flow, since two 4" tubes combine into one. Has that not been the case?

Sorry if it's already been asked elsewhere.

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In another thread we've been discussing air flow quite a bit, and increasing exhaust hose size, manifolds, etc. as well as intake & carb sizes. It seems like this or the factory FAE would restrict exhaust flow, since two 4" tubes combine into one. Has that not been the case?

Sorry if it's already been asked elsewhere.

In the case of the FAE, it actually PULLS the exhaust out of the motor according to the tests that Larry ran early on in his testing and developing the product....so it does not restrict exhaust flow according to them

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In another thread we've been discussing air flow quite a bit, and increasing exhaust hose size, manifolds, etc. as well as intake & carb sizes. It seems like this or the factory FAE would restrict exhaust flow, since two 4" tubes combine into one. Has that not been the case?

Sorry if it's already been asked elsewhere.

Two 4" inch exhausts is WAY more than a 350 motor needs. Have you ever seen a car with a 4" exhaust other than a diesel truck?

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How does this work with the manual wedge. Fom the pictures it looks like it might be harder to get to the clips for the wedge to raise it up and lower it down.

Thanks

Betch

I have one on my A22 and I have to swim under to put down the wedge, it was worth the trade off to me, if I'm putting the wedge down I'm gonna be in the water anyway

Here's a link to mine

Fresh-Air-Exhaust

http://www.axiswakeboardboats.com/viewtopic.php?t=1644

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