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2014 MXZ Surf Wake


MalibuLou

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Purchased a new 22 MXZ last week, last unit dealer had left. Have been out a lot messing with the surf wake. Running stock ballast tanks plus a 250 bag in each locker.

Goofy wake is absolutely GORGEOUS, by far the cleanest surf wake available. The lip all the way back to the curl is crisp and clean. No white wash from the opposing surf gate is messing up the wake. Wedge all the way down or stowed its clean and perfect.

Standard wake, completely different and very disappointing. TONS of white wash and disruption from water thrown over from open surf gate, which i have read about and sounds like a known issue. Dealer is sending me some brackets that mount on the gate to clean/block the water(so I'm told). Also noticing the front of the lip closest to the deck is being disrupted from the closed surf gate.

Looking for opinions on other MXZ riders who have found a way to perfect the wake.

Am I running too much weight? Anyone know why the starboard side is so much better than port?

Thanks in advance. Hopefully this can be an on going thread where we can all contribute to perfect our surf wakes!

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No you are not running too much weight. Actually add more weight, for surfing 750's minimum, and some bow weight. Unless you are into transfers, it also helps to drain a touch from the non surf side.

The standard side is going to be flatter, that is just the nature of these. Don't be afraid to throw weight at these, surfing requires water displacement, water displacement requires weight.

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Definitely get the spraygate fix from the dealer first. Simple to install. Second, my local dealer personally owns a 22MXZ. His is weighted Full Factory Ballast, 550 PnP each locker, extra people in boat sit on surf side, wedge 30%, 10.5-11mph. Up to 800lb bow weight depending on crew size. Regular wave is pretty good with this setup. It will never be as good as goofy wave, but this is how he dials his in on regular side.

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You are running WAY WAY underweight.

I am running (2) 750s rear, (1) 500 mid and (1) 750 bow all in addition to full wedge and hardtanks and I have a 22 MXZ with a 350 that everyone bashes here.

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You are running WAY WAY underweight.

I am running (2) 750s rear, (1) 500 mid and (1) 750 bow all in addition to full wedge and hardtanks and I have a 22 MXZ with a 350 that everyone bashes here.

What speed do you surf at?

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Also noteworthy saidinc does not use SURFGATE HE US LISTED... MXZ surfing 10.7~12.4 depending on your taste. I have one guy who likes really long wave so 12.4, i prefer taller/steeper so 11.0

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Also noteworthy saidinc does not use SURFGATE HE US LISTED... MXZ surfing 10.7~12.4 depending on your taste. I have one guy who likes really long wave so 12.4, i prefer taller/steeper so 11.0

and thats a big NEGATIVE. I am using wicked wave so I dont list any longer.

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I have a 2015 with 350. Run 650 in each rear locker, stock front and center hard tanks. Wedge one to two clicks up from bottom.

VERY HAPPY WITH MY WAVE, surf between 10 and 11 MPH...

Edited by Shodan01
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I have a 2015 with 350. Run 650 in each rear locker, stock front and center hard tanks. Wedge one to two clicks up from bottom.

VERY HAPPY WITH MY WAVE, surf between 10 and 11 MPH...

Nice man thank you! You're referring to the Standard wake correct? Would you happen to have any pics? Do you have the "spray gate" fix done?

Thanks for the info!

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  • 5 weeks later...

So 4 weeks into my 2014 22 MXZ. Still working the surf wake. Helpful thread here - thanks!

Added 450 lead to the front (leadwake.com) - got them under the cup holders in the hollow section - out of the way/out of site - and works great. Still a few porpoise moments but improving.

Borrowed 2 400lb sacs for the back - really helped the surf wake. However the drain/inlet fittings keep popping off and the bags are moving around. Kinked my drain hoses on both sides - and tested my bilge pump 2 times now when they emptied mid-ride.

So looking on wavemakers.com.

1) Has anyone used the wavemakers.com "Malibu HI FLO Plug N Play Ballast Kit" - will that help my issue of the connectors coming loose/kinking the drain hose?

2) wavemakers.com says the 550lb bag is the best fit, but I think I want to go with their 800lb bag - any 22 MXZ owners used this bag - does it fit and not move around too much?

Edited by bcole
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I went through several bag revisions. IF surfing is your true passion, i would suggest custom sacs. Wakemakers is great, however they are so backlogged, it will be November before you get your bags. The other option is going directly to fly high. They are $25 more per sac but you get them in a couple weeks vs. A couple months. I would not buy 550's as you will likely want to upgrade to 750's. 750's are good but you will possibly want to upgrade to 1100's, then knowing the 1100's only fill to ~900ish you upgrade AGAIN to custom sacs ~1200 per side, perfect fit.

Also, if you leave your PNP bags in 100% of the time like i do. Vent the hard tank into the bag, and the bag to the thru hull. This forces the bag to drain first as hard tank can't get air from the outside. Makes PNP drain faster, and detains bags pancake flat.

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I am also trying to get my regular side surf wave a bit better in a 20 MXZ. I have the Malibu factory installed rear Plug and Play system with the 550 bags. I emailed Wavemakers a couple of weeks ago and they told me they are coming out with a bag that is compatible with the Plug and Play system that is 700+ pounds. It's due to be available in a couple of months. I also have 400 pounds of Pops Steel shot in the boat.

I have tried putting the steel shot toward the front of the boat, based I what I have read on this forum for getting more hull in the water and perhaps getting a longer wave. However, in the 20 MXZ, a short boat, I find I get a bigger wave with all the weight towards the back at about 9.8 mph. As I increase the speed the wave gets lower but it does get longer. I also have found that I get a cleaner wave with no Power wedge at all.

Two weeks ago I tested a MC X20 with Gen 2 and I was impressed with how the Gen 2 system generates the wave in 20 foot boat. The wave was clean and the "flow" in it just seems different than a Surf Gate wave "flow". However, I think a Surf Gate wave is just fine with a little tweaking in each model of Malibu boat. The MXZ hull may not be the perfect hull to work along with Surf gate.

This week I am going to test a 2015 22 VLX. As we know that hull is advertised to be re-designed to generate a great surf wave with Surf gate. I want to see if the 22 VLX with a hull that is different from the 20 MXZ hull is really better at generating a nice wave

Edited by gordon20mxz
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The MXZ hull may not be the perfect hull to work along with Surf gate.

I think that's pretty accurate. My wife loves the bow room in the MXZ. I had the opportunity to jump on a guys boat that we saw a few times out on the water last summer, a 22 MXZ. He was nice enough to let me surf and play with weight on a couple sessions. The only way we were able to achieve a clean lip and wave face on port was just MLS full and a light crew. Any more weight and water was flying through and over the gate and trashing the wave face. It was very hard to surf with that turbulence from that. He had the "spray gate fix tabs." Since those opportunities I've scowered the net to find video of evenly weighted port MXZ waves without spray and I've found 24 MXZ's that are great but the 22 MZX and 20 MXZ I have not. I've seen video of clean port side waves but it's clear that water has been drained from the opposite side to slightly list and keep the spray off the face. The pickelforck Axis boats got a hull redesign, maybe MXZ will.

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  • 5 weeks later...

So after a summer of tweaking I've got the 22MXZ wave dialed in. Spray gate is installed and made a nice improvement.

All factory ballast tanks full.

PNP 400lb rear bags full

Wedge between 2-4 clicks up

Speed set at 11.2

This works perfect with 3-6 people in the boat. I just adjust the wedge with more weight.

Wave lip is clean, wave is tall and long. Can easily ride deep in the pocket. I have a video(with me crashing working on the 360 lol). I can post if anyone wants to see the wave.

Hope this helps someone get dialed in sooner than later!

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So after a summer of tweaking I've got the 22MXZ wave dialed in. Spray gate is installed and made a nice improvement.

All factory ballast tanks full.

PNP 400lb rear bags full

Wedge between 2-4 clicks up

Speed set at 11.2

This works perfect with 3-6 people in the boat. I just adjust the wedge with more weight.

Wave lip is clean, wave is tall and long. Can easily ride deep in the pocket. I have a video(with me crashing working on the 360 lol). I can post if anyone wants to see the wave.

Hope this helps someone get dialed in sooner than later!

I would live to see your video.

I am still working to improve my regular side wave in a 2013 20 MXZ. I only have a regular size Power Wedge and I think the Power Wedge 2 maybe better. When I tested a 2015 22 VLX the PW2 really did alter the size and length of the wave depending on the PW2 setting. The PW2 made changes to the wave shape and kept the wave smooth.

With a Power Wedge "1" in my 20 MXZ, I seem to have the same wave whether or not the wedge is all the way stowed or all the way down. If I make any adjustments upward, from the all the way down position, it seems to disrupt the wave edge/lip, it does not improve it? Small clicks up do not work with my wedge on my boat?

Maybe my wave is better than I think it is. It is so hard to compare different wave videos form different people because the angle of the videos is always so different. It's even less helpful with still shots. But is still is interesting to see other videos and try to assess your own wave.

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Agreed watching videos is very tough. Unfortunately the clip my buddy shot is slow and he made a slow mo(worked out well for my crash tho lol). I will put a link up here so hopefully it works out.

As for the wedge, are you seeing move up a notch each time you hit it? I can visually see the needle on the "wake size" round dial move up a notch each time. I can also see the nose of the boat go up each time the wedge comes up. The wake gets taller each time the wedge goes up.

What speed are you set at?

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Agreed watching videos is very tough. Unfortunately the clip my buddy shot is slow and he made a slow mo(worked out well for my crash tho lol). I will put a link up here so hopefully it works out.

As for the wedge, are you seeing move up a notch each time you hit it? I can visually see the needle on the "wake size" round dial move up a notch each time. I can also see the nose of the boat go up each time the wedge comes up. The wake gets taller each time the wedge goes up.

What speed are you set at?

That is a good point. On my 2013 I will have to look at the "wake size" graphic and see what happens as I go upwards a little at a time. I have not been doing that. The control of the wedge on my 2013 model is not as accurate as the control of the PW2 on the 2015 models. I am going to do some tests with the wedge this weekend. If it does not work to try to make small adjustments, I will just leave it all the way up or all the way down.

The speed we are using right now is 10.8 mph. I couple of weeks ago I added GPS cruise to my boat. The paddle wheel as too inaccurate! Now I know the true speed of the boat and the GPS cruise holds the speed much, much better.

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