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350 in the 2015 22 VLX


Hollywould

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Guys, I'm close to pulling the trigger on a new (2015) 22 VLX. It has the 350 in it, but I'm reading a lot of threads about upgraded engines. Will usually have 5-6 people in the boat and are 90% surf/10% ride/tube. Also putting 750 PNP in each rear locker. Should I worry about the 350? Not much of a mechanical guy, so can't claim to know much about the specifics of what to do. The option would be to wait on the 2016, but I'm getting a good deal on price and trade. Thanks for thoughts!

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I can speak to a 350 in a 2015 23 at darn near sea level.

I have the 350 with the 2049 prop and have above 20 hours on it. I would say that we usually have 4 adults and 2-3 kids under the age 5 on the boat when we surf. My boat came with the stock 550 bags.

I'm about 210lbs and have no issues riding that wave and that boat has no issues handling what I throw at it. I have started putting a 400lb bag in the bow and fill it 3/4 of the way - just what I like to do.

There are folks on here running more weight than I and doing it just fine (search "vince" in the ballast forum). But once you get past the 550's in the rear - bow weight becomes mandatory.

We never really cruise past 25 mph to 27 mph so no issues with high torque prop.

*** I use a bag in the bow versus people b/c i have little kids on the boat and it makes me overly nervous when they get up front. I will usually fill the bag, put the windscreen in to keep them out of the bow.

Edited by Murphy8166
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Thanks for the tip on searching "Vince", found the exact thread I needed. Sounds like the 350 is fine for me - I'm pumped!

Unless you are looking to go crazy...then yes I think you are fine with the 350. Just make sure you get the 2049 prop.

I would imagine that you are looking at a 12k difference b/t a new 2016 and a 2015 they are trying to get out the door.

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The prop is what makes the biggest difference in the boat being able to get out of the hole. It's no secret that you need to prop that 350 right in order to make it do what "we" want it to do.

It's a 15" prop which is what you want but the real difference maker is the the pitch which is always the second number. You will see pitch ranges from 14.5" to 12". Think of pitch this way, the lower the number the more it is like baby steps and the higher the number is it like big strides. If you had a 300lb man on your shoulders you would take baby steps to get moving - not big strides. With baby steps you will move that massive amount of weight on your back but you will never get up to sprinting speed taking baby steps.

Make sense? That is where the tradeoff comes...do you want low end grunt or to be the fastest 22vlx on the water. You need low end grunt to move that weight, in that boat with that engine.

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I think with 5-6 and 750s, even at 500 feet you're going to struggle some. Either less weight or more engine

Says the guy at 5300 ft. elevation.

Just curious - have you run a VLX with a 350 at 500 feet elevation?

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I would not feel good about that 1235 - should not be an issue at all for that dealer to change it. Don't settle for that prop! Don't even settle for it as backup :)

My dealer is WaterSki America and they order all the VLX's and LSV's with the 2049.

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Says the guy at 5300 ft. elevation.

Just curious - have you run a VLX with a 350 at 500 feet elevation?

I'm actually at 5800, but I have run as low as 4000ft. My 450 bogs down when we weight her too high at my elevation. Do have friends in TX that struggled with an LSV with 750s running a 350.

Edited by CJAY
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I have a friend in Washington State that makes it work with 800lbs in the each rear and 600 in nose. His name is Vince - he is not imaginary either!

Maybe he even comment on this thread :)

Care to get the last word - I will let you have it

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Honestly surfing you'll be fine, but if you want to wakeboard you are going to struggle with the 750s. it's a ton of weight to push up to wakeboarding speed. If you never plan on using them that way it won't be a big deal. We use ours all around, so we need it to plane both surfing and wakebaording fully loaded, and we have issues at our elevation with wakebaording if we have more then 2-3 people int he boat

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350 is fine for the VLX but you need to prop it correctly ---

My setup:

1380ft elevation, Factory Ballast + 1700lbs bags& lead ---

2315 prop will work with ~6 people in the boat, full gas, coolers, etc.

The 2419 was fine when I had 3 more people in the boat.

here is a post I wrote a while back with my experience:

Ordered a 2315 and I think this is the right prop for my set up / how we use the boat. This is the 15x12" pitch with a .105 cup. My goal was to be able to plane easily and have the best cruise speed.

22VLX with a 350 engine - 4 factory tanks plus 600 lb plug and play bags in the lockers and 500lb of lead. 150 lbs at the front of the windshield, 50lbs in the very front, the other 300 is under the seats and gets moved even with the driver if we have a full boat and back about 5 feet running with a couple people. This is a good weight setup for the boat - the two competitive riders I tow rave about the wake (23mph, 75ft line, 3 clicks of the wedge), and the surf wake is big - we surfed two people on it this week, and for the little kids I have to make the surf wake smaller so they don't get pushed into the platform.

The 2315 runs 3200rpm surfing, and gets there effortlessly. wake boarding it runs up to 3800rpm and climbs out fine.

I also have a 2419 prop, but needed a spare so I bought the 2315. The 2419 has less cup and runs the RPM higher. I am going to keep the 2419 as my spare. The 2419 did everything fine but ran the rpms about 150 higher at any given speed.

I tried the 1273, but the cavitation was very bad at surf speeds. This boat likes the 15"x12" prop. The boats works well with the 350, the only thing that suffers is cruising speed. We are in the 25mph range cruising around. More power is always nice, burning more gas is never nice, but to my surprise the 350 gets it done with the right prop.

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I'm another with a 350, generally we have 4-5 people on board, full stock ballast, 750s in the rear, 600lb nose sac, and 300 lbs lead in the bow (no bow tank). Run a 1235 prop and there have been no issues. I run the same weight wake boarding and surfing. In the rare times I have 10 people in the boat, I just don't fill the 750s all the way.

These are my buddy's riding, lake is only about 8' deep I that area, but the boat is weighted as mentioned above with the wedge 2 clicks up

Edited by wakebrdr94
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I'm another with a 350, generally we have 4-5 people on board, full stock ballast, 750s in the rear, 600lb nose sac, and 300 lbs lead in the bow (no bow tank). Run a 1235 prop and there have been no issues. I run the same weight wake boarding and surfing. In the rare times I have 10 people in the boat, I just don't fill the 750s all the way.

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This is likely the use and setup for us, minus the nose sac and lead. The boat does have a bow tank. I'm talking to the dealer about changing the prop, but may use it next summer and change the prop next Fall if the 1235 is not getting it done. Thanks for the comments-

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I have a 350 in my T22. Now that it's propped correctly we surf and wakeboard with zero problems up to 10 people so far. have not had a scenario where I wished I had more power.

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