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2013 VLX without front hard tank, surfable?


gobble

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I m sure IFXE did. (About plumb a pump)

And I'm sure it is surfable. I had a VRide with no bow tanks and it got a pretty decent wake from it. You just need extra bags from wakemakers. 

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I think I would rather have no bow tank.  The front tank is small in volume for how much room it takes up.  You could get more weight in there with lead and a small plumbed bag.  Pretty much any sport you do needs bow weight in a vlx, even skiing.  I would start with 250-300lbs of lead along with a small bag plumbed under seats and then have a bow triangle for on top of the seats if you want to run ninja style.  Or you could go full on custom like @Fman with his crazy bow gunnel ballast project.

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5 hours ago, gobble said:

How big of a deal is this if I'm looking to buy this boat? Has anyone ever set up a VLX without the front hard tanks for surfing?

A 2013 VLX is what @Afun had.  I think most would agree "the Ninja" surfed very well! It created a massive wave.

 

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11 hours ago, gobble said:

How big of a deal is this if I'm looking to buy this boat? Has anyone ever set up a VLX without the front hard tanks for surfing?

You should be able to add the tank yourself. I am a big fan on throwing my 1000 pound triangle sack up front on my older vlx. Once you try serious weight up front you won't care about hiding under the seats anymore. 

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10 hours ago, isellacuras said:

I think I would rather have no bow tank.  The front tank is small in volume for how much room it takes up.  You could get more weight in there with lead and a small plumbed bag.  Pretty much any sport you do needs bow weight in a vlx, even skiing.  I would start with 250-300lbs of lead along with a small bag plumbed under seats and then have a bow triangle for on top of the seats if you want to run ninja style.  Or you could go full on custom like @Fman with his crazy bow gunnel ballast project.

I have always ordered the front bow tank for a couple reasons.  The bow tank takes up about all the room under the floor panel, I am not sure how more weight you would actually get with a bag under the seats, maybe a little but imo not enough to make a difference.  I also like the hard tank because it ties into the touch screen for auto fill ballast pre-sets, we use them all the time for wakeboarding and surfing.  On my 2013 I added the gunwale ballast setup on top of the hard tank, the gunwale ballast added another 300 lbs + the hard tank and allowed people to sit in the bow with no bag.   It was a great setup, would have done it on my 2015 but the gunwale was not as easily accessible.  Now if you dont care about the extra bow weight and need more storage definitely not having that tank makes a difference.  I always figured when I sell my boat if someone does not want it they can always remove the hard tank.

Funny thing on my 22VLX we are now surfing hard tanks full with rear bags about 600ish each, no extra bow weight, wedge 1-3 clicks depending on rider preference and the wave is plenty good for our surfing level, especially when we have a full load of people in the boat.  We also burn a lot less fuel and its easier on the boat as well.  If I load up 900 each locker and a 750 bow bag it does improve the surf wake a little but not enough to justify all the extra weight.  Regardless you definitely need min. 300 (hard tank) in the bow for surfing.

Edited by Fman
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Thanks for all the replies. My question was maybe a bad one I know it's surfable but rather is it practical to buy a boat without the front tank. The reason for going to a 2013 would be to avoid things like pumps hanging over the side. If I bought the boat in mind I'd like to figure out a way to add the sac under the seats and plumb it into the Maliview system. I'm not sure if that's possible. When I get a chance I'll read the Ninja thread.

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36 minutes ago, gobble said:

Thanks for all the replies. My question was maybe a bad one I know it's surfable but rather is it practical to buy a boat without the front tank. The reason for going to a 2013 would be to avoid things like pumps hanging over the side. If I bought the boat in mind I'd like to figure out a way to add the sac under the seats and plumb it into the Maliview system. I'm not sure if that's possible. When I get a chance I'll read the Ninja thread.

I bought mine without it, and I am adding it myself. @liljohn did a nice thread on it and it's totally practical. I also think that using lead or bags you could potentially keep that storage up front. I have had my tank up front unhooked all summer without feeling like I am missing it. It makes a very nice wave with a triangle up front, or with less weight in the back and a** ballast up front.

Newer VLX is beamier and might need a bit more weight but the principles remain the same.

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I'm torn between buying 300 pounds of lead ballast bags vs. installing the factory tank. I could probably get by with the lead and an under seat sac. The boat will be kept on a lift (not trailered) so the lead shouldn't be a big deal.

What would you guys do?

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I don't order any my boats with the bow tank.  Simply because everyone ends up running more weight than the factory tank, so I'd rather have a little more storage.  

    I put 200lbs of lead in the walkway under the bow filler cushion, then a 725 nose sac on top of the seat.   

   Don't hassle with installing a tank.  If you you start adding weight in the rear above factory, you're going to need more weight up front than what the tank offers.  If I need the seating and the wife is out, I'll fill the bag user the seats and leave the lead under the filler cushion.  

Edited by wakebrdr94
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1 hour ago, oldjeep said:

Installing the factory tank is going to take some work unless they actually built the boat ready for one.  Do you have a path in the middle of your bow seating?

There's a thread on how to do it. It's been done. Plus all the wiring harness are already there ready to be hooked up. Total parts from Malibu is something like $300-400. Yes, there's currently a path right now because no hard tank.

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Just now, gobble said:

There's a thread on how to do it. It's been done. Plus all the wiring harness are already there ready to be hooked up. Total parts from Malibu is something like $300-400. Yes, there's currently a path right now because no hard tank.

Cool - so at $300-$400 you must already have a center cushion to cover that walkway?

Make sure to take pictures

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31 minutes ago, wakebrdr94 said:

I don't order any my boats with the bow tank.  Simply because everyone ends up running more weight than the factory tank, so I'd rather have a little more storage.  

    I put 200lbs of lead in the walkway under the bow filler cushion, then a 725 nose sac on top of the seat.   

   Don't hassle with installing a tank.  If you you start adding weight in the rear above factory, you're going to need more weight up front than what the tank offers.  If I need the seating and the wife is out, I'll fill the bag user the seats and leave the lead under the filler cushion.  

Why don't you put the lead in the very front under that front cushion?

I agree with the extra weight, was just kicking around ways to also salvage the seating area up front. My kids always moan when I take out the triangle bag and take away their seat. So it got me to thinking whether lead + under seat sac would be enough (when I have a 600 pound piggyback Sumo in each rear locker.

Just now, oldjeep said:

Cool - so at $300-$400 you must already have a center cushion to cover that walkway?

Make sure to take pictures

Here check it out

 

 

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