Time to cut ties with Malibu? 3rd and last 'Bu

[IXFE]

6 minutes ago, Malibuzer said:

I have had spider cracks on all three of my Malibu's.  All on screw holes.  I have also seen the entire side of a Mastercraft cracked.  SO bad that they shipped the boat back to the factory and they fixed it.  Whole new hull.  Also an MB had terrible cracking and it was repaired.  It happens on all manufacturers.  Anyone who says they haven't seen a spider crack on a boat isn't looking to hard.

Like I said, I know it can happen.  Just saying it’s not normal for well maintained boats.

The industry makes over 10k units a year. Are your saying ALL OF THEM will have spider cracks if I just look closer?  Lol

[Malibuzer]

1 minute ago, IXFE said:

Like I said, I know it can happen.  Just saying it’s not normal for well maintained boats.

The industry makes over 10k units a year. Are your saying ALL OF THEM will have spider cracks if I just look closer?  Lol

I will bite.  All three of my Malibu's have had cracks.  All three were on screw holes.  All three were repaired under warranty.  Not one had been abused. 

No where in my statement did I say ALL boats have cracks.  In my experiences all manufacturers will have cracks at times.  Any time you drill holes and someone is tightening them it can happen.  

[IXFE]

16 minutes ago, Malibuzer said:

I will bite.  All three of my Malibu's have had cracks.  All three were on screw holes.  All three were repaired under warranty.  Not one had been abused. 

No where in my statement did I say ALL boats have cracks.  In my experiences all manufacturers will have cracks at times.  Any time you drill holes and someone is tightening them it can happen.  

But did you ever crash into a bridge?

Edited March 12, 2018 by IXFE

[Malibuzer]

1 minute ago, IXFE said:

But did you ever crash into a bridge?

What does that have to do with cracks along a rub rails screw holes?       ...............nothing.  Regardless of what he hit.  These boats are not that fragile.  How many people over the years have admitted to hitting garage doors or other items and had no issues?  Gel coat cracks don't necessarily mean its a structural failure.  All of my crack were repaired locally and never cracked again.  Over 350 hours on each boat and lots of rough water and thousands of trailering kilometres.  I will say that I have cracks on the swim platform brackets.  Go and take a close look at a lot of used boats around the brackets.  

 

 

 

[ahopkins22LSV]

17 minutes ago, Malibuzer said:

What does that have to do with cracks along a rub rails screw holes?       ...............nothing.  Regardless of what he hit.  These boats are not that fragile.  How many people over the years have admitted to hitting garage doors or other items and had no issues?  Gel coat cracks don't necessarily mean its a structural failure.  All of my crack were repaired locally and never cracked again.  Over 350 hours on each boat and lots of rough water and thousands of trailering kilometres.  I will say that I have cracks on the swim platform brackets.  Go and take a close look at a lot of used boats around the brackets.  

 

 

 

Except do the boat is two halves and the rub rail is the seam so when the tower hit and “stopped” with the boat still going forward where do you think all of that stress is going? Could definitely be related and is extremely fishy. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by ahopkinsTXi

[Malibuzer]

5 minutes ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

Except do the boat is two halves and the rub rail is the seam so when the tower hit and “stopped” with the boat still going forward where do you think all of that stress is going? Could definitely be related and is extremely fishy. 

I could agree with that. 

But if it hit that hard there would be some pretty obvious signs of damage on the tower and base you would think?    Seems somewhat fishy, or at least really careless to have that post on here at the same time.

 

[ahopkins22LSV]

Just now, Malibuzer said:

I could agree with that. 

But if it hit that hard there would be some pretty obvious signs of damage on the tower and base you would think?    Seems somewhat fishy, or at least really careless to have that post on here at the same time.

 

No I don’t think it would have to be that hard of an impact to be honest. The lever would be pretty large hitting the top of the tower. Gel can be very brittle when forced are exposed to it like a screw being pulled up. We are probably talking mm’s of movement but we are also only talking spider cracks not full on structural cracks.

I have no idea what happened but the stories are fishy and I’d say the impact causing the cracks is definitely plausible. 

[IXFE]

6 minutes ago, Malibuzer said:

I could agree with that. 

But if it hit that hard there would be some pretty obvious signs of damage on the tower and base you would think?    Seems somewhat fishy, or at least really careless to have that post on here at the same time.

 

You agree it’s fishy.  You also agree it’s bad that both threads are here at the same time. Weren’t those the two main points of my first post you chose to take issue with. 

Sometimes I feel like people see arguing with IXFE as a sport. Even when folks agree they choose to disagree. 

[TenTwentyOne]

1 hour ago, IXFE said:

Sometimes I feel like people see arguing with IXFE as a sport. Even when folks agree they choose to disagree. 

Ya.... gonna have to disagree with you on that one.

[The Hulk]

Isn't gel extremely hard and brittle compared to the FG? Vibration and stress and flexing would surely be cause if top coat spider cracking I would think? Again why I worry around the Tower and top deck that flexes there.. so far so good on the new boat.

 

Previous 2013 suddenly had gel cracks around rudder, never hit anything, it would def be more visible in dark colors. Nothing structural.. and nobody sees this part of the boat...

Edited March 13, 2018 by The Hulk

[carguy79ta]

don' know for sure but I think gel is somewhat flexible prolly more flexible than FG.

[MadMan]

12 hours ago, The Hulk said:

Isn't gel extremely hard and brittle compared to the FG? Vibration and stress and flexing would surely be cause if top coat spider cracking I would think? Again why I worry around the Tower and top deck that flexes there.. so far so good on the new boat.

 

Previous 2013 suddenly had gel cracks around rudder, never hit anything, it would def be more visible in dark colors. Nothing structural.. and nobody sees this part of the boat...

If you didn't hit anything, maybe those cracks at the cutlass bearing strut were caused by an out of balance prop? Or maybe an out of alignment engine?

Edited March 13, 2018 by MadMan

[23LSVOwner]

9 hours ago, carguy79ta said:

don' know for sure but I think gel is somewhat flexible prolly more flexible than FG.

Quite the opposite.

Gelcoat is a lot more brittle than fiberglass. Especially now that the government had made the manufacturers remove the good stuff from it for environmental reasons.

[wdr]

48 minutes ago, MadMan said:

If you didn't hit anything, maybe those cracks at the cutlass beating strut were caused by an out of balance prop? Or maybe an out of alignment engine?

My money is on, the template for the holes was thrown down, the holes weren't drilled at a right angle to the template/hull or chamfered and when the nuts for the strut bolts when cranked down, the bolts were pulled into the gel and cracked it! I have seen it one too many times on my '10.

[TenTwentyOne]

1 hour ago, 23LSVOwner said:

Quite the opposite.

Gelcoat is a lot more brittle than fiberglass. Especially now that the government had made the manufacturers remove the good stuff from it for environmental reasons.

Well...... let's not pretend that gelcoat isn't flexible though. Its one of the most flexible finish coatings you can have (Even after the recent changes in formulation).

Probably 80+% of gelcoat cracks are from improper assembly. Basically, Earl, and Billy Bob didn't drill and relieve the hole correctly, or hardware wasn't fastened tight enough. Hulks boat is a perfect example of that. I guarantee the strut mounting holes weren't relieved correctly.

[IXFE]

4 pages and almost 9 months later and still not one pic from @ChainSetter. There should be a TOU against such behavior! 

[Stevo]

[bamabonners]

Typical.

[alpensurf23]

Tired of seeing gel coat cracking? Wanna try something other than Malibu? Wanting a picture that solves this and will make you feel better? 

Edited March 14, 2018 by alpensurf23

[Malibuzer]

2 hours ago, alpensurf23 said:

Tired of seeing gel coat cracking? Wanna try something other than Malibu? Wanting a picture that solves this and will make you feel better? 

That is a good looking boat!

 

[The Hulk]

2 hours ago, alpensurf23 said:

Tired of seeing gel coat cracking? Wanna try something other than Malibu? Wanting a picture that solves this and will make you feel better? 

The interior matches perfectly with the background!

I don't know if it's the lighting but that blue looks awesome!

Edited March 15, 2018 by The Hulk

[carguy79ta]

4 hours ago, alpensurf23 said:

Tired of seeing gel coat cracking? Wanna try something other than Malibu? Wanting a picture that solves this and will make you feel better? 

that blue is gorgeous

[Bawshogg]

It's a blue metal look wrap. Looks real cool , scratches pretty easily, or atleast the stuff I saw did . You have to heat the surface and the scratches disappear I guess . 

[alpensurf23]

@carguy79ta Bawshohogg is correct it is a blue chrome wrap and as cool as these pics are it is more crazy in person, in different light and from different angles. My good friend purchased this new A24 and wrapped it as seen. I also switched from a 23 LSV Malibu to an Axis A24 as well for an opportunity at a larger boat, 17" prop and still have the wake building tools I am accustomed to. I have had friends with Axis and always enjoyed their old school keep it simple control and wake.  If looking at other boats might as well give Axis a look. Unfortunately there will always be issues with what ever boat you choose. My friend here won't see a gel coat issue unless under his boat. The wrap will get dings and scratches eventually but the gel coat will also have an extra layer of protection with it.

[The Hulk]

6 hours ago, alpensurf23 said:

@carguy79ta Bawshohogg is correct it is a blue chrome wrap and as cool as these pics are it is more crazy in person, in different light and from different angles. My good friend purchased this new A24 and wrapped it as seen. I also switched from a 23 LSV Malibu to an Axis A24 as well for an opportunity at a larger boat, 17" prop and still have the wake building tools I am accustomed to. I have had friends with Axis and always enjoyed their old school keep it simple control and wake.  If looking at other boats might as well give Axis a look. Unfortunately there will always be issues with what ever boat you choose. My friend here won't see a gel coat issue unless under his boat. The wrap will get dings and scratches eventually but the gel coat will also have an extra layer of protection with it.

I had put a wrap on an old MC prostar 190, it got dings and scratches but when I took the wrap off and sold it it looked fabulousand sold very quickly.

  that reflective metal/blue is sick!