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2018 22VLX garage clearance height?


Brett B

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I’m working to get my garage header raised in preparation for the new boat arrival. I thought I would have room to spare but now it looks like things are going to be very close. Below are the measurements I took on a boat with 14” wheels. Can anybody confirm these or post their measurements if different? I was hoping somebody had taken more accurate measurements than me since the tow ball height is very hard to get right if you don’t have an overhead ceiling for reference. 

2018 22 VLX on Malibu trailer, G3.5 tower folded, with 14” wheels:
Ground to lower board rack mount: 91.5” (7’ 7.5”)
Ground to tow ball: 99” (8’ 3”)

Malibu said that the 18” wheels add 2.5” total height. Can anybody confirm this? I ordered the 18" wheels so that puts me at:
Ground to lower board rack mount: 94” (7’ 10”)
Ground to tow ball: 101.5” (8’ 5.5”)
 

Edited by Brett B
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Please let me know when you figure this out. My next boat will be either the 21 or 22 VLX and I have a three car garage. My 2013 VTX fits now with tow swivel removed and board racks off.  I'm willing to lower torsion axles permanently and remove tower hoop if needed each time as to me that's still less hassle than off site storage. My opening is 7 ft  high exactly. I can get another inch with a slight trim board removal.

Thanks!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

My new boat has arrived at the dealer (no pictures yet). They partially unwrapped it for me and then lowered their garage door to just above the tow ball to get an accurate measurement. The real life number, ground to tow ball: 100" (8'4"). This is with the trailer sitting level on the 18" wheels.

The "official" numbers that Malibu gave my dealer were 91" on 14" wheels and 93.5" on the 18" wheels. Just a bit off!

 

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11 hours ago, Brett B said:

My new boat has arrived at the dealer (no pictures yet). They partially unwrapped it for me and then lowered their garage door to just above the tow ball to get an accurate measurement. The real life number, ground to tow ball: 100" (8'4"). This is with the trailer sitting level on the 18" wheels.

The "official" numbers that Malibu gave my dealer were 91" on 14" wheels and 93.5" on the 18" wheels. Just a bit off!

 

To clarify, the factory info stated is with the tow hoop removed.

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15 hours ago, Dan Lee said:

To clarify, the factory info stated is with the tow hoop removed.

Not according to the factory rep my dealer worked with. We asked specifically for the height at the tow ball with the tower folded and hoop installed and those were their (obviously incorrect) answers. A friend with a 2017 got the same answers for tow ball height and ran into garage clearance problems with the tow ball. Maybe somebody in the factory knows the difference, but not the people we talked to, even though we confirmed it multiple times. Should be pretty straight forward info that Malibu could post in their spec brochure.  

Edited by Brett B
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Not trying to start a fight, but the MC folks provided me a spreadsheet of every detailed dimension you could ever ask for.  It was pretty helpful in making my decision, esp the height above waterline info based on the tower I chose.    

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On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 4:50 PM, edwin said:

Not trying to start a fight, but the MC folks provided me a spreadsheet of every detailed dimension you could ever ask for.  It was pretty helpful in making my decision, esp the height above waterline info based on the tower I chose.    

Yep, it would be simple for Malibu to provide this info.

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On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 11:12 PM, siteki said:

For what it is worth I got this from my dealer when trying to make garage height decisions. Not sure how accurate it is as my boat hasn't arrived yet.

5a8f9490bce99_2018AxisMalibuBoatSpec.thumb.jpg.358772a213580ff454883d5146dca709.jpg

I found that as well and the info is not correct. It states a 92" height for the G3.5 folded with racks removed on 18" wheels. The real measurement on 18" wheels is 100" at the tow ball. I got a rough measurement of an 18 VLX on 14" wheels and came up with 99", it is probably 98" if you measured it more accurately under a door.

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  • 4 months later...

First post...

I just attempted to fit a 2018 VLX 22 with the G3.5 tower, trailer w/14in wheels, board racks removed, and bimini removed in my 8ft garage and I am still off by about 6 inches.    Keep in mind my driveway has a slight slope downward which works against me.

 

At this time I am researching how many inches I can save by:

a.  installing the low profile tow hoop

b. leveraging a drop hitch

c.  taking the air out of the trailer tires

d.  switching to a VLX 21 to save 2 inches

e. waiting for Malibu to create a lower profile tower      my understanding is the G4 tower is being replaced in 2019 but lets see what the new specs are.

 

IMG_3570.jpg

IMG_3572.jpg

IMG_3573.jpg

 

One of the most common concerns for a new boat owner is will this boat fit in my garage.

1.  I wish that Malibu provided the hight/length chart to the public on thier website.

2.  I with that Malibu provided more information on their low profile tow hoop.    Cost, part numbers, how many inches of clearance it provides over the default tow hoop.

Thanks for any additional advice!

Edited by greece_monkey
typo
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  • 6 months later...
On 7/14/2018 at 8:54 AM, greece_monkey said:

First post...

I just attempted to fit a 2018 VLX 22 with the G3.5 tower, trailer w/14in wheels, board racks removed, and bimini removed in my 8ft garage and I am still off by about 6 inches.    Keep in mind my driveway has a slight slope downward which works against me.

 

At this time I am researching how many inches I can save by:

a.  installing the low profile tow hoop

b. leveraging a drop hitch

c.  taking the air out of the trailer tires

d.  switching to a VLX 21 to save 2 inches

e. waiting for Malibu to create a lower profile tower      my understanding is the G4 tower is being replaced in 2019 but lets see what the new specs are.

 

IMG_3570.jpg

IMG_3572.jpg

IMG_3573.jpg

 

One of the most common concerns for a new boat owner is will this boat fit in my garage.

1.  I wish that Malibu provided the hight/length chart to the public on thier website.

2.  I with that Malibu provided more information on their low profile tow hoop.    Cost, part numbers, how many inches of clearance it provides over the default tow hoop.

Thanks for any additional advice!

Which options did you end up going with to fit the boat?  I just picked up my 18' 22VLX last night and took a bunch of measurements a few weeks ago and knew it would be close.  I removed board racks as they were mounted in the upper position (hoping if I move those to the lower mounts holes that they will swing in enough to not remove each time.)  I also had to remove the rope tow point which is just a simple hex bolt.  With my wife holding the tower down (it kept wanting to raise back up a few inches) we cleared by 1/4".  This worries me as I typically pull boat out on my own before family is awake so I may have to put some sort of weight on tower to keep down but with only 1/4" clearance, I'm contemplating whether I want to just remove the tow bar altogether (It's 4 bolts instead of one tow ball bolt but not sure if it's going to be a pain to get back aligned.  Any information on the low profile hoop? Height savings and costs?

I really wish Malibu would list specific heights and put notes such as "90" height requires removal of tow bar."  I assume that 90" is worst case but I learned with my Axis that the numbers are wrong so I measured a few times.  She's in the garage but I don't want to do "Steps 1-10" every time I want to pull the boat out.

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20 hours ago, wedge88 said:

Which options did you end up going with to fit the boat?  I just picked up my 18' 22VLX last night and took a bunch of measurements a few weeks ago and knew it would be close.  I removed board racks as they were mounted in the upper position (hoping if I move those to the lower mounts holes that they will swing in enough to not remove each time.)  I also had to remove the rope tow point which is just a simple hex bolt.  With my wife holding the tower down (it kept wanting to raise back up a few inches) we cleared by 1/4".  This worries me as I typically pull boat out on my own before family is awake so I may have to put some sort of weight on tower to keep down but with only 1/4" clearance, I'm contemplating whether I want to just remove the tow bar altogether (It's 4 bolts instead of one tow ball bolt but not sure if it's going to be a pain to get back aligned.  Any information on the low profile hoop? Height savings and costs?

I really wish Malibu would list specific heights and put notes such as "90" height requires removal of tow bar."  I assume that 90" is worst case but I learned with my Axis that the numbers are wrong so I measured a few times.  She's in the garage but I don't want to do "Steps 1-10" every time I want to pull the boat out.

I did the garage clearance hoop on my 12 VLX. Here is a pic of both in position Will need to modify hole and zipper in bimini. Then with racks removed, the rack dovetail mount is the highest point. Removing the bar sucks if needed regularly. 1 time year not bad.                                                                                                                          image.thumb.png.97e732e2ff41e2a9380c49754fe69834.pngimage.thumb.png.11df2ce1d04dd01ceb9a5c72a2376ae5.pngimage.thumb.png.c826ff32e413328bb6909d7aadff7419.png

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On 1/19/2019 at 7:56 AM, dalt1 said:

I did the garage clearance hoop on my 12 VLX. Here is a pic of both in position Will need to modify hole and zipper in bimini. Then with racks removed, the rack dovetail mount is the highest point. Removing the bar sucks if needed regularly. 1 time year not bad.                                                                                                                          image.thumb.png.97e732e2ff41e2a9380c49754fe69834.pngimage.thumb.png.11df2ce1d04dd01ceb9a5c72a2376ae5.pngimage.thumb.png.c826ff32e413328bb6909d7aadff7419.png

Thanks for the detailed information.  

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On 7/14/2018 at 9:54 AM, greece_monkey said:

First post...

I just attempted to fit a 2018 VLX 22 with the G3.5 tower, trailer w/14in wheels, board racks removed, and bimini removed in my 8ft garage and I am still off by about 6 inches.    Keep in mind my driveway has a slight slope downward which works against me.

 

At this time I am researching how many inches I can save by:

a.  installing the low profile tow hoop

b. leveraging a drop hitch

c.  taking the air out of the trailer tires

d.  switching to a VLX 21 to save 2 inches

e. waiting for Malibu to create a lower profile tower      my understanding is the G4 tower is being replaced in 2019 but lets see what the new specs are.

 

IMG_3570.jpg

IMG_3572.jpg

IMG_3573.jpg

 

One of the most common concerns for a new boat owner is will this boat fit in my garage.

1.  I wish that Malibu provided the hight/length chart to the public on thier website.

2.  I with that Malibu provided more information on their low profile tow hoop.    Cost, part numbers, how many inches of clearance it provides over the default tow hoop.

Thanks for any additional advice!

Sorry about the clearance issues....but on a happier note....sweet house!  Would like to see some more pics of that.  

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