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Additional Bow Weight in 2019 23 LSV?


rsutton1223

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Are any of you guys running extra lead weight in your 18+ LSV's? I don't normally have a big group in the boat as it is usually just my wife, son and myself. I talked to a pro wake surfer on Monday and he was saying the Malibu's typically like bow weight.

I am running full weight with PNP's currently.

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10 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Only if you are running over the recommended plug and play bag sizes. @NWBU can chime in but his setup has been money the last two years. 

What is recommended size? (MI went with the Wakemaker 550s(or something in the 500’s)... is that the same as the bags Malibu would sell you from the factory? 

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I've had a '16, '18 & '19.  Bow weight never hurts the wave (IMO).  Do I always run it?  No, but it definitely improves the push with a light crew (which I normally have).

Note - The L shaped tank started in '18.

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Im running 200lbs in the bow on my 19'.  allows for more wedge and runs at lower rpms.  Ultimately we get a firmer wave.  Works great with a small crew.  Never ran lead on my 18, but would have if I had tried it sooner.

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I bought 300# of lead to use in my '18 LSV.  I put 50# behind each bow speaker, 50# behind the sub, 50# under watcher seat storage, and use the remaining 100# wherever I want, usually in the walkway to the bow.

Putting 50# behind the bow speakers is a little bit of a task, but with a little finesse and patience, it can be done.  I managed to push it back towards the windshield a little to get out of the wsy of the speaker.

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I talked with the engineers at Malibu about this a while back, they shared with me that the optimal balance of weight is 60/40 with 60% of the ballast to the stern. I asked for, and was given the exact capacities for each of the ballast tanks in my boat so I could determine exactly how much weight I should put in each location. I've also measured exactly how much water goes in each of the ballast bags I have so I can balance as close to 60/40 as possible.

I suggest a call or email to Malibu tech support to find out the exact capacities of your ballast, then calculate what you need to balance it out. That would be a good starting place to determine how much weight to put in each location.

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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, gregtay said:

What is recommended size? (MI went with the Wakemaker 550s(or something in the 500’s)... is that the same as the bags Malibu would sell you from the factory? 

That is the recommendation. I think the WM bags are 570 but who is counting that close.

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My experience is you'll need some bow weight if you're running full PNPs and anything more than minimal wedge. I thought someone posted a chart earlier this year that showed factory recommended PNP for each of the boats, and it was 550 for the 23 LSV. I don't recall where that was posted?

I'm using 300 lbs of lead this year, with 580 PNPs all full, but I'm running most of the lead on the port side to improve the regular wave. I've got 150 lbs in the observers locker as far forward as possible, and then another 150 lbs in the port side storage. So far the regular wave is the best I've had on the 23 but I need to play with the weight placement a bit more. Here's a pic of literally the first wave after break-in with this setup (PW3 4 clicks from Lift and speed 11.0). 

On my 2018, I had 475 PNPs but didn't run any bow weight. I'd only fill the rears to 75% to keep everything in balance. That gave me a good wave too but the regular side wave needed some help. I ended up listing a little to improve the regular side last year but most folks aren't into that.

IMG_9920.JPG

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8 hours ago, rsutton1223 said:

The '19's are a little bit different on the PNP's as well because the hard tanks were extended up the sides.

Both the 18' and the 19' have the new "L" style tanks.  

9 hours ago, rsutton1223 said:

Are any of you guys running extra lead weight in your 18+ LSV's? I don't normally have a big group in the boat as it is usually just my wife, son and myself. I talked to a pro wake surfer on Monday and he was saying the Malibu's typically like bow weight.

I am running full weight with PNP's currently.

Last season i ran everything 100% / 650# PNP / Wedge 2 clicks from Ramp / 10.8mph and was really happy with the wave.  This year I added 300# in lead to the bow.  100# behind the speakers, 100# behind the dash and observers compartment, and another 100# that i'll throw on the seats or wherever i need it. I haven't been out yet to try out the new set up, but i'll be at Shasta starting tomorrow - Monday so i'll be able to report back next week some time.  

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This is sort of an echo of what everyone else is doing, but I put a triangle in the bow and fill it ~1/2 way up (500-600) along with my WM PnPs at 75% and it makes an impressive wave. 

On the weekends there are usually a couple wives in the front and that doesn't seem to be enough weight.  So I either have to dial down the rear tanks to 50% or put a bag in the walkway.

My take away has been that bow weight definitely improves the wave.  If you slam the back with PnP it ultimately hurts the overall performance without it.

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Got the wave pretty well dialed in yesterday. I think I am still going to try some lead out as well. My leg is still pretty weak so not going all out yet.

 

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  • 1 year later...

Who makes a system where you can plug into the existing stock hard tank on the bow and throw a sack up there that the boat computer will control? Prefer not to use lead RE towing the boat around

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43 minutes ago, audipwr1 said:

Who makes a system where you can plug into the existing stock hard tank on the bow and throw a sack up there that the boat computer will control? Prefer not to use lead RE towing the boat around

 

Never seen anything like that.  I'm sure you could cut into the bow tank overflow line and fish a hose through a cup holder to achieve this, but the computer will stop flow when the bow tank float gets to 100%.  You could manually restart it though.  To get the air out, you'd have to also have a hose from the top of the bag back to the overflow.  You would also need a bag with a low port in the location that your hose comes up so it will drain back into the tank... easily done if you order a custom bag from wakemakers.

If I was going to go through all of that trouble, though, I'd install a reversible pump and pipe it a quick connect so it was faster to fill/drain and also give you the option of filling bags anywhere (I like to use one in the bow if it's a small crew, but also have one for the walkway if the bow is full)

Edited by ajive
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Thanks - yeah even just a cleanly installed pump that you can plug in fast would be nice. Shame to mess up all the cool computer controlled stuff and switch to manual sacks. Feels 1990s to me! 

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52 minutes ago, audipwr1 said:

Who makes a system where you can plug into the existing stock hard tank on the bow and throw a sack up there that the boat computer will control? Prefer not to use lead RE towing the boat around

Like ajive said, there's not an integrated option. There's been a lot of installs with reversible pumps plumbed to fill a bow bag, and @Brett B's threads are good references. This was really common up through the 2017 23 LSVs but I haven't seen anyone do it since for the 2018+ as the new hull doesn't need as much bow weight if the rears are sacked out.

I put in a similar reversible setup for my 2008 23 LSV but went to lead in my 2019, and didn't have any issues trailering it weekly.  

 

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I am finding I want 200-300 more up front. I can't find any brave souls to sit up front (its cold in Tahoe!) 

I put 160 lbs in the port under storage all the way to the front, helped a ton, but still wouldn't mind some more at the very front of the boat. When I drop 200 lbs of people up there its mint. 

that's full hard in both rears, full sack port rear, 65% starboard rear sack, full center, full front, wedge 4, speed 11.3 

Edited by audipwr1
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13 minutes ago, audipwr1 said:

I am finding I want 200-300 more up front. I can't find any brave souls to sit up front (its cold in Tahoe!) 

I put 160 lbs in the port under storage all the way to the front, helped a ton, but still wouldn't mind some more at the very front of the boat. When I drop 200 lbs of people up there its mint. 

that's full hard in both rears, full sack port rear, 65% starboard rear sack, full center, full front, wedge 4, speed 11.3 

I ran an almost identical setup as you describe, with 100-150 lbs all the way to the front of the port/observers storage compartment. I also added another 150 under the observers seat so that it wasn't as far forward to be an issue with trailering each time out, but it helped get more weight forward to keep the boat balanced. 

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I'm going to update my recommendation on the 2018+ 23's.  With a small crew, I never run bow weight and sold my triangle.  I think lead in the observer area (more balanced/central) is how you improve the 23 wave.   Too far back and the bow comes up and too far forward and it goes down but so does the push (that is counter intuitive to me).

 

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12 minutes ago, pauley71 said:

I'm going to update my recommendation on the 2018+ 23's.  With a small crew, I never run bow weight and sold my triangle.  I think lead in the observer area (more balanced/central) is how you improve the 23 wave.   Too far back and the bow comes up and too far forward and it goes down but so does the push (that is counter intuitive to me).

 

We have 160 in the observer, it helped a ton. 2 kids or one adult in the bow lengthens wave a tad longer which I like, maybe lead a better call than a sack. 

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On 5/22/2019 at 8:46 AM, ahopkinsVTX said:

That is the recommendation. I think the WM bags are 570 but who is counting that close.

@mikeo is. He prolly has a flow meter that measures to the .000001 gallon. 😜

  • Haha 1
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My dealer sold pnp are the WM 570s. The bags actually have 22 MXZ / 24 MXZ printed on them if that matters. I am running an 850 Sumo up front with their crazy fast pump. About 3 mins to fill it completely full. It does help with my normal crew of 2 and especially so when we get more weight/peeps in the cabin.

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On 6/22/2020 at 9:45 AM, audipwr1 said:

Who makes a system where you can plug into the existing stock hard tank on the bow and throw a sack up there that the boat computer will control? Prefer not to use lead RE towing the boat around

I did this... Do you have a bow tank or not? I don't have a bow hard tank so I was able to use the bow tank wiring to add a reversible pump for a triangle bow bag. I've got a writeup on how I did that on here somewhere, I'll find it and link it.

Here's the link to how I accomplished this:

 

Edited by mikeo
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