2018 Malibu MLX lighting

[Jackson408]

I have a 2018 Malibu MLX and I'm looking to put lighting on the tower and possibly underwater LEDs and throughout the interior. I want the lighting to look as stock as possible, and be fully integrated into the Malibu Viper 2 screen system. I know that my tower has pre drilled holes for lights, my boat just didn't come with lighting attached. 

[asnowman]

For at least he underwater leds, they are atwood from the factory, http://www.attwoodmarine.com/store/product/store/light-armor-series ,the wires for them are part of the wire harness, and you should be able to find them at the stern, on the port side of the engine bay, or in the port locker near the engine bay divider, but tucked up by the rub rail. They are labeled on my 2019.

[Jackson408]

Do you just drill a hole right through the fiberglass for the wire and screw? Stupid question, I know...

[asnowman]

Yup, basically. Don't forget to seal your holes, pre-drill for the screws but yeah basically. I would recomend mounting underwater led's closer to where they do it for the 2020 models, so the wedge doesn't get in the way as much.

[Infinitysurf]

And after you pre-drill your holes thru the transom (start the holes by drilling thru the gel-coat in reverse....if you go in forward, the bit will bite into gel-coat too quickly and its highly likely that it will cut "chunks" out of your gel-coat and you will not get a clean hole). Then before installing the screws (by hand)....make sure you chamfer the holes. (you can use a dremel bit or similar). Doing that will prevent spider cracking of your gel-coat. If you do not chamfer or over tighten the screws you can get spider cracks at some point.

The way I personally do it is too 1st cover the area you will be drilling the holes using blue painters tape to protect the gel-coat surface. Measure everything 3 times and drill once! So 1st I drill the hole using the size drill bit that will be needed for the screws I am using (usually a bit smaller diameter than the screw you will be using so the screw bites into the fiberglass).... Its important to start drilling in reverse till you are fully thru the gel-coat and have started getting into the fiberglass portion behind it. 2nd, I use another drill bit that is between 1/8" = 3/16" larger than the primary drill bit used to drill the main screw hole.....I put the drill in reverse again and then kind of "wallow" the drill as I go thru ONLY the gel-coat again (this creates your chamfer so when you install the actual screw, the screw head or bracket is not tightened down on the edges of the gel-coat since that pressure is what starts spider cracking). Lots of ways to properly chamfer that work great

When you are ready to install the screws.... using 3M 4200 (or similar), fill the pre-drilled holes with the sealant, then start running the screws in (do this by hand so you can FEEL the resistance, it takes longer but trust me that using a drill to run the screws in can back-fire very quickly). Stainless screws are not made of real hard metal so you will also likely get some pretty tight resistance as you are hand screwing them in.... when that happens, I will turn in screw till its feeling real tight, then back it out a bit, then tighten again....usually that helps it loosen up just enough to keep going since with stainless you can easily break off the screw head if you give it too much torque an/or break the screw shaft which is a primary reason to not use a drill to run the screws in. I installed (with help of a friend) a new surf system on my boat this past Spring (InfinityWave Surf Tabs), contained a bunch of screws to install for the tabs/actuators, etc....and doing it all by hand took the longest, but doing it that way kept any screws from breaking off. You want the screws snug & tight....but not overly tight since that can also start spider cracking if one side of a bracket/light is way tighter than the other side.

As far as the sealant goes, 3M 4200 will semi-harden and is made for sealing underwater (its what I chose for my surf tab install). 3M 5200 is similar but will harden to rock hard and also acts like a super glue. I used the 5200 for my FAE for that reason..... the difference in my experience is that if I wanted to remove the trim tabs for any reason, the 4200 does not permanently bond itself to the gel-coat and without any damage could be removed where the 5200 bonds and if I had to remove the bracket around my FAE I likely could not do it without some damage to either the FAE flange or my gel-coat since it bonds basically like liquid nails and gets rock hard after curing.

None of this is hard to do, and (to me) its a great feeling to be able to DIY projects on my boat, its just intimidating to drill holes below the water. the first time. This is how the pro's do it tho, if you do it all in the right order and it will turn out great! I also watched several hours of YouTube videos before drilling into my boat the 1st time. You can find lots of underwater lighting installs on there too. Good luck with install!

[bkearney]

On 1/3/2020 at 11:12 AM, asnowman said:

For at least he underwater leds, they are atwood from the factory, http://www.attwoodmarine.com/store/product/store/light-armor-series ,the wires for them are part of the wire harness, and you should be able to find them at the stern, on the port side of the engine bay, or in the port locker near the engine bay divider, but tucked up by the rub rail. They are labeled on my 2019.

Is this true, the one from the factory are atwood? I have a green boat and am interested in green lights. Per my shop, the malibu ones only come in white and blue.

[asnowman]

Thats what i was told they are. I need to order a set for myself, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[bkearney]

Thanks!