Best upgrades for your almost new boat?

[dalt1]

11 hours ago, woods103 said:

Ok awesome, I was hoping you were going to say that! I will get in there and see what I can find. One more question for ya, what heating element did you end up with? Still working good? Appreciate the help, been wanting to do this since we got the boat!

Don't remember the source for my heating element. Just search for heated seat elements and get one marine rated. Think mine was under $50. Still works great, you will turn it down or off after awhile. Has 2 settings from dash, high and low.

Edited March 21, 2023 by dalt1

[woods103]

Perfect, thanks a lot for the info! Can't wait to get back on the water. Seems like the weather is starting to break here in Southwest Michigan.....kind of. 

[Shammy]

@dalt1 How did you make that front trailer step? It looks great! That's exactly what I need. 

[dshack]

On 3/21/2023 at 5:43 PM, dalt1 said:

Don't remember the source for my heating element. Just search for heated seat elements and get one marine rated. Think mine was under $50. Still works great, you will turn it down or off after awhile. Has 2 settings from dash, high and low.

I recently bought 2 universal marine seat heater elements from Check Corp, was about $100 total shipped. Someone else here recommended them, I believe they are the OEM supplier for Malibu. Took a few weeks to get them to me, I got the sense they don't deal with consumers buying small quantities very much.

 

Was an easy install on my 2019 22 LSV, just had to pull the seat bottom / back rest and pull enough staples to slip in the elements. Then I re-stapled, used heat shrink butt crimp connectors to wire it up, and reinstalled the seat bases. Maybe an hour total of work at most. 

[dshack]

1 other upgrade I'm a big fan of if you don't have it already is an ACR. I love the simple on/off switch versus having to think about switching to 1 or 2 or 1+2 or Off based on what you are doing. Pretty easy to retrofit if you already have a 2 battery setup with the 4 position switch. I believe ACR is a factory option so perhaps you already have it.

[dalt1]

8 hours ago, dshack said:

I recently bought 2 universal marine seat heater elements from Check Corp, was about $100 total shipped. Someone else here recommended them, I believe they are the OEM supplier for Malibu. Took a few weeks to get them to me, I got the sense they don't deal with consumers buying small quantities very much.

 

Was an easy install on my 2019 22 LSV, just had to pull the seat bottom / back rest and pull enough staples to slip in the elements. Then I re-stapled, used heat shrink butt crimp connectors to wire it up, and reinstalled the seat bases. Maybe an hour total of work at most. 

 

On 3/21/2023 at 6:43 PM, dalt1 said:

Don't remember the source for my heating element. Just search for heated seat elements and get one marine rated. Think mine was under $50. Still works great, you will turn it down or off after awhile. Has 2 settings from dash, high and low.

That is who I used now that you mention it.

[dalt1]

On 3/22/2023 at 10:16 AM, Shammy said:

@dalt1 How did you make that front trailer step? It looks great! That's exactly what I need. 

That was a combo fix. I used the 3/16" mount plate to fix the issue of the winch body collapsing because of only bolted on center line. Winch is now bolted on 4 corners and step is welded to bottom of that plate. Plate is mounted through the winch standard mount holes.

[mxmark4]

My upgrades being a "budget boat" are heater, installing bigger ballast bags and a taller seat pedestal for the wife. I am also looking at some led tower lighting which will be nice as well as trailer leds. My previous trailer had backup lights and I want a set for the new trailer. 

[phinz]

On 3/20/2023 at 3:41 PM, PopsA22 said:

I like this idea.  How are you planning to mount it?

I remember you asked about this and I ran across this today.

https://www.wakegarage.com/projects-archive/miscellaneous-projects/rear-ballast-compartment-storage-r350/