Ditching 2009 era power wedge for possible floating wedge

[CrazyFunMalibuDude]

Hello,

This is my first post. So I am sure some have had issues with 2009 era Power Wedge. I was fortunate to help design my dream boat during that economic recession. 

The day it was delivered fresh from the Tennessee factory, the Power wedge failed and had to return to the dealer! I had issues ever since with multiple attempts to fix all of these years. 

Last year with another hope to repair wedge, I was told that a actuators were no longer available, but a newer version was available but would also require new module but even this had issues. So, I decided not to fix. 

Next weekend that I took it to the lake the wake was crappy and washed out. I figured out that the wedge had not been fully docked from my last visit to shop. It wasn't noticeably visible until I looked at previous pictures and the wedge was 1 to 2 inches from being fully docked. No alarms from console alerted me to this.

I still had more days to play on the water and shop was closed. So in the storage area where I keep my boat, I took off the powerwedge and finished the job at a hardware store parking lot after buying suppliers to water proof exposed wires and secure them under platform.

I did like the wedge when it intermittently worked.

I am thinking of having floating wedge installed. Does anyone know if this will improve my surf wake? It will cost about $1200 bucks installed. I was also considering having Go Surf Assist installed at close to $4700 installed.

I helped design this boat from the factory so I atrached to my boat don't really upgrade to new Malibu because I really love with my boat. Surf wake is adequate with other methods. The cost of the new Malibu is too expensive for now. Would rather pay near 5K for wake improvement vs over 100K.

Thanks for any input that is provided on floating wedge and Go Surf Assist.

 

[tbullard]

Are you able to purchase everything needed for a floating wedge. I have seen the wedge available but not the mount.

You could also consider Infinity Wave which is about $2,000 less than than Go Surf https://www.infinitywave.net/

[windy1]

upgrade the actuators and keep the power wedge. I would not buy a Malibu without a power wedge. Floating wedge is fine but a power wedge is much better. 

[rakr]

And maybe the new actuators and control box is the key to ending your woes? I think that is a job you can do yourself to save a few $$$ I am by no means certain on this one. 
 

Also I’ve heard great things about Infiniti and GSA, and people say older boats can throw comparable waves to the newer ones with the tabs.  

[BluBu09]

My fiancé just got me the infinity wave .https://www.infinitywave.net Should be arriving in a few days and I’m super excited to see how it works out. At the end of last season I had to replace my rams and computer on my 09 VLX

 

[statefan]

Use the instructions on the Bakes website along with lots of guidance on this board to replace the actuators yourself. It's not a hard task if you have a 2nd set of hands to help you out and it will cost less than swapping it for a floating wedge. 

https://www.bakesonline.com/power-wedge-actuator-5-lobe-malibu-boats.html

[bovhica]

I have GSA and floating wedge on my 2011 VRide (05 - 08 vlx hull.) I've no experience with power wedge but had power wedge envy until I installed GSA.  GSA controller allows for adjustments to the wave similar to the power wedge via the skim to surf dial on the controller.  I highly recommend GSA.  Not sure if replacing power wedge with floater would be a good move for resale, but I think you would be happy with the wave and ability to adjust with GSA if you decided to go that route.  I no longer desire the power wedge just because of simplicity and less worry about mechanical failures with the floating wedge which seems to be your main issue/concern? 

[rakr]

In reading a lot of the posts over the years, I see of posts about the actuators failing, and as @statefan said, a lot of folks replace the actuators themselves. I don't really recall seeing a lot of complaints about the PW system as a whole. I am not that familiar with the mechanics of it, but replacing the control box could be a good idea. I am sure other members might have some other feedback though. I tried looking around for you, but couldn't find anything super useful for sourcing and replacing the control box. that might be something only a dealer can do.

You could call Bakes to see what they think. it might save a few $$ vs. going to the dealership.

Edited May 21, 2020 by rakr

[djheywood]

I swapped my actuators twice on my 08 LSV, and I also installed the GSA system in the boat.  

One of the issues with the power wedge is the sensor that detects the position of the wedge.  If it gets out of sync it causes the issue you are seeing of the wedge not returning all the way to the top.  There is a calibration setting in your Malibu dash screen.  Did you try cycling and recalibrating the upper and lower figures?  You need to make sure the boat is level when you do this.

I tried attaching the pick but it wouldn't work.  Here is the link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=malibu+power+wedge+calibration&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=JXV55R_oKZxr5M%3A%2C2YPTXVZFi0vW0M%2C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSTW4c037jo7v8uyqygiO_n__CTLw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjn3rOwqsXpAhWDv54KHbS_C7gQ9QEwFnoECAQQBw#imgrc=JXV55R_oKZxr5M:

On a side note, I really was happy with the GSA system.  $4700 installed sounds like a good price knowing how much was involved with the installation.

I agree with above, although I had intermittent with mine as well, I would buy the 5 lobe actuators, replace the sensor if you need to as well, but don't ditch the power wedge.  Just my .02.

Brian

[rothoveb]

Three years ago I had to replace the power wedge actuators on my 2007 VLX about a month after buying the boat.  At the time I searched on this site and many said that they had used the new model without having to replace the control module so I took a chance and bought the new model and everything worked fine and it was pretty simple to do myself.

[CrazyFunMalibuDude]

Hey Everybody,

 

Thank you very much for all the input. I appreciate it. I think I will try to install the the GSA. 

Happy boating!!

 

 

[windy1]

I just finished installing the Infiniti wave system on my 2011 VLX. Best upgrade I have ever made. My surf wave now every bit as good as my friends 2019 Axis. it took about 5 hours over 2 days at a total cost of $2,850. with the upgraded controls.