Picked up my 22 VLX yesterday...

[DylanR]

My 5th Malibu product... really pumped on this setup... just need to add some tower speakers and will be ready to go... thought I would share... 

[ahopkins22LSV]

Very nice! Congratulations!

[JeffC]

Nice!!! Have loved my '17 22 VLX, it has been an epic choice.

[DylanR]

7 hours ago, JeffC said:

Nice!!! Have loved my '17 22 VLX, it has been an epic choice.

Jeff can you share your specs on setup for wakeboard and surfing 

[MalibuNation]

Another beautiful color combo.

[JeffC]

12 hours ago, DylanR said:

Jeff can you share your specs on setup for wakeboard and surfing 

Ill go look for it, but I had a topic that covered my set up in detail and a fair amount of very good discussion, but in summary:

I have all the factory ballast (250 hard tanks on the sides,  400 center tank, 300 bow tank).  I have 550 PNP bags in the rear lockers.   I also have a U shape accessory bag that I put in the bow on days with small crews (more on that in a bit).   My VLX runs the 410, and I surf at 5430' when the lake is full pool (Colorado).   BTW, there is a great discussion of torque curves here that shows how the 410 and 450 have essentially the same torque curve up to 3800 RPM, then the 450 separates.   I like keeping the RPM below 4000, which means that there really was not much advantage of the 450 for ME (I might feel different if I were a higher speed/RPM guy (too old and fat for slalom any more, and I was never a wakeboard guy). 

IMHO, ballast/wave construction is way more art than recipe.  Getting a well shaped wave with good length and lots of push takes some experimentation and experience.   My best wave is with 8-9 carefully placed crew and gear.   Speed is usually in the 10.6-11.2 mph range, and I USUALLY run the wedge one-two tabs below LIFT.   I run the factory high altitude torque prop (ACME 2249).  The VLX LOVES bow weight.   In fact, if I'm not careful about weight distribution I have issues getting to plane at 10.6mph, and my RPMs will crest 4K (which again, I don't like to do).    So on a normal day, my normal starting point is to fill the factory and PNP bags to about 80%, set the wedge at one click below LIFT, and let my crew sit where they want.  I run a test launch to see how things look - and adjust crew positions, wedge, and ballast until I get things running well.   Since the boat loves bow weight, I find that Im frequently moving people up front, and balancing port/starboard to be a LITTLE heavy on the surf side.  Of course when I have the same crew, people know where to sit, and I can skip the test run.    If anything, I start off a little heavy in the stern, and I can dump a little rear ballast while under way until my RPMs drop to where I want them, and the boat is successfully planed.   Once I get the basics down, then the surfer can tweak the speed/wedge to adjust the wave to what THEY want with the Surf Band. 

Last year was tough... with smaller COVID limited crews, I could get a very nice shaped wave, but I wanted the big wave that I had when I was running with big crews... which led to the accessory bow bag.   If I fill it with a crew of 3-4, I can still get a very large, well shaped wave.   I highly recommend having an accessory bag in your collection.   Im not a fan of lead in the bow, as its hard to adjust if you get into heavy weather, and it becomes too easy to take water over the bow when the boat is bow heavy. 

Hope that helps... enjoy the VLX!   I think you will love it!

 

[JeffC]

BTW Dylan, Just went back through your pictures, and the ENTIRE rig is sharp!   Nice combo with the tow rig, and colors on the boat!

[IXFE]

On 3/29/2021 at 8:35 PM, DylanR said:

just need to add some tower speakers and will be ready to go...

 

[DylanR]

5 hours ago, JeffC said:

BTW Dylan, Just went back through your pictures, and the ENTIRE rig is sharp!   Nice combo with the tow rig, and colors on the boat!

Thanks I usually tow with my Tundra... but wanted to see how the diesel would do... it is awesome considering the setup!