Floating vs. Power Wedge?

[skicrave]

Contact your local dealer for a price, or let me know and I can look into it for you.

The video I mentioned is on our site now, and can be viewed here. Hopefully that answers some of the questions about how the new Wedge works. It's very cost effective for what it does, and gives you most of the performance of the Power Wedge, without the price tag and some of the wow factor.

[relentless]

dude that is totaly rad . i dont think there will be that much of a market for the old wedges though. you could probably get more money for them selling them as scrap metal.

[skicrave]

Bad news!

In following up on this I thought it would be good to talk with Malibu about the situation. Aparently the new floating Wedge bracket will not fit the same holes as the old style bracket. I'm not sure exactly where the problem is, as by my measurements the holes are exactly the same.

I'll see if I can dig up some more info, but before anyone goes out and orders the parts, we'll need to do a bit more research.

[jetskipro550]

A few months ago there was talk about only the new boats with stronger transoms could handle the stress put on it by both of the new wedges PW and FF.

[skicrave]

Hmm, that's an interesting twist. I'll have to check that out to see if there's any truth in it. From the conversation I had the only explanation was that the bolt pattern was different between the two, and installation would require filling the existing holes and drilling new ones.

[jetskipro550]

Hmm, that's an interesting twist. I'll have to check that out to see if there's any truth in it. From the conversation I had the only explanation was that the bolt pattern was different between the two, and installation would require filling the existing holes and drilling new ones.

If you go it you should be able to find one of the old threads

I am only posting a response so I can be the first to use the new smilies

[SacRiverRat]

eh - the discussion about the transom not being strong enough was simply speculation... I don't think they do anything different w/ the transom for a normal wedge vs power wedge.

The power wedge would be difficult to retro-fit... lots of safety stuff, controls, and mechanicals

This seems like one of those "easy" answers from the factory... just say they aren't compatable, and they'd be free from any liability.

[gooddog]

Bad news!

In following up on this I thought it would be good to talk with Malibu about the situation. Aparently the new floating Wedge bracket will not fit the same holes as the old style bracket. I'm not sure exactly where the problem is, as by my measurements the holes are exactly the same.

I'll see if I can dig up some more info, but before anyone goes out and orders the parts, we'll need to do a bit more research.

Have you actually gone out and measured the holes? Now we have "they swap right out" and "the holes are different" ...both from Malibu!

[skicrave]

Yes, I physically measured the holes (I posted the details in a previous post), which is what lead me to believe they would be a direct swap. It wasn't until I dug into it a little more for a customer that was thinking about switching that I heard from the factory they are not the same. I didn't check the diameter of the bolts, but I have no reason to believe the individual I spoke to at the factory would give me the "easy answer" just to get rid of me.

[jayjoans]

c'mon........big money, no whammies.......

I hope this works out.

[WakeGirl]

I've asked around a bit myself & there doesn't seem to be a consensus on this. I do know of a member in our area that is doing the conversion & his comment was that even if the holes don't line up, fill 'em & drill new ones. It doesn't have to be a perfect patch job because it won't show, so the only thing to be sure of is that the patch would be structurally strong enough. One comment that I heard was that the holes will line up if Malibu installed the wedge correctly at the factory.

I do have my dealer checking on prices for the parts, just in case.

[uk_exile]

could easily make an adaptor plate if holes don't line up

[gooddog]

...as by my measurements the holes are exactly the same.

This is what I found too. These brackets are not rocket science, they just bolt on to the transom. The factory wants people to buy new boats to get the new wedge. They won't advertise or recommend upgrading to their new invention since it may hurt sales of new boats.

[Gordo]

I saw the floating wedge at the Houston Boat Show this week. It really appears to be the same wedge but a side by side comparison was not possible. The only apparent difference is that are no holes for it to lock into in the "down" position - thus the "floating", since it is free to move through its range of motion. According to the salesman (and, of course, they are always right!) the wedge moves via a hydrofoil effect.

However, I might be interested in changing. Depends on the cost, so let us know, Tracie.

[pennery]

If it does work out I would be interested in someone's old style wedge and bracket...

I have been wanting to put one on for a few years now but have been avoiding it for the price...

[Skiline00]

I saw the floating wedge at the Houston Boat Show this week. It really appears to be the same wedge but a side by side comparison was not possible. The only apparent difference is that are no holes for it to lock into in the "down" position - thus the "floating", since it is free to move through its range of motion. According to the salesman (and, of course, they are always right!) the wedge moves via a hydrofoil effect.

However, I might be interested in changing. Depends on the cost, so let us know, Tracie.

Why couldn't you just close up the holes on the old style wedge and just let it "float"?

[Gordo]

I saw the floating wedge at the Houston Boat Show this week. It really appears to be the same wedge but a side by side comparison was not possible. The only apparent difference is that are no holes for it to lock into in the "down" position - thus the "floating", since it is free to move through its range of motion. According to the salesman (and, of course, they are always right!) the wedge moves via a hydrofoil effect.

However, I might be interested in changing. Depends on the cost, so let us know, Tracie.

Why couldn't you just close up the holes on the old style wedge and just let it "float"?

Excellent question, which crossed my little brain when I was on my hands and knees looking at the new "floater". We did not have the old style wedge there for a comparison, but we thought that the bottom of the wing protion of the wedge might have a different shape than the old style. But if it does not, then it might work. Besides, there would be no harm in lowering your wedge down and not latching it in the holes and see what happens. Might just ride up and stay up (instead of "floating" down). I cannot think of anything bad that would happen from that experiment.

[D-GOOSE]

It has too be some thing with the shape and the wing. If you forget to lock down the wedge with the older style it will float up and act like an anchor.

[smeagol]

...as by my measurements the holes are exactly the same.

This is what I found too. These brackets are not rocket science, they just bolt on to the transom. The factory wants people to buy new boats to get the new wedge. They won't advertise or recommend upgrading to their new invention since it may hurt sales of new boats.

I think this is the issue. They may have invented something that makes the power wedge a less valued option. They also may have not considered all the implications until now that we are asking questions and reality is setting in.

I talked to my dealer at the boat show yesterday and he didn't see why there would be a problem in changing them out. I'll try and get a quote from him soon to see if he gets stonewalled by the factory as well.

[smeagol]

I think we still only have one review of the floating wedge from Trenster, and while that review has me salivating to make the change, I'm anxious to hear from others who can get a chance to try it out.

[trevorb]

If it does work out I would be interested in someone's old style wedge and bracket...

I have been wanting to put one on for a few years now but have been avoiding it for the price...

I may be selling my wedge and wedge plate. I'm also pretty close to you, so shipping would not be a problem if you were interested in my old wedge.

[Trentster]

I think we still only have one review of the floating wedge from Trenster, and while that review has me salivating to make the change, I'm anxious to hear from others who can get a chance to try it out.

I knew that would happen too. It seems Malibu was a a day late and a dollar short getting this out. From a sales standpoint it will be hard to push because most customers will like the power wedge better. From a guy who sells these things, and for that matter will be selling my own boat every year what do I do. I want the free floating wedge, but will the guy who is looking at buying my boat want it? That customer may pass on my future boats because I don't have the power wedge.

The VLX has always been a weird boat to me. It has always had the best wake, but has always been the hardest to tune with a wedge period! Most pros still prefer weight to the wedge in the VLX. In my experience the power wedge works better on everything else Malibu makes other than the 21.5. I ran a 23 XTI for a few weeks and the power wedge made all the difference in the world- it worked great!

Remember the wedge 23 on the older hull? Invented because the VLX didn't work with the standard wedge very well at that time either. In fact in the earlier years the wedge was not even an option on the VLX (2000 and 2001 if I remember). That's how the power wedge is for me on my 2007 VLX. All the way down it works great! Add a little weight and barely trimming it up washes out the wake at anything more than 60 feet behind the boat. I was really disappointed! Now the free floating wedge worked awesome on the 2007 VLX. It seemed that no matter how much weight we added it just adjusted for the boats attitude. It was also not noticeable at all when we went through our wake for a double-up

I would like to see this thing get some good feedback soon!

Trentster

[stewart]

Even if the transom bracket on the transom didn't line up with the holes on the transom bracket, it shouldn't be too hard to fabricate. Someone would just need one of the old brackets and one of the new brackets and reverse engineer it. No biggie.

It is a bummer thought that Malibu would not have enough for thought to make the brackets retrofit to older boats. What's the big deal? They would be able to sell a bunch of wedges now and thats more revenue

[skicrave]

I'm not sure that this was done from a sales standpoint (let me back up by saying it hasn't even been proven that the swap can't be done, that's just what I was told). Most customers aren't going to hold off buying a new boat simply because they can retrofit a new Wedge onto their old one.

From Malibu's perspective, I would have expected them to make sure the new Wedge will work on old boats so they can stop carrying inventory on the old Wedge and bracket. Less SKU's to manage, and a better product to boot is a no brainer to me.

Let me say again, the case is not closed on this, I'm just passing along the information that I received (and the person whom I spoke with would not give me a line of BS just so a customer might conceivably upgrade to a new boat, he doesn't operate like that).

[Tracktor]

Mark me down as another person interested in buying an older wedge for my 1998 VLX..................