Floating vs. Power Wedge?

[Faceplant409]

For the love of god.....will someone please measure the C to C dimensions horizontally and vertically of the transom bolts to each other. If the bolt pattern works it's absolutely a no brainer.... Transom attitude will not be an issue.

...now if only one of us had a pet monkey we could train to climb between the transom and the motor to hold the wrench on the mounting bolts..... we could use him once then send him on th the next guy and so on.....

P

[chathamsolutions]

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.

Greg, once again, points out the obvious. Man, Malibu comes out with these amazing technologies again and again. I bet we'll all be tossing our anchors now that we 'know' we've already got one hanging on the transom.

[skicrave]

For the love of god.....will someone please measure the C to C dimensions horizontally and vertically of the transom bolts to each other.

I guess I should have been more clear. I did do this, but before ordering the parts for a customer I thought I would give Malibu a call. The person I spoke with has no reason what so ever to lie to me about what is involved in this swap, which is what made me pause.

So to repeat, the bolt pattern is identical on the two, but according to Malibu the new bracket will not fit in place of the old one. I'm not sure if it has something to do with where on the boat the old bracket is installed, or something entirely different, or if it's not true, I'm just passing on what I was told.

[RoverOn]

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.

Greg, once again, points out the obvious. Man, Malibu comes out with these amazing technologies again and again. I bet we'll all be tossing our anchors now that we 'know' we've already got one hanging on the transom.

If you have ever let the old Wedge float...you will know it is NOT a good thing...even with the Hammerhead full throttle my boat would only do about 15 mph...thought the motor was f'ed until I thought to check the wedge...

Lucky the foil didn't pop off...

[Big Dubya]

For the love of god.....will someone please measure the C to C dimensions horizontally and vertically of the transom bolts to each other.

I guess I should have been more clear. I did do this, but before ordering the parts for a customer I thought I would give Malibu a call. The person I spoke with has no reason what so ever to lie to me about what is involved in this swap, which is what made me pause.

So to repeat, the bolt pattern is identical on the two, but according to Malibu the new bracket will not fit in place of the old one. I'm not sure if it has something to do with where on the boat the old bracket is installed, or something entirely different, or if it's not true, I'm just passing on what I was told.

measure the distance from the bottom bolts to the bottom of the transom.

if different, then there may be an issue.

if not, then swap-out.

the ONLY extra consideration i could imagine is if the newer boats have an even thicker section in the transom due to the extra backward drag that could be caused by the floating wedge vs the lockdown.

Edited January 13, 2007 by Big Dubya

[Faceplant409]

I was at the NorCal boat show today and asked Steve Clothier (sp?) the Malibu Factory rep that's been there for the last several years if the new wedge would fit on the older bolt patterns and he said yes.

The new wedge and plate will run ya about $1100 clams though...

However I am cautiously optomistic as Jason suggests this hasn't been done yet...

I wonder if we could get a "friendly Dealer" to troubleshoot this one???? Compare the transoms and placement... (cough-jason or jeff-cough...)

Pat

[footin-a]

I guess now you know why I sold my wedge a month ago,did all the measurements,floater wedge should be shipped in a week or two

[Clubby]

One thing I would be checking out before doing anything would be seeing whether Malibu would still warranty your hull if something went wrong.

Even if the new Wedge didn't cause the damage.

Just something to consider.

Edited January 14, 2007 by Clubby

[lake texoma]

Footin-a Please let us know how your install turn out on the new wedge.

[relentless]

...now if only one of us had a pet monkey we could train to climb between the transom and the motor to hold the wrench on the mounting bolts..... we could use him once then send him on th the next guy and so on.....

i call next

[relentless]

I would imagine that adds quite a bit more drag over the normal wedge. I guess it all depends on the angle of the strut mount relative to the foil. Try driving with a normal wedge that's not locked in once and see what happens... It eventually ends up in the up position.

I was told this past weekend that it can't go on the older hulls because of the force it puts on the transom when "floating"

this would probably seal the deal on why we cant

[Donnieb]

Thanks everyone for your input! I sure do hope the floating wedge can be retrofitted. Also, it still would be great to get more feedback from folks who have used the floating wedge.

One other question that hasn't been answered is how the wedge compares to Centurion's Switchblade. Does anyone have experience or knowledge about the Switchblade? I've heard that it moves side to side as the steering moves left to right.

Thanks.

Donnie

[SacRiverRat]

Thanks everyone for your input! I sure do hope the floating wedge can be retrofitted. Also, it still would be great to get more feedback from folks who have used the floating wedge.

One other question that hasn't been answered is how the wedge compares to Centurion's Switchblade. Does anyone have experience or knowledge about the Switchblade? I've heard that it moves side to side as the steering moves left to right.

Thanks.

Donnie

Donnie, the switchblade clearly turns right & left with the boat (hinged). I can speak to the performance, not sure why it wouldn't work similarly to the malibu wedge. I would assume that it would be easier to steer with the switchblade, than with the wedge down..

Are you thinking of installing a switchblade?

[skicrave]

The main advantage of the Switchblade is its intelligence; it automatically resets to the down most position (which actually pushes the back of the boat up for better slalom and barefooting wakes) when the speed drops below 10 MPH. That means when you go to pull the rider up you actually have a negative amount of downward force, which helps the boat plane out quicker, and pushes the bow down. Then, once you cross over 15MPH, it will deploy to whatever setting it was originally set at to make the desired wake.

The turning is a bit better due to the hinge, but the new Wedge is a vast improvement over the old style arms, so the difference is minimal.

[Deltawake]

According to the factory, the Free Floating wedge can be installed on a pre 2007 Malibu. The old holes need to be filled and new ones drilled. There is no issue with the strength of the transom. If anything, the new wedge is easier on the transom, because it will kick up in the event of an impact.

[gooddog]

According to the factory, the Free Floating wedge can be installed on a pre 2007 Malibu. The old holes need to be filled and new ones drilled. There is no issue with the strength of the transom. If anything, the new wedge is easier on the transom, because it will kick up in the event of an impact.

Why would you need to fill and drill new holes if the bolt pattern measurements are exactly the same on both brackets?

Edited January 20, 2007 by gooddog

[pennery]

I don't understand why they would make the exact same bracket but put the holes in a different place?

[relentless]

I don't understand why they would make the exact same bracket but put the holes in a different place?

only reason i can think of is that they figured out a better pattern to reduce strian on the transom.

[Big Dubya]

or the bracket mounts on a different location on the back (higher or lower) than the non-floating wedge.

still - have someone measure - because i'm betting the "attach here" template is the same.

[pennery]

or the bracket mounts on a different location on the back (higher or lower) than the non-floating wedge.

still - have someone measure - because i'm betting the "attach here" template is the same.

If the wedge was mounted higher then they could have still used the same mounting holes... If it was mounted lower then I could see the holes not working but surely they could retrofit something to make it work.

[Deltawake]

or the bracket mounts on a different location on the back (higher or lower) than the non-floating wedge.

still - have someone measure - because i'm betting the "attach here" template is the same.

If the wedge was mounted higher then they could have still used the same mounting holes... If it was mounted lower then I could see the holes not working but surely they could retrofit something to make it work.

I am only passing on what I heard from the factory. The hole pattern may be slightly different. Also, for the FF wedge to function properly, I would think that the height of the mounting would be absolutely critical. If it catches the prop wash the wrong way, wouldn't it kick up? I have asked and asked, and I still don't see how it doesn't kick up at inopportune times. I would appreciate any and all reviews from anyone who has actually driven or seen one in action.

[SacRiverRat]

Even if the bolt pattern is different, assuming the wedge plate isn't smaller, you would put new holes in the new wedge plate, not swiss-cheese the transom

The holes on the plate aren't critical - it just needs to hold the dang thing to the back of the boat. The Placement relative to the bottom of the hull might be, though I suspece it doesn't matter much either.

The old wedge poppin up (if not locked down) is due to the angle of the wedge, and the position of the arms - the new wedge is designed to "fly" down into the water (like a kite).

Guess I need to go get one and start doing some real research

[chathamsolutions]

Does anyone know if you can 'lock' the floating Wedge in the UP position. There are times when you don't want the Wedge at all.

- Just curious.

[SacRiverRat]

Does anyone know if you can 'lock' the floating Wedge in the UP position. There are times when you don't want the Wedge at all.

- Just curious.

Aparently you didn't view the video clip that Jason put out there for us http://www.extremewakesports.com/news/2007...g-wedge-details

[chathamsolutions]

oops.

Yes, I did. :embarassed: Just forgot.