Has anyone had any luck with the factory option towers in a standard opening garage? A friend has had a hell of a time with his old VLX. He finally got the tower chopped and rigged so he could get it in his garage. Now he's looking at getting another Malibu but doesn't want to go through the problem he did with his last boat. He wants to get the new VTX but the towers just wont fit in the garage. The opening on his garage is about 6' 10". Anybody had any luck with the new towers/boats in a standard garage?

My friends have an 06 VLX with the illusion tower that they were able to squeeze into my 7' garage entry way and this is how they did it. First get about four relatively strong guys get more depending how sloped your driveway is. Mine was moderately sloped down. Back the boat up and get it into position of how you want it to go into the garage. We disconnected the trailer and placed the tongue on a heavy duty roll around floor jack a long with deflating the tires just a little bit. We also disconnected the rope tow ball on top of the tower. We got all the guys to direct it into the garage while keeping a vigalent eye on the tongue resting on the jack. It was more of a pain getting it in than out just because for some reason my friends boat wanted to roll out of the garage than into. <BR> <BR>This isn't the easiest method but it does work. I guess it depends whether or not you want to spend money for indoor storage. We figured by getting it into my garage it saved them about $400

I think Malibu offers a lowering kit for the trailer. Does anyone know if it lowers the trailer enough so that you can fit the boat in a 7 foot garage? I think the main reason the Bu's cant fit into a 7 foot gargae is because the boat sits super high on the trailer. I know the beam is pretty wide and that forces them to build the trailer so the boat sits above the fenders. Could it or would it be possable to order a wider custom trailer that allowed the boat to slip in between the fenders making it sit lower on the trailer allowing you to fit it into a standard garage? <BR>I rebiult my garage with a 8 foot garage headder <BR>and Clays Malibu slip's in with only about 3 inches of clearance.

get low profile tires

can't you completely pull the towers of those boats?

Grant there is a low-pro option on the extreme trailers which is basically the upgraded rims with low sidewall tires. From what I've heard from others off of TMC it lowers the overall deck height by only an inch or so.

The Illusion folds lower than the Titan III does. I have the Titan III on mine and remove it completely it make it work. It only takes two guys and about 10 mins. Do a search on TMC to there have been a few posts about this issue. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/426207.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/426208.jpg" alt="Upload">

The Illusion Tower does not fold lower than the Titan III. I have a '05 VLX with the Titan Series III that fits in my garage---opening height of 6'11" with no problem. I do not have low profile tires, but I did turn the axle hubs to lower the trailer. On the same trailer, same boat, Illusion Tower would not fit under the garage opening by 2.5inches.

Did you take your pylon out...my tower hits the pylon and this prevents it from lowering to allow the back hoop to clear.

Also what trailer do you have? did you try the illusion with the axles turned?

I have a tandom trailer and have been thinking about rotating the front of the boat so that it is at an angle (it might fit that way) -- whats the best way to do that?

We checked on the Titan III and it doesn't look like it's going to fit in the garage either. Maybe it's a problem with the VTX since your able to get yours in with a VLX.

I have the titan II with a low profile trailer and fits right it. The pylon does come close to hitting everytime, but just brushes the top of the garage.

Well I am the "friend" looking at the VTX. Thanks for the thread Paul. <BR> <BR>G-I have nevered heard of a lowering kit from malibu. I am however calling DHM tommorrow to see if there is anything they can do at all. My dealer, however has said that they put them as low as they can already though. The problem is the 102 inch rule to be legal on the road. The beams are all 98" now and that makes them have to sit essentially above the wheel wells. <BR> <BR>As far as most of the other comments on here. I went through the whole taking the tower off, lowering the air pressure, angle this, angle that. All this did is wear on my boat no matter how careful I was and by wear I mean, caught the interior once, various scratches here and there, and two set of stripped threads from the soft aluminum. I eventually had the tower modified by a machine shop to make it work where I can unscrew the two arms that hit the top of the garage. <BR> <BR>I have swore off buying another boat that I would have to mod to get in my garage. You guys say not that much work, but eventually it gets old and bothersome. I just got the bad news that the VTX (from a recent owner on malibucrew.com) doesn't fit without unscrewing the two back heim joints and manually lowering the bar. <BR> <BR>Chuck-I have never heard of turning the axle hubs... what is this? how do you do it? and how much does it lower the boat? <BR> <BR> <BR>Anyone else heard anything different about the VTX?

the O4 Skylon Swoop does not fit in the standard socal garage. Atleast on mine. (malibu dorsey trailer) I had mine chopped, and its perfect now. <BR> <BR>If you need a tower chopped, please contact DBG Concepts. They are too legit. Gary is a legend welder. It will look like the factory did it. skylon told me to buy a new tower from them, HA! <BR> <BR>Once again for tower modifications in Socal, AZ, NV, do yourself a favor and contact Gary at <a href="http://www.dbgconcepts.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dbgconcepts.com/</a> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by slipknot on March 21, 2007) <BR> <BR>(Message edited by slipknot on March 21, 2007)

Yeah I have an 03 skylon swoop and I had B &amp; Z do my job here. Would recommend them to anyone... I had the 2 arms chopped and a threaded sleave welded in one and a 1" male stud on the other end, so I basically srew the arms off once the tower is collapsed. It fits in my standard garage also... after about 3 years of pain and suffering......

My garage door is 7'2" and I have a VLX with the Illusion X and it slides under nicely. I have a Boatmate trailer with custom low profile rims if it helps. See my profile pic

I could not even fit a V-Ride into my garage due to height... A VLX is even taller with the tower folded.

BTW, my garage is an inch and a half shy of 7

Chad <BR>Look at the axle hubs---Extreme and SB have splined axles that the hub attaches to and is adjustable. You can raise or lower the trailer in about 30 minutes with common tools. I lowered mine to where the fenders were just above the tires---careful not to rub, then when I moved to a new house I had to raise it back up a little as the trailer was dragging on the driveway.

Grant <BR>what did that cost you to do....the 8 foot header <BR> <BR>...if I may be so bold...

You can dump those Extreme trailers in the dirt and get the rollers put on for $300 to keep your prop from throwing mad sparks. <BR> <BR>ha!

Must be the trailers. <BR>I get my 06 V-ride in on a DHL trailer with 3/4 inch to spare. The top board racks is the highest point. <BR>I've never backed it in with a empty tank of gas though.

what tower Jim?

I have the Illusion.