I recently bought one of the Fly High U-shaped bow sacks and put it under the bow cushions. Since the wind was blowing and I couldn't get on the water I thought I would check to see how much water weight I could get in there. I have a scale about a 1/2 mile from home so I filled the sack weighed my boat..emptied the sack weighed my boat and I got 220lbs under the cushion of my 04 VLX. There was a little air in the sack, but I would guess the MOST you could get in there is about 250 on a good day. I've seen a lot of weight numbers posted here and there that were estimates, so here are some numbers from a certified scale. Maybe I had too much time on my hands today<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0>

hey man i think i have less room in my boat then a 04 vlx i have the same sac try when u fill the sack up bleed all the air out of it then fill it up some more i think i get around 400 in mine <BR>try it out tell me wut u think

There's NO WAY you'll get 400 in MY boat....the cushions will be lifting out. When I say a little bit of air I mean a little bit. I normally run a 280lb v-drive sack in the bow and I know how big it is...I just don't think there's that much room in there.

Yah, the vlx bows are pretty small to begin with. These ballast claims remind me of the bolt on craze for cars. 25hp with a K&amp;N, 15hp with a throttle body, blah blah blah. Real weight and claimed weight are two different things. <BR> <BR>P.S. thanks a ton for the info greg. I was debating between the bow sack and some pop bags, you helped me make up my mind! <BR> <BR>

well the bow sack worked for me..i dont have much room but it does the trick plus them dang pop bags are expensive <BR>

I didn't think you could get 400lbs under the cushions of an 04 VLX. <BR> <BR>Greg, thanks for doing that research. I've been thinking about how to tackle the problem of bow weight in my 04 and so this is quite useful. <BR> <BR>Also - Malibu's bow ballast tank (I believe it's an 05+ option) is only good for 400lbs, That tank consumes the walkway and under cushion space. <BR> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by yosquire on May 07, 2006)

I have an 05 Xti...same bow as the vlx <BR>I just installed 2 bags under the seats <BR>haven't used them yet <BR>but <BR>if I get an extra 250 or 300 lbs <BR>then with the factory ski locker bag, I'll have 600-700lbs up front <BR>.....not including people <BR>can't imagine why that won't be enough

I never said it wasn't enough, it was just quite a bit less than some numbers I've seen posted. It's going to work for my purpose.

Hey Greg, How much weight do the 04 VLX ski-locker and center tanks add? I've heard it's only 800, is that correct?

Craig, I don't know the answer on those. Maybe I'll figure that one out when I have some more time to kill. Mine is an early 04 and still has a bag in the locker.

Greg, <BR> <BR>I think that your scales are likely on the money. I have a U bag for my Tige 24V. I can't speak to the direct comparison in the VLX vs. my boat, but I know my boat behaves like it only has about 250 pounds up front. I also notice that the pump gets done in a hurry. <BR> <BR>I want to run some lead, but I really don't like the idea of permanent weight, when I don't want that when pulling tubers or beginners.