are tube towers now out of date/ old school?

(stang_killa_ss)

when i bought my '11 i had a choice of the standard rad-a-cage(tube tower) or the V2 (malibu illusion tower) for an extra $3500

but ive noticed more and more all boats are getting away from full tube towers and everyone seems to be moving to molded/cast towers. or if there is tubes there welded with flat plates in designs or have bolt on decorative plates. thoughts?

are full tube towers a thing of the past?

(wakereviews) · (wakereviews) **Join Date: Sep 2006** 10-18-2011, 1:52 PM

I hope not, i like the tube style towers.

LR3w8kbrdr 10-18-2011, 1:56 PM

What about Nautique? Theyre still tube towers

(tonyv420) · (tonyv420) **Join Date: Jul 2007** 10-18-2011, 1:59 PM

Tubular is the shiznit!! I hate those evo towers.

(h20king) · (h20king) **Join Date: Dec 2009** 10-18-2011, 6:13 PM

same here I hate the cast towers

(nitrousbird) · (nitrousbird) **Join Date: Sep 2008** 10-18-2011, 11:28 PM

MB still does tube towers.

(jeff359) · (jeff359) **Join Date: Jun 2005** 10-19-2011, 1:37 PM

I like both types. But for the record tube towers are better, but only because it's what I have on my boat

(hatepain) · (hatepain) **Join Date: Aug 2006** 10-19-2011, 3:28 PM

They're not out of date they are retro

(johnny_defacto)

I like em both, depends on the boat. On the malibu's i prefer the illusion towers, but the standard tower looks great too. Tube towers on the nautiques look great as does the MB tower. I dont think tube towers will go away anytime soon, problem is that on boats (like malibu) who has been using the illusion style tower for 6+ years, putting a tube tower "dates" it, which is a bummer to have a brand new boat that looks dated. I also think in the case of malibu, resale (if you even care) will be hurt a little.

If you like it and it wasn't worth the $3500 to upgrade, then good.

(getssum) · (getssum) **Join Date: Jul 2005** 10-19-2011, 4:25 PM

I hope tube towers aren't dead, I like the look much better than cast. Plus I don't like how LOW the cast towers seem to be, at least the Centurion and Malibu versions. The newer Malibu version is a little taller, but I like the height!

(k59) · (k59) **Join Date: Sep 2011** 11-15-2011, 9:44 AM

I like the look of the new-style towers. It's really attractive to me. That said, I have the tube-style, and wish I had a newer tower with the more aggressive styling of the likes of Malibu, etc. Has anyone ever gone for an aftermarket illusion or other-than-tube-style tower? I don't think I'd spend as much money as it'd cost to upgrade at this point, but do like the look..

(guma) · (guma) **Join Date: Sep 2009** 11-15-2011, 12:54 PM

When we bought new in 2010, one of the things that drove our decision was getting a boat that had a cast tower. I didn't like the look of the tube towers and wanted a more stylized tower. Some of the tube towers look ok, but others look blocky and bulky. Ended up with a Tige with the Alpha Z tower and love it.

(smylie) · (smylie) **Join Date: Jun 2002** 11-15-2011, 2:29 PM

I sure hope not. I just bought a new tube tower. I cant wait to pull 3 tubes from it on buttery calm water right in the middle of the lake..... Thats the best place to watch all the wakeboarders......

(kybool) · (kybool) **Join Date: Aug 2004** 11-17-2011, 9:14 AM

Hmmm,,,does it effect your riding? Assuming not, who cares?

In other news I got a new haircut today, but it didn't make me any smarter.

Nick911 11-17-2011, 9:49 AM

Thread jack (kinda): what's everyone's pick for nicest tower?

Nicest for me Tiges new one. Runner up goes to the MC ZFT3 (cause its iconic).

(stxr_racer) · (stxr_racer) **Join Date: Jun 2006** 11-17-2011, 12:40 PM

This is the best tower in the world

Haugy 11-17-2011, 1:56 PM

Nah........

(bmock50) · (bmock50) **Join Date: Feb 2011** 01-03-2012, 1:22 PM

The nautique flight control II tower, because it looks goods on almost any boat

(cadunkle)

Tube towers are where it's at. Nice clean styling. Those new towers with the solid side piece with crazy designs are downright fugly. I have the same boat as Haugy and whenever I upgrade my uber-pylon to a tower it'll be the same New Dimension tower Haugy has on his. Clean simple styling and a strong functional tower. At the end of the day it's whatever you like best though, doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. So long as it's strong and gives a high tow point it has done its job.

(loudontn) · (loudontn) **Join Date: Feb 2005** 01-04-2012, 4:15 AM

Still love the pipe styling!

(brett564) · (brett564) **Join Date: Jul 2006** 01-04-2012, 11:22 PM

I like this question. In all reality I bought my Malibu for the features I cared about most. I had the option of the Illusion X tower and I went for it becuase it just looked great. I have to assume there is a lot of people who didn't get the option so they have tube towers and naturally are going to say they love them. I'm just wondering, if other manufacturers offered the new Malibu tower, the Nautique tower, or the all awesome Illusion XS (IMO the best ever!), aaaaaaaaand, it was accepted by the community of those boat fans, would you go with it?

(mike2001) · (mike2001) **Join Date: Feb 2008** 01-05-2012, 5:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang_killa_ss

when i bought my '11 i had a choice of the standard rad-a-cage(tube tower) or the V2 (malibu illusion tower) for an extra $3500

but ive noticed more and more all boats are getting away from full tube towers and everyone seems to be moving to molded/cast towers. or if there is tubes there welded with flat plates in designs or have bolt on decorative plates. thoughts?

are full tube towers a thing of the past?

How come you didn't start this discussion back when you were rocking the tube tower yourself on the Nautique?

To me, its all perspective. I feel the purpose of a tower is to raise the towpoint, get the boards off the floor and mount some speakers. They're lower cost and look good on a bunch of boats. I have one. I probably won't get a compliment from the guy who buys a new boat, puts 50 hours on it, then upgrades every year, and I'm ok with that.

(simplej) · (simplej) **Join Date: Sep 2011** 01-05-2012, 6:56 AM

I don't think they are out of style and I think both look great on their respective boats, personally I think the TIGE tube towers and nautique tube towers are th best looking.

That said anyone with an in out or jetboat can bolt on any tube tower which could be driving boat companies to the 2 point that's more of a factory exclusive thing. Again that's not to say I don't love tube towers, I just think its the way of the future and a way wakeboats are standing out from every four winns with a tower aka "wakeboats" just my .02. I find it annoying that everyone on the lake sees a boat with A tower and says oh a wakeboard
Boat!