Tower Selection

I am looking at purchasing a wakeboard tower for my 2004 Glastron GX 205. I have narrowed my search to a Boss Knight, Titan Series 1, or a Monster Tower. I am leaning towards the Monster Tower because of price and great reviews on these message boards. In my research I came across a few custom tower manufacturers who stress that the "universal" towers are not a good buy and can cause damage to your boat, mainly the gelcoat. I'm not sure if my Glastron has the minimum 3/8" thick of fiberglass, but I would hate for there to be any damage to my boat. My friends and I weigh no more than 190 pounds so I don't think there will be a problem, but I'm looking for some other opinions. They also said that the towers tend to rattle from the universal joints. I know they are trying to sell their own products so I want to know what you guys think about these claims. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Also, are any of these towers removable? How easily/quickly?

Here is my GX 185 with a custom tower from Wake Air (www.wakeair.com). I too was concerned with the fiberglass and gelcoat thickness, but this tower came with nice large mounting plates with thick rubber gaskets. I rode behind it for the first time this past Sunday and it was awesome. No rattles or squeaks, and I popped right up. It's solid and I love the color. Brian will send you a color chart to match your boat if you opt for a custom color. Mine matches perfectly. Removing is as simple as removing four bolts and lifting it off.

http://messageboard.wakeworld.com/MB/discus/messages/3183/102837.jpg

Sounds like your hearing a bunch of marketing twists. Since they don’t make universal towers they are not likely going to speak highly of them.

A tower that rattles a lot in very irritating after a while, ask owners of the early Metcraft towers that are custom made to each boat. Whether a tower rattles and is noisy is only a function of how the joints are designed and is independent of if it is a custom or universal tower. There are both universal and custom towers that are both silent and rattle traps.

A Glastron is a well made boat and should be fine without additional reinforcement but since you have a new boat adding additional glass or bonding in a piece of wood to distribute the stress would be a cheap insurance against any possible problems. You likely do not need to but since you have a brand new boat it may be worth it so you can rest easy and forget about the chance of problems.

As far as rider size my marketing and support guys or both over 250 and we pull them with no problems. I think any tower out there will be fine for nearly any rider since the real limiting factory is how much force can a rider put into a rope before it rips out of their hands. For most of us its only a few hundred pound which is not much for a tower to handle.

The great news is today you have lots of new options coming in at around $1000. Two years ago when I was looking for a tower everything was well over $2000, had 6-8 week lead times and the companies treated me like they were doing me a favor. If the market was like it is today I would have bought a tower and Monster Tower would have likely never existed. Not sure if we contributed to the change in the market or if it was natural evolution but either way the consumer is getting better product and better support at half the price of just a few years ago.

I got a monster tower for Christmas this year and put it on myself ( with the help of one person)-very easy install.

I have ours on a 2003 four winns and I did have to reinforce the hull but Bill gives pretty good ideas on how to do that in the instructions.

I just used it for the first time yesterday and that thing is completely silent as they say in there ads--I am 6'2" and 225lbs --not one rattle!!

You can not beat the price for the quality in my opinion-

One thing to look out for if you get a universal-

Check your front mounting pad locations to make sure you can still open your walk thru window (and keep it open with out hitting the tower)if you have one.

Also with the Monster my existing covers still work and all I had to do to my Bimini was cut about 1" off the front legs so it still works--That alone adds another $300-$500 in savings just for the bimini!!

Happy hunting!

Also check out the new Loud Liquid tower. It is also a universal but with a diffent look. It also comes with integrated board racks and is price competitive. Let me know if you want details.

rider@boarditup.com

Monster tower still needs to make a mini tower! That would be pimp a$$!

KState - Mini tower like the Barewest Mini? I'm all ears.

A polished finish is a lot harder (and a little more expensive) than just powder coating. Would a lower cost tower where a polished finish was NOT an option be a good direction?

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'll get the Monster and add some extra support if it's not too involved of a project. This website is great!