Malibu VLX wake - dial me in

I am trying to dial in the wake on a friends 2007 Malibu VLX and having difficuty getting a nice wake. With the stock ballast tanks full, the wake is round at the top and has no pop. With the wedge all the way down its about the same. If I lift the wedge up slightly the wake turns into a vertical wall at the top that grabs the board. I tried finding a middle ground, but the hydraulic wedge control is not precise enough.

Does anyone have advice for me? Is there a way to adjust the stop point on the wedge so I can get to the right setting every time with it all the way down. Should I add weight to bow or ???

I am trying to find a setup that generates a nice predicatable wake shape using stock balast and wedge without adding tons of lead.

Somebody, please help me!

Does he have Malibu Speed Control? If so, you can use that to get a more precise setting on the Wedge. Set up a profile for him and I believe you set the Wedge as a percentage of all the way down.

Does it have the optional bow ballast? Bow weight in that boat makes all the difference.

i just fill the tanks no need for the wedge but what rope length and speed are you at? i found 70 to be best for me at 20.6 or sometimes 21 try that?

bow weight will peak it up.

22mph at 75-80ft with all ballast full. The bow ballast is a MUST on this boat.

24 mph at 75-80 feet or 85 (ish) feet if you have the illusion tower. Fill the stock ballast. Add 300 lbs in the trunk (150 each side) + 150 mid ship (75 next to driver seat and 75 behind passenger flip up seat) and 300-350 in the nose. Money wake. If you really want to get greedy, add another 300 in the rear and 250 up front.

I have an 08 we've been playing with and I do have the power wedge but not a fan of what it does to the wake. We played a lot with it this weekend and are finding we like the wake a lot better with a little extra weight in the back of the boat. If you fill all the ballast tanks all the way and add 400-500 or so to the back compartments I think you'll get a nice lip but still have the good transition.

Prior to this weekend we had been letting a little weight out of the bow ballast to peak up the wake a little. I think if you go beyond 400-500 lbs in the back you'll have to add more to the middle and front of the boat to balance things out. I was shocked how much the wake size increased by just adding that little bit to the back though. Got an "oh sh*t" or two out of a couple people.

06 VLX power wedge. all 4 ballast full 800 lbs lead in walk through and next to driver. 400 lbs of lead under back seats and 300 lbs sack on back seat or floor board in front of back seat. Power wedge all the way down or one tick back up if boat not full of people. we here many "Oh Sh*ts" the first time they hit the wake. 85 to 87.5 ft at 26 mph. Not sure about all these 20 and 21 mph riders.The wake is not clean until about 22.

I agree. I like the wake behind a vlx with more weight in the back. Since you have an 07, I don't believe the have the option to setup a profile since I think that was introduced in 08. I would go with a little more weight in back and play with your speed a bit. You should be able to get a nice wake out of that boat.

My wake rocks with stock ballast (4 tanks) plus manual wedge at 22mph. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

I have found that the power wedge is a lot different from the manual wedge.

On my friend's 08 VLX we ride stock ballast plus another 1500lbs of lead and either don't use the power wedge at all or only one tiny little click up at 80ft. @ 23mph.

i have that boat and with the power wedge i found that you have to bring the wedge all the way down on the gaige( were it says the smallest wake) and then bring it back up to the largest wake settings. run 23mph at 75- 80... booter wake. i dont have the front tank so i put about 300lbs in the front.

Full ballast & Wedge, then add 500 in the nose and 500 on the floor. Ballin!

ive ridden behind both 07lsv and 08 vlx. i found the best wake at 70'-75' 22-24mph all four ballast tanks filled and the wedge all the way down and then up one or two clicks. a little extra bow weight makes the wake even nicer or 8-10 people in the boat. but the wake definetly has more boot to it the faster and longer u go

2 550's in the back
550 on the floor
a 550 and a 300 in the nose
full ballast, no wedge and you will have a good wake

Looks like there a few ways to weight a VLX, but I would also verify your speed with GPS. Sometimes the speedo is not calibrated properly.

hey peter what color did you get??

full MLS (front too)
no wedge
450 in lead up front as far forward as you can get it
additional 100-200 in each trunk to start. When we're in good season riding form we fill the 750 sacks in each trunk too.

If you use the wedge...make sure you do something extra in the nose over the stock.

We usually ride '75 - '85 back at 22.4 - 23.6 some faster but hardly anyone slower

man i wish i could do lead, but i put my boat on a hoist so if im running lead it most likly wont go up..

you dont have to leave the lead in the boat all the time. we take the lead we have in the boat in and out all the time but mostly it just stays in the boat, even when we put it up on the hoist.

ours is in the boat on the hoist all of the time. I factored it into the size hoist I wanted knowing that moving the lead each time I take the boat out is a pain.

Peter- In our '07, we usually ride with wedge full down, all stock ballast, including bow, 250 lbs. under back seats, 80 lbs up front, 240lbs in the pass thru area, and a 400-500 lb. sack right in the middle of the floor. That throws a pretty nice wake. The key is relatively even weight distribution, or at least not super overweighted in the back. Also, we run between 24 and 25 mph. As Spotts mentioned, this hull has a point where just a little bit more weight makes a big difference in the size of the wake.

Peter, hey just out of curiousity what did you ride before the malibu... I at one point tried out a malibu and thought the exact same thing about the wake

Thanks everyone for the input. Sounds like I need to get some pop sacks and play around with the wedge a bit. The boat has 4 tanks so I assume that means it has the forward tank. It also has stock speed control, so I will need to read the manual about using the pre-sets to control teh wedge settings. It certainly made a big difference when we moved it around. I was riding at 75' @23mph per the speed control. That part felt fine, it was more a problem of the wake shape.

M. Imobersteg - Its a red VLX. Its not actully mine - it belongs to Royce Hancock if you know them. Are you still out here in DB?

I still have my '05 X2 - it has a great wake, but its getting smaller by today's standards with the newer boats being a having wider beams and everyone riding more and more weight.

They got this VLX pretty much dialed.

200LBS In each side engine storage compartments, all four ballast filled. Plus two adults up front, boat full of friends and the wake is perfect and huge.

Oh yeah the ice chest ballast full of beer and girl drinks for the ladies.

Peter- yeah im still in disco, but for right now in school in chico. but i will be home during the summer. yeah i have the blue and grey vlx, its pretty new so it hasnt been out a bunch. i do know the red vlx though,seen it a bunch.

Brent- all i can say is "what the #$%@" thats insane.lol

My suggestion is not to use the Wedge. Depending on people in the boat, I ride with 3 or 4 usually, is 450 on each side of engine, the bow ballast, and belly full. Then throw a 400 fat sac in the walkway, possibly two if you want to go big. I also have the 383 Hammerhead (weighs more). Then change your prop to the Acme 1235