Plastic borad racks??

wickedwake 01-17-2005, 12:50 PM

Does anyone use plastic board racks? Are they loud? Fragile? Worth a dam? Im considering buying a set for 140$ for the pair. We are on a budget. thanks! Clay

wickedwake 01-17-2005, 12:51 PM

i cant spell LOL

(mikeski) · (mikeski) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 01-17-2005, 1:56 PM

You might consider the racks sold by Monster Tower. They are very good and only $195 per pair, the quick releases work great. They are strong, quiet and look nice. I have a pair that might be for sale depending on which tower I put on my new boat.

(munky_flip) · (munky_flip) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 01-17-2005, 2:45 PM

clay i have a pair of plastic racks that work fine...no noise or anything and didnt break last season...i forgot the brand but i got them off of ebay...if i had one complaint it was that an 04 byerly wouldnt fit in them...also monster tower racks are $195 each according to their website...mikeski if i am wrong send me the website and ill check them out (i need some more raks)....

wickedwake 01-17-2005, 2:53 PM

Well I can get 2 racks for 140 as opposed to one Monster rack for 195$. And since me and my college buddies are funding this whole boat project we are on a budget, we just love to ride!

(monstertower) · (monstertower) **Join Date: Mar 2003** 01-17-2005, 9:36 PM

That's an awsome / amazing value, plastic can be as strong as aluminum if it's done right.

Aluminum is costly stuff to extrude/machine/finish. Post up some pics and links. I think there would be a strong market for that product, with a huge WOW price point this market has never seen for racks.

(greatdane) · (greatdane) **Join Date: Feb 2001** 01-17-2005, 9:51 PM

Plastic makes a lot of sense to me.

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-18-2005, 12:42 AM

He is talking about:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/8/202516.html?1105731300

We decided to use plastic because we run in salt here in San Diego and I have seen many aluminum racks destroyed by just regular use out here in a couple of seasons. The plastic we use is a bit different than most. It is a 1" thick High Density Polyurethane with UV protection. It will last 50years in the sun without fading and seems to be a lot stronger than the GP Plastic alternatives that have been tried in the past. I have sold a lot of these on E-bay and think they are a great alternative for the budget minded boat owner(I've received great feedback and lots of people asking for more and referring friends).

I would love to get this product line off the ground right but I have had a REALLLLY hard time getting organized with a good machine shop that will give me reliable inventory. I don't know how Bill does it :-)

I have followed Monsters' progress and love that they have been able to offer a quality product at great prices. Hopefully I will be able find someone reliable before the season starts to give all you "Ballers on Budget" another alternative...well those not already loyal to Monster

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-18-2005, 12:49 AM

O yeah, www.wakeworx.com is the url to the rather rough website we have up :-)

We put it up last season but have made some rather significant improvements to the line since then. Hopefully an update is coming soon...but seeing as I'm the designer it might be a while...

(Message edited by cla17 on January 18, 2005)

(jayc) · (jayc) **Join Date: Sep 2002** 01-18-2005, 3:45 AM

Both myself and a friend have 2 pairs of these on our boats. They hold the boards great and show no signs of wear after a full season in saltwater.

Total 10/10 for value and they don't look too bad either.

wickedwake 01-18-2005, 12:43 PM

Good deal! Looks like I'll take 2 of them Chris! Send me a PayPal when you read this.

(mikeski) · (mikeski) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 01-18-2005, 1:36 PM

Sorry for the confusion guys, I was thinking in terms of pairs of boards not pairs of racks. The racks are $195 each or $195 per pair of boards or $97.5 per board

(munky_flip) · (munky_flip) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 01-18-2005, 5:35 PM

hey chris you racks work great...but my friends 04 byerly wouldnt fit...i just thought you might want to know...

(monstertower) · (monstertower) **Join Date: Mar 2003** 01-18-2005, 7:58 PM

Boards were alwasy just under 1" thick but they are getting thicker so all us rack slingers need to address that.

(jklein) · (jklein) **Join Date: May 2001** 01-18-2005, 8:19 PM

I've had plastic on my boat since 2000 and average 120 hours per season. I do use 303 on them and they've never been a problem even when driving a lot of double ups.

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-18-2005, 10:11 PM

I appreciate the feedback guys. I have never had any problems with boards fitting but it sounds like I need to research some new boards. How thick is the new Byerly? Does it barely not fit or is it way off Derek? It is a pretty easy adjustment to make but if its a 1% thing then it might be worth holding the thinner boards tight in the rack over spacing out the forks.

(munky_flip) · (munky_flip) **Join Date: Sep 2004** 01-19-2005, 1:32 PM

it bareley doesnt fit... i got it about a 1/4 of the way and was just to tight...a little bit off would help..ill try to get my friends board again and take some pics for you..

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-19-2005, 1:55 PM

I appreciate it greatly :-)

(monstertower) · (monstertower) **Join Date: Mar 2003** 01-19-2005, 6:35 PM

Chris - If you can figure out how we did it please let me know

Always say I'd rather be lucky than good! (missed that on the first read, thanks for the comments)

You probably want to open up your gap between the fork fingers (after inserts) up to 1.05" or 1.10". All us rack makers need to be doing this now. Enough boards have gone over the "maximum" of about .95" thick ever seen just last year and I expect more are coming. The board companies are trying to make the boards lighter and the logical way to do that is to use ligher cores and make them thicker.

At least that's my opinion, but I could be wrong!

(cyclonecj) · (cyclonecj) **Join Date: Jul 2001** 01-19-2005, 9:02 PM

My new HL wakeskate doesn't fit my new Batracks. :-(

(
They're making those pretty thick these days too. I asked Skylon about making wider replacement forks.. (crickets)

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-20-2005, 1:30 AM

I appreciate the advice Bill. These racks have a 1.0" gap right now and the rubber inserts are only in the trough of the forks. I think I'll bump that out to 1.10" on the next batch and that should help with wake skates as well Psyclone :-)

air_sv211 01-20-2005, 4:48 AM

Hey Chris, while you are doing the next batch, how about making a set without the middle fork and make the outside forks that are left a little longer to hold surfboards and kneeboards. The same from Monster would be nice as well Bill.

(Message edited by air_sv211 on January 20, 2005)

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-20-2005, 11:40 AM

Yeah I just got a question a few days ago on that. The thing is that kneebaords are very irregular a lot more so than wake boards and skates in thickness and width. And then you have a very light and very large air foil on the side of your boat when driving. The problems can be overcome, but I think it would be a major rework and not just a couple of minor changes. But it is something to think about…

(mikeski) · (mikeski) **Join Date: Aug 2003** 01-20-2005, 12:57 PM

Chris,

Do you have anything that will mount to the Illusion yet? Quick release would be nice too, but not really required at these prices.

wickedwake 01-20-2005, 1:47 PM

Hey Chris, please let me know when you do make a wider batch. Our lake wont be up until April so no riding till then, will they be ready by then? There seems to be a pretty high demand for these things, so keep us posted! later, Clay

(cla17) · (cla17) **Join Date: Mar 2002** 01-20-2005, 2:13 PM

Mike: These fit 1.5" to 2.5" vertical or horizontal tubes so they are pretty universal.

And I will keep you posted on when I am planning another run Clay.