2002 Wakesetter VLX

I found a 2002 VLX I might take a look at. This would be my first V-drive, coming from a direct drive Supra. How's the wake on this boat? Anything in particular I should watch out for?

You should buy an 08' X-2! Just kidding man, had to throw that atcha.

the vlx throws a great wake. it will be a newer boat for you so im sure it will drive nicer because of that. v-drives do drive a little different as far as turning goes(mostly when idling). they tend to drive more from the rear as opposed to driving from the center if that makes sense to you.

as far as things to look for i would check the area where the wedge is mounted for cracks(i have not seen a boat with cracks in that area unless something was hit). also check the bottom of the boat like you would any boat. the only other thing i can think of is to check the ballast lines if you can water test it.

Throw a 800lb sac in the nose.....then test the wake.

That year responds very well to some nose weight.

Charlie I had the 2002 VLX and I enjoyed that wake. Add another 250 lbs in the front and the rest of the ballast tanks and the wake is nice and rampy. you can upgrade the prop to 1235 Acme if you want a better hole shot or control at slower speed. It is not really needed but it will make it even better. 800 lbs in the front seems a little overkill, but I am no pro boarder by any means. Great boat you will really enjoy it.

Thanks for the responses guys.... The boat I had in mind is probably sold by the sounds of it, but good to know about the boats anyways.

Corey- I love that X2 man, but it just won't fit under the garage door!!

I'm hoping a VLX with a Titan tower will be short enough (height wise) to go in a standard 7' garage door. If not, I'll have to stick with my Supra until I've got a place on the lake with a boat lift!

I have this same boat. Wake is great. In my preference, a good set up is:

- 550lb in each rear locker (took out the stock tanks)
- Stock center
- about 650 in the front
- 250 under the port seat
- 250 on the floor

With this setup, sometimes a full 650 in the front is a bit much and the wake loses some of its peak. May or may not matter to you. If it is very extreme (like empty fuel tank and only a driver) the proportioning is so nose heavy that the boat seriously won't turn. Kinda scary. Since we usually only ride with 2 people in the boat, I could probably use a few hundred more towards the back (planning to get bigger sacks soon). The wake's not huge, but it's good. I could probably stash another 1000lb of lead throughout all the hiding places and it would really be macking.

You can read about weighting all day long. Bottom line, just experiment. Everyone has different preferences and opinions. I can't tell you how many times we've found the "perfect" setup only to change it when we found the next "perfect" setup. You could always just go for broke and add weight till the thing barely gets up anymore. Then you just play with proportioning to adjust the shape.

Danny

fitting the vlx with the tower folded down in the garage will be no problem for you charlie. the titan folds down nicely.

Yeah- I have a Titan on my Supra now. It folds down nice and flat. But, my Supra is a slalom boat, so it's pretty short to start with. The bigger wakeboard boats are so much taller, that I'm afraid that front hoop propped on the windshield might be too tall even. If the tower is installed right, the front hoop might fold forward too which should help the height issue.

Does anyone know if the newer Malibus with the Illusion tower are short enough? I think that tower folds down pretty far behind the windshield....

I just traded my 02 VLX in.
It is a nice boat. The wake is nice.
I had a weight set up similar to Danny's. I too replaced the stock tanks with bags - which gives you needed extra weight.

I used the wedge as well.

Make sure he center sack isn't leaky. That year had a horrible center sack design. The used water bed connectors. I replaced my center sack with the fly high with the quick connects - which solved the leaky sack issue. There is a good chance the previous owner already addressed the issue - like I did. Simple hose clamps work as well.

I don't know what they were thinking using the blue water bed connectors... Things have progressed since...

Would like to know if the center sac issue is the same on a 2003, I'm looking at purchasing a 2003 and I really don't know to much about Malibu besides they are a good boat,also anything else you have to add about a 2003 would be helpful. Thanks