how is the wake on a 1996 malibu sunsetter vlx

(wakeboard19) · (wakeboard19) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 09-06-2005, 10:44 AM

We have been looking at this boat, and i was wondering if anybody had one or road behind one and could tell me about the wake. mayb pics thanks.

(melvinator) · (melvinator) **Join Date: Apr 2001** 09-06-2005, 10:50 AM

Same hull as pre 05 wakesetter. I have a 96 great wake, do a search on this site.

josh_tn 09-06-2005, 11:06 AM

I have a 97 which is the same hull. It throws a great wake when weighted. I have posted a pic of my wake here before. I'll have to see if I can find it.

(wakeboard19) · (wakeboard19) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 09-06-2005, 11:56 AM

how far back would i be able to ride.

josh_tn 09-06-2005, 12:29 PM

It depends on what speed you like to ride at. The faster the speed, the farther back you will be able to ride. I generally prefer 70-75 ft at about 21-22 mph. At faster speeds though, I have noticed that I could easily ride further back.

(jnewton7) · (jnewton7) **Join Date: Jun 2005** 09-06-2005, 12:29 PM

I just got a 98 this weekend. We are experiencing with the weight to get the wake right. I will add the wedge later. The wake is nice with about 1800 lbs. I'll try to take some pics this week. Also a twin air mattress works good as a locker sac.

(chopper515) · (chopper515) **Join Date: Mar 2005** 09-07-2005, 8:26 AM

I have a 98 with 400lbs on each side of the engine, about 400lbs in the ski locker, and about 150lbs of lead and concrete in the bow. I love the wake! Here is a pic with only two people in the boat. If I have a few more people I usually put 1 or 2 in the bow.

(jeffr) · (jeffr) **Join Date: May 2002** 09-07-2005, 11:28 AM

In addition to rope length and riding speed…. weighting will depend on if you use the wedge or not. Also depends what wake shape you are going for... vert or rampy?

I copied the weighting formula that Christi uses on her VLX and have been very happy with it… I have an 04 VLX now too… we ride 21-23 at 70-75ft. You could ride a bit further out… but landing in the flats is hard on the knees! Usually no more that 4 in the boat.

Stock MLS filled, wedge down plus some lead. The numbers work out to about 480 per side in the rear and about 630 in the front… plus the “weight” of the wedge. (I think they claim 700) I also have about 80lbs of lead used under the seat or behind the drivers seat for balancing the wake…. 2300ish total.

We load and unload the lead from the boat every time we launch… I don’t trailer it around in the boat.

If you don’t run the wedge you can probably bump up the rear numbers to 550-600 per side in the rear. If we have more people in the boat I move a bit of lead from the back to the front to keep it balanced… Note: if the back is too weighted relative to the front… the wedge does not work as well and will cause the wake to washout.

I don’t have any wake pics at work.. I can post one later.

Good luck.

(wakeboard19) · (wakeboard19) **Join Date: Apr 2005** 09-08-2005, 8:34 AM

It looks like to me that you could ride farther back mat. How far back are you riding. By the picture it is hard to tell the size of the wake.

(chopper515) · (chopper515) **Join Date: Mar 2005** 09-09-2005, 7:21 AM

wakeitup, thats my buddy and he is a beginner that is just trying to go w2w so I think in that pic the rope length is about 65'. I usually ride at 75'.

(bwood) · (bwood) **Join Date: Jul 2003** 09-09-2005, 2:49 PM

I have an 04 VLX and I'm looking to replace the hard tanks in the back. I've heard nothing but good things about the fly high sacks, but they only go up to 440lbs. or Should I go with the 540lbs. sack. I just started wakesurfing so I want the biggest sack in the back as I can get. I know I'll need weight up front, but how much?

(Message edited by bwood on September 09, 2005)

(juice75) · (juice75) **Join Date: Jul 2004** 09-22-2005, 10:26 AM

Matt,
What sac are you using in the ski locker?