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Go Back   WakeWorld > >> Boats, Accessories & Tow Vehicles Archive > Archive through February 21, 2008

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Old     (lkeashly89)      Join Date: Feb 2008       02-17-2008, 6:23 PM Reply   
Hey
My family is looking at buying a 2007 malibu VTX and we cant decide if we should get the power wedge or manual one. We are hearing good things about both but we are looking for some feedback from people who have used them. Anyone out there have a preference ?
Old     (calummoore)      Join Date: Nov 2007       02-17-2008, 11:48 PM Reply   
if you can afford the power wedge it is a big bonus. It means you can set it at different levels and really shape the wake where as with the manual you only can put it all the way down.
Old     (westsidarider)      Join Date: Feb 2003       02-18-2008, 12:16 AM Reply   
yea calum is right... with the power wedge you can adjust the settings on the fly while driving to make the wake steeper and bigger. on top of that you dont have to worry about someone dropping the wedge down or pulling it up that doesnt know how to do it and if the water is cold no one has to get wet to bring it up or down. no other way to go than a power wedge.
Old     (owenitall)      Join Date: Jun 2007       02-18-2008, 12:17 AM Reply   
the manual wedge burns more gas too because it is down all the time and the boat struggles to get on plane.

with the power wedge you can take off with it up and plane out very fast and then deploy it once you get on plane. power wedge is way better if you can afford it.
Old     (mikel)      Join Date: Nov 2004       02-18-2008, 12:30 AM Reply   
Alan...you are misinformed...the boat will not struggle to get on plan with the manual wedge down.
Old     (andy_nintzel)      Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Minnesnowda       02-18-2008, 5:03 AM Reply   
Hopefully the new power wedges dont fall off! I have been in 3 Malibu when the wedge has fallen off the boat!
Old     (deltawake)      Join Date: Sep 2004       02-18-2008, 6:23 AM Reply   
The new manual or "Free Floating Wedge" will not break. It is welded stainless steel. The older manual wedge was an aluminum plate screwed into brass, and that is the joint that usually broke.

We have had all three styles. We love the power wedge- very convenient. The free floater is a big improvement over the old manual one though. I don't think you can go too far wrong either way, but if you can swing the $$, go with the power wedge.

Alan- it is not possible to deploy the power wedge from the up position once you are on plane. Also, the boat does not struggle to get on plane with any kind of wedge unless you have the boat heavily weighted or overweighted- just like any other wake boat. It is possible to make wake adjustments with the power wedge while you are underway.

(Message edited by deltawake on February 18, 2008)

(Message edited by deltawake on February 18, 2008)
Old     (05mobiuslsv)      Join Date: Apr 2006       02-18-2008, 7:42 AM Reply   
+1^^^^

Who told you that alan, I hope you didn't just pull that out your a$$.
Old     (raspy)      Join Date: Mar 2007       02-18-2008, 9:09 AM Reply   
I have a manual wedge on my 05 vlx and really its not a big deal at all. Usually we only ride with it up or down. If you just starting its up. If you know what you doing, its down. The wake is sick either way. My buddy has a power wedge and its the same way. Usually its either all the way up or all the way down. Just my experience anyway.
Old     (nvboarder)      Join Date: Nov 2005       02-18-2008, 9:20 AM Reply   
It's all about cost and convenience I have ridden behind the power wedge, which I have on my boat, and the floating wedge behind on the same year and hull. Their pretty even, yes you have more options with the power wedge but what I have found is that I normally leave it all the way down, on the occasion I will raise it about 1/4 - 1/2 way up and it will put an awesome lip or steeper ramp. The only time I do that typically is when I have a lot of weight in the boat, especially up front.
Old     (melanie)      Join Date: Apr 2001       02-18-2008, 9:39 AM Reply   
Can you remove the power wedge? A friend didnt get the power wedge because the boat would not fit in his garage with the wedge. He said he got the manual one so that he could remove it.
Old     (deltawake)      Join Date: Sep 2004       02-18-2008, 10:05 AM Reply   
You can't remove the manual one very easily. You can put it in the down position, which I believe would give you an advantage of several inches over the power wedge in the down position.
Old     (cavlxenvy)      Join Date: Aug 2007       02-18-2008, 1:18 PM Reply   
+2^^^^ to alan.

From my experience on the VLX, if you run a power wedge, you should have bow ballast. IMO, you should always have bow ballast but I see some dealers order them w/o it for certain reasons such as seating or $$$.

It may be different with the VTX though since its a shorter boat.

Just make the right move and get the power wedge. You won't regret it and it will only factor in about $9 per month on your payment for the difference in price.
Old     (cavlxenvy)      Join Date: Aug 2007       02-18-2008, 1:19 PM Reply   
With the power wedge, you can take off with it at the 400lb setting then deploy it to the 1200lb setting. This will help you get on plane faster. Maybe this is what he was talking about. If you run it at 1200 and your rider falls, its best to put it down to 400 to help plane out faster.
Old     (pete_moss)      Join Date: Sep 2007       02-18-2008, 1:36 PM Reply   
I've been looking for about a half hour now and I can't find any pictures of the wedge on the internet. Can anybody describe what it is and save me some time?
Old     (westsidarider)      Join Date: Feb 2003       02-18-2008, 1:40 PM Reply   
go to the malibu website
Old     (pete_moss)      Join Date: Sep 2007       02-18-2008, 1:52 PM Reply   
Thanks jason. Does that little thing actually make that big of a difference?
Old     (longhornfan)      Join Date: Oct 2005       02-18-2008, 3:17 PM Reply   
I've ridden behind a VLX once last summer. When I first started the power wedge was up. Not sure how the guy had his tanks filled but I remember I wasn't very impressed. After my first run he asked if I wanted him to put the wedge down. The difference without adding any ballast to whatever he already had it set up at was huge. When we ordered our VLX last week I told my wife the power wedge and the front ballast were the two options we absolutely had to have.
Old     (owenitall)      Join Date: Jun 2007       02-18-2008, 9:00 PM Reply   
ok guys (been at work all day),
i definitely was not disrespecting malibu in any way, or the power wedge, but i am not an expert either. i think of both in the highest regard and wish i could own one.

ryan (and everybody)
that is exactly what i meant. yes, the malibu that i drove and rode in was a vtx and it did not have any ballast in the front. it is a friend of mine's and he instructed me (just like the dealer told him) to pull a rider up with it off (or mostly off, may be the 400lb setting, but definitely not all the way in the "up" position) until the boat gets on plane and then fully deploy it.

when the rider falls, raise the wedge back up (but not all the way up) while you are circling back to get the rider. then do the same thing over again.

a few times i would forget and leave the wedge fully deployed when i pulled him up and with the rear ballast full, the wedge deployed, and the strain of the rider, the boat has a lot more bow rise than before. i know this had to burn a lot more gas doing it this way.

true, there was no ballast in the front, and i am sure if it would have had some, there would have been a lot less bow rise, but any way you had the boat weighted (properly or not) that wedge fully deployed equals 1200 more lbs of weight in the rear (so i have always heard) and would definitely take longer to plane out than if you started out without it, and then deployed it once on plane. wouldn't this save more gas? with the manual wedge, it has to be fully deployed all the time.

again i say power wedge all the way.
sorry about all the confusion.

i will also agree that ballast should be used in the front when available, but his boat did not come with it. i am sure it would help, and he may do that this year. nobody ever sat up front and we would have 8 people, all in the back with the back ballast filled and the wedge and that wake never would wash out even though the weight distribution was very rear heavy. i was very impressed. it always had a clean wake. it's like you could not make it wash out as long as you were going 22-24 mph.
Old     (gdillyfunk69)      Join Date: Nov 2003       02-18-2008, 9:14 PM Reply   
alan... I agree with what you said earlier.... when the wedge is down, and there is ballast, they take a while to plain off.... it makes sense!!! The wedge is causing downward pull and malibu says its equvilent to addiding 400 punds to the back... how is that not going to slow the acceleration down????
Old     (05mobiuslsv)      Join Date: Apr 2006       02-19-2008, 7:39 AM Reply   
Sorry alan didn't mean to attack you, with no bow ballast and wedge down it would be nose high and might never come down...
Old     (tj_in_kc)      Join Date: Jan 2008       02-19-2008, 8:57 AM Reply   
Peter

The manual wedge CAN be removed very easily, two bolts in fact. I have it on my 2007 Malibu. The wedge is banned on my lake, so i took it off (to lag bolts). If i go to a different lake and want to use one, i can just bolt it back on.

The stainless backing plate stays on of course, but doesn't stick out much.
Old    swass            02-19-2008, 9:02 AM Reply   
"Hopefully the new power wedges dont fall off!"

It only took 5 replies before the inevitable occurred.
Old     (malibudude)      Join Date: Feb 2001       02-19-2008, 11:36 AM Reply   
The wedge won't fall off, but if you hit the PW you'll do serious damage compared to the bolted design.

If you're having problems plaining or using tons of throttle you'll want to examine which prop you're using. We currently have the 537 and while it's okay when we've only have a few people aboard, but last Sunday we had 10, full 1,250 ballast and the PW and it took alot of throttle to get on plane. I'll be looking into a OJ 475.

The nice thing about the PW is I know it's up and I don't have to worry about climbing back through everyone to deal w/ it. The adjustability is also a benefit, but the free floating wedge essentially does the samething.

Short answer get the PW. You can retrofit a free floating wedge from a standard wedge, but you can't ever upgrade to the PW.
Old     (nvboarder)      Join Date: Nov 2005       02-19-2008, 12:47 PM Reply   
Dude: Your wake was awesome Sunday, but that looks to be it for awhile. Since winter is coming back into the picture.
Old     (malibudude)      Join Date: Feb 2001       02-19-2008, 12:53 PM Reply   
Yo Tim,

That thing was down right, well huge, then again that's because I'm use to my classic...lol I can't afford all the gas until the other boat sells, even then I need the money tree back..lol

Next weekend it's clear and sunny we'll hit it again, of course you have an automatic invite. Who knows I may make it all the way across this time...lol
Old     (wakeboardnut)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-19-2008, 4:24 PM Reply   
so once on plane you can't lower the power wedge?

but you can take off with it only a quarter of the way down and then lower it all the way once on plane?
Old     (deltawake)      Join Date: Sep 2004       02-19-2008, 7:00 PM Reply   
tj- what I was answering was the issue of whether taking off the wedge would help you fit the boat in a garage. I may be wrong, but not by much- The wedge in the down position takes up little or no more space than removing the wedge. (with the two bolts as you mentioned) The stainless mounting plate sticks out quite a bit more than the old wedge mounting plate. The only way to gain more space would be to take off the mounting plate which is not a conceivable thing to do every time you put the boat in the garage. BTW-They are machined bolts with stainless washers and NyLok nuts- not lag bolts.
Old     (deltawake)      Join Date: Sep 2004       02-19-2008, 7:08 PM Reply   
I just went back and looked at some old pics. The stainless wedge in the down position sticks out about 4 inches past the mounting bracket. So- if four inches makes or breaks being able to fit it in the garage, take the wedge off, or cut a hole in your wall!

(Message edited by deltawake on February 19, 2008)
Old     (deltawake)      Join Date: Sep 2004       02-19-2008, 7:17 PM Reply   
Here is a pic of the stainless wedge in the down position:

Upload

(Message edited by deltawake on February 19, 2008)

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