Monster or Joystick Universal Tower for CC 2001

So I've finally narrowed down my choices for my '83 2001 to a Joystick Universal or a Monster. I am leaning more toward the Joystick since it is about $300 cheaper.

I searched and couldn't find a thread comparing just these two towers. Has anyone ridden behind both, or have experience installing, construction, or quality between the two.

Ready to pull the trigger this week, so any help would be appreciated.

Cheers!

I had a Monster on My last boat and was very pleased with it. I installed about four of them and it takes about 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Yeah, I've always wanted a monster, but recently came across the Joystick installed on Erik's old 2001, and it looks pretty good. Just not too sure if the monster is worth the extra 300 bones.

pls do not ruin your 2001 w/ joystick tower... monster all the way...

It would have been a no brainer for me before the price increase. It think from the responses on all the boards it seems like the Monster is the way to go. Guess I gotta eat beans and rice for a little while!

I have to disgree with people here. On an older boat like a 2001 the joystick tower looks better.

I had a joystick on my 87 MC and it suited the boat and was rock solid. Joystick after sales however were not as solid as their tower. Go to the2001.com and look at the pics of eriks with the joystick.

I have absolutely no regrets putting the Joystick on our SN2001. Like Jay, I don't care for the looks of the Monster and think its too swoopy for the older inboards. I did like the fact that the Monster folded flat and their record of outstanding service, but in the end the more squared look and price of the Joystick won out. I think if the difference was just a couple hundred I probably would've opted for the Monster anyways, but I bought off-season and saved A LOT more than $300. Anyway, you can see a few pics of ours in the upgrade forum on the2001.com

I have the joystick rollcage, is this the tower you were inferring to from them? (see below)

No, the Joystick universal looks different.

I'm not too worried about service afrer the sale, just as long as it is 100% when it hits my door. If something goes wrong in the future, I'm sure that I will fix it myself.

Ryan (Bremsen)....Can you describe how the tower is universal as far as the width goes. Do the uprights slide in and out to get the adjustability?

Thanks

my uncle has a '85 2001 and he just bought a bigairtower, its arriving some time this week so ill post pics of how it looks and tell u how it performs

I just installed the Joystick tower on my Sanger and the quality is great, very sturdy and very quiet. Also, I have monster racks and you really cant beat there service, they're great to deal with I just liked the looks of the Joystick and it was a bit cheaper.
Heres a pic

Oh and Brandon, I believe the Joystick comes in like 3 differant widths? Just get the one thats closest to what you need and it will adjust in/out to fit from there. Mine couldnt have went on better and the mounts/hardware is real nice, alomost overkill. I was also able to instal mine by myself without help from anyone, more beer for me I guess!!!!

Thanks for the replies guys. I just talked to someone at Joystick. He said what Byron stated....the tower comes in different widths depending on the boat.

The only downside is there is a 2-3 week leadtime. That kind of sucks since I'm an instant gratification type of guy.

(Message edited by bmh2208 on May 08, 2006)

Brandon, yeh...they have different widths, but you will drill/bolt through the center section to set it once the legs are in place and the tow point is centered. One thing I think about the Joystick is that it looks much better when the front legs are wider.

Anyway, here is a couple pics of ours when we installed it...we haven't ridden behind it yet (had some engine issues) but it seems rock solid on the boat. Should have our first water test next week. We'll be modifying the cover and bimini to fit and will pick up some monster racks for her too. I'm stoked on the purchase no matter what the 'monster crowd' thinks of it.

I got one of these off ebay it didnt come in yet but theyre described and look really nice




heres the link, theres alot on ebay too, i got mine for 860 plus shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Built-Wakeboard-Tower-Low-Reserve_W0QQitemZ7240023042QQcategoryZ23807QQrdZ1Q QcmdZViewItem

Wow, that's a nice tower.
I bought a Joystick and am very happy with it too. It would be nice to be able to fold it down like a Monster tower though. I picked the Joystick because I liked the look better.

Go monster, they are amazing quality, and great towers. I REALLY enjoyed mine, no major complaints, worked great for as long as we had the boat. No noise either!

So does the Joystick not fold at all? Even if it doesn't fold all the way flat it would be nice if it would somewhat collapse to get it into the garage.

Brandon, yes you can fold the Joystick. Although its a little more involved than most it still only takes a couple minutes. You have to remove the two allen bolts on the front arms and slightly loosen the rears and the tower will fold down. You can also/then remove the front arms by loosening the allen set screws and sliding the arms out...you can see the front arm joint in the pictures above.