2002 Malibu VLX Wake (No Wedge) Dial Me In

What up? saw a post on similar to this on an 08 VLX that had a wedge, and 4 tanks.

I'm trying to dial my 02 VLX wake in. It's stock ballast is one in the center and two in the rear. (No wedge)

I'M LOOKING FOR A STEEP WAKE WITH THE MOST VERTICAL POP POSSIBLE (Aren't we all?) The best I've found so far is stock ballast with a 300 pd sack on each side of engine in back, with two people up front in the bow. And about 4 people in the center. But I don't always have that many people go out to ride.

Suggestions?

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If you want steep, weight the back more heavily. Sounds like you are already doing this. The more you weight the front, the more rampy the wake will get.

That sounds pretty good. I'd also try to get your speed dialed in with a gps and try 77' with about 22.8-23ish mph. That seems to be the sweet spot for vert on that wake.

I think the wake you are looking for is behind a 210

I think you have the same hull that I have in my 2000 VLX.

Your wake will forever be "rampy" but you can make it more steep by adding more weight to the back. You will also find that as you add more weight to the back your fuel consumption will up and the boat will be more prone to porpoise.

I put 500+ in each left/right rear locker, 350 in the ski locker and 400 in the bow. Its a decent wake. A bit rampy but more forgiving.

The easiest way to experiment is with people since that weight is easy to move.

What I were to add a wedge to it? Would it be worth the money? Would it make that big a difference?

2 - 750's in the rear, middle tank full, and a 750 as far front as possible makes for a pretty sweet wake with plenty of kick, drive carefully.

I am not a fan of the wedge if you have enough ballast.

The wedge does give the wake a nice little lip at the end. I personally like the kick I get from it. We have a sportster with lead and fat sacks but I think the wedge makes a big difference. I don't know what it costs to have one put on the boat so I can't comment on if it is worth the cost.

I love the wedge it seems to make the wake a lot harder and also make the boat less sensitive to uneven weight washing out one side of the wake.

Thanks to everyone for their tips

550# each side in rear, 500# in ski locker, 375# in walkway makes a great wake. We never used the wedge, but it will make it steeper.

First and foremost upgrade props. If you are looking for a big wake (thus a lot of weight) you will need something more aggro than the acme 537. You need either the Acme 1235 or the OJ 475 (I prefer the OJ475).

Next I would put 750's in each rear, a 750 across the bow and a 350 in the locker. Then start adding friends and/or lead where you need it.

M-Dizzle, will a prop upgrade help out with fuel economy? How much does it decrease your top speed?

I personally had something less efficient on my 00 vlx than the 537. I then upgraded to the 537 and noticed a small decrease in top speed but out of the hole was much better. I then upgraded again from the 537 to the OJ475 which I am very satisfied with. Anytime you are running weight in a boat you will loose fuel economy. IMHO all things equal with a heavily weighted boat, an aftermarket prop will be more efficient than a stock prop for wakeboarding. Your time to plane will decrease allowing you to ride more. Plus there is less stress on the motor and its not working as hard to spin an improperly matched prop. Now if you drive for 45 mins to get to your riding spot an aftermarket prop may hurt your "commute" to good water as it spins higher RPMS. Personally I love my prop and dont ever see myself going back to anything with more top end. This past memorial day we spent 2-3 hrs just cruising around a local lake and it wasnt that bad with the prop (as long as you dont mind cruising around 30-35 mph at about 4000 rpms). There are a ton of posts about this very issue on: themalibucrew.com. You can do some homework there depending on what your looking for.

FWIW my boat with 750's in the rear (probably filled to about 600 each since they dont completely fill), 750 in the bow (probably around 600 as well), 350 in the locker, some lead and a few peeps will get on plane pretty quickly, and will push around 3200-3400rpms at 25-26mph (wakeboard speed) when fully weighted.

Also, note that with the 750 in the bow you will need to be VERY careful with your nose as its sitting really low with that amount of weight in the bow.

Also: My recommendation for weight assumes you are beyond the normal w2w basics and have a few tricks in your bag. Typically this much weight for a beginner is as inefficient as killing a fly with a cannon.

Haa, JDUB hit it on the head... you need a 210.

Not helpful I know, and I'm sorry.

Jeez you and JDub must be drinking haterade before you make your post. Just cause I wrote I'd like to increase the steepness of my wake doesn't mean I"m not happy with my wake or my boat in fact I love both of them and prefer them to any boat I have ridden behind including a 2008 Epic. The purpose of this post was how to weight the boat to create the desired ballast, not which boat had the steepest wake.

I like the "killing a fly with a cannon" analogy M-Dizzle

No need to be upset. I wouldn't diss on your boat personally and I am a huge fan of Malibu, especially one special '99-2000 VLX. I did think 210 the second I read "I'M LOOKING FOR A STEEP WAKE WITH THE MOST VERTICAL POP POSSIBLE (Aren't we all?)", but only commented because someone else later on did. Your words above are every description of a 210 I've ever heard in my life so I found some humor in the whole thing. Sorry for the mix up.