To Wedge or Not To Wedge

I desparately want to add some weight to my '99 Sunsetter VLX. This is a family boat, so sessions include 7-9 year old kids content with the boat as is.

I have never dealt with fat sacs before. So my question is, if I was going to spend some money, would it make more sense to install the Wedge and then add some permanent weight (lead) in the ski locker/bow?

How much weight would the wedge add? How much would you recommend adding in the ski locker/bow? Does it make a difference if I added the weight under the bow seats vs. the ski locker?

Would the combo of these 2 produce a dramatic change in wake size?

Thanks for any suggestions.

While others may disagree, this is what I've noticed about the wedge. In my opinion, the wedge merely changes the shape of the wake. With the wedge down, the wake becomes more steep.

I would lean toward adding water ballast and keep a small amount of lead to fine tune the wake from side-to-side. As far as weight, you could easily start with 250-300 each locker and 500 in the bow or walk through.

Just my two cents.

I agree with Tim. Add ballast first. I would recommend getting the wedge also but if money is an issue, ballast first and then add the wedge down the road.

We owned a Malibu sunsetter vlx the wedge makes the wake larger steeper and it gives it a lip to jump off. I have put 2500 lbs in our sunsetter vlx and without the wedge down you can't get as much pop off the wake. its that plain and simple. Also one thing of note if your going to put in more than 2500 lbs of weight there is no way your going to plain in any reasonable time or at all with the wedge down. The wedge adds an incredible amount of drag on the boat. I swear I could have filled the boat up with 4000 lbs and planed without the wedge but with it no way! We had the corvette engine however so the monsoon may be harder even. We had 14 people, the locker fat sack full and the wedge down and the boat just barley planed. so that is your max. We had the middle sack full with one in the bow walkthrough and another in the back below the bench seat and 8 people and it took wot for probably like 8 or 9 seconds to get her paining. And in that configuration the wake was very similar to a super air nautiqe wake in size and steepness. If you have the nautique loaded up with stock ballast and 8 people. So if you compare it with the boat stock without the wedge or any weight its like 5 times better and bigger.
My friend was able to land his crow 540's and other inverts. we would pull up the wedge to have beginners ride and the wake is round and easy to cross for them without it plus your used much less gas because its so much easier to plain and turn and what not. If you decide to weight the boat without the wedge you should put most in the back and some in the front and if you use the wedge you need equal or a little more in the front to give a nice imprint in the water. You would want to weigh the back down more without the wedge because you’re going to want the back in more to try and make the wake steeper. but the spray pockets on your hull will flatten out the lip either way unless you get a wedge. Also supposedly the bag in the ski locker was 500 lbs I never pulled it out and weighed it so if you have one in there and 2 in the lockers by the engine and another on the floor by the bench you should be in good shape if you get the wedge by far the best was the locker full the wedge down and a large bag taking up the whole walkthrough and another on the floor in front of the back bench. I would avoid lead for a few reasons 1 is that if you want to use the awesome hull you have for some slalom skiing you can’t get rid of the lead, as the sunsetter vlx imo is the best slalom v drive ever made. Also it will bang around a little and add weight on the trailer. Of course the plus side is you can put it under the seats so you don’t have a bag sitting in the whole walkthrough. Can’t put as much weight in lead under the seats though. Anyway that was out experience in trying to get the best wakeboard wake possible with that boat. And its not bad at all if you have it loaded with the wedge just tough on gas consumption.

anyway good luck with the boat its a fantastic boat we loved it drives like an inboard and like I said best v drive slalom wake ever!

Given the fact that it is a family boat and you do want to easily change the configuration, installing the wedge is a good option for you. It's also a good selling point when you someday go to sell your boat.

I agree with Hyrific that ballast w/o the wedge only works on that boat when it's really really heavily loaded. While that might be ok for hard core riders, it's not a good configuration for a family boat. The wedge will make the wake more steep. I've notices that extra ballast (say an extra 800 lbs in the rear) once you've already got say 800 lbs back there doesn't seem to change the wake that much if the wedge is deployed. In other words, you can sac out with 400lbs in each locker with the wedge.

The wedge will decrease your hourly gas mileage too.