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Old     (greg_smith)      Join Date: Sep 2006       05-28-2012, 6:05 PM Reply   
Hey there, how's it goin? So I just bought a 2001 X-Star, and just had a couple questions about the ballast.

If I have my facts correct, there are 2 hard tanks in the rear (200 lbs each), and there is a 400lbs bag in the ski-locker which are all apart of the stock ballast system. I eventually want to replace the hard tanks in the rear with bigger bags and have this all connected to the plumbing system. I probably won't be taking on this project until later this year. Right now, I'm looking at getting a bow sac for the front. So I basically have two questions regarding this:

#1 - Is it possible to integrate the bow sac into the plumbing system on this particular boat? I imagine it is... but don't know for sure.

#2 - Assuming the bow sac can be integrated in the plumbing system, do I need to buy a particular brand? I would like to buy the bow sac ASAP, but I don't want to buy one and then find out later that the one I bought can't be integrated. Right now I'm looking at the "Fly High Pro X Series Integrated Bow Sac".

Any thoughts?
Old     (greg_smith)      Join Date: Sep 2006       05-28-2012, 6:06 PM Reply   
Here's a link to the bow sac I'm looking at:

http://www.wakemakers.com/fly-high-i...d-bow-sac.html
Old     (gnarslayer)      Join Date: Sep 2008       05-28-2012, 9:11 PM Reply   
get the fly highs they plumb in easiest
Old     (tampawake)      Join Date: Mar 2008       05-29-2012, 6:52 AM Reply   
I went with lead because how small the space is up front. It also helps the boat ride better. I think its said you get about an extra 200 to 300lbs out of it. I bought 400lbs of lead. If your planning on doing 750s in the back your gonna need more weight up front than just the KGB and lead. Also your probably gonna need a new prop.
Old     (kybool)      Join Date: Aug 2004       05-29-2012, 8:15 AM Reply   
I would skip the horseshoe shaped integrated bow sac in a MC 205V, the space is so small the sac holds next to no weight when full. You want 60% of the weight up front/ 40% in the rear.

GOOD wake:
550s in the rear, stock center bag, a sac in the walkway + as much lead as you can stick under the front seats.
BETTER wake:
750s in the rear, stock center bag, sac in the walkway + the big triangle sac on the front seats (+ new prop)
Old     (Delt725)      Join Date: Mar 2011       05-29-2012, 2:32 PM Reply   
Where are people getting their lead? Or making themselves? Better option? THANKS!
Old     (kybool)      Join Date: Aug 2004       05-29-2012, 2:57 PM Reply   
Tire shops have buckets of lead tire weights, I got mine from WalMart. We use 6-pac coolers that hold about 45lbs each and have handles.
Old     (xstarrider)      Join Date: Jun 2007       05-29-2012, 5:36 PM Reply   
It kind of really depends on your ability and what u want to do with your boat.

I used to just wakeboard and surf everytime the boar hit the water. I ran the 750' s in the back a custom locker sac 400lbs ( original exploded) and 600 lbs of pop products steel shot bags in the front at 80 ft and 24.5 mph it was sick.

I have now picked up the ski a bit more as well as starting to teach my younger daughters how to ride. That 600lbs in the nose was killing me. So what I did was plumb in a Fly high Integrated bow sac. I still left 160lbs in the nose of the pop products bags and now fill up the integrated bow sac. Works perfect with the 750 just a touch under full.

My buddy who has 2002 x star is an intermediate rider who pulls a ton of beginners/ intermediates. His setup is 500' s in the rear the integrated bow sac from fly high and his factory locker sac. at 22.5 and 70 ft his wake is nice too. I ride 75 behind his boat tho at about 23.5 and its still good f or.me too.


I started backing off the weight a bit as I am bot going pro and I need to make it to work.......

Again kind of depends what your looking for. An easy way to plumb in to wage you have is just tie the overflow of the factory locker sac to the input of the integrated bow sac.the it fills and empties through the factory center pump. If u run 500's in the rear the front and locker will fill in about same time as the 500's
Old     (xstarrider)      Join Date: Jun 2007       05-29-2012, 5:38 PM Reply   
BTW the fly high pro x series stuff will plumb in nicely when swapping out the tanks with minimal fittings. Stick with that brand for sure
Old     (ironj32)      Join Date: Jan 2007       05-29-2012, 5:42 PM Reply   
I owned a 2000 XStar for 5 years, and put in the integrated bow sac...personally, I think it is a waste of time and money.

I would just do 750's in the rear, leave the center stock bag, put a tube sac in the walkway and then the bow triangle on top of the bow seats. The wake will be awesome.

If you are adamant on the integrated bow sac, you can plumb it in, however you will only get about 350 pounds out of it.

That boat is great and produces an awesome wake. Congrats!
Old     (greg_smith)      Join Date: Sep 2006       05-29-2012, 7:11 PM Reply   
Thanks everyone for the advice... and compliments on the boat!

I'm kinda torn on how to weigh this thing down. I'm not sure whether to get the 550s in the rears, or the 750s. I can't see myself having a fat sac in the hallway, and another one in the bow all the time. That would definitely take up a lot of room. However, I'm concerned that if I get the 550s, I might change my mind and decide I want the wake that the 750s would produce... and just deal with the extra fat sacs in the hallway and bow. So maybe it's better to just get the 750s so that I have that option later down the road if I want it?

I'm would say I'm an intermediate rider. I can do a few 540 variations, a few raley variations, and probably around 7 inverts. I would ultimately like to land maybe a couple mobes, and maybe a 720 some day. I would imagine the 550s would be fine for those tricks.

Another question. I know xstarrider said that the HighFly Pro X Series stuff is the way to go to easily integrate into the factory ballast system. However, I did notice that the "Straight Line BIG BAG" products look to be quite a bit cheaper. And they do advertise to be compatible with factory ballast systems. Any thoughts on these bags?
Old     (ironj32)      Join Date: Jan 2007       05-30-2012, 4:29 AM Reply   
If you get 750s you'd at least have the option to fill them all the way. If you're only wanting 550 lbs in them, then you can just leave them a bit un-filled. Regardless of how much weight you put in the boat, you're going to want to have a 50/50 - 60/40 Stern:Bow ratio.
Old     (tampawake)      Join Date: Mar 2008       05-30-2012, 6:51 AM Reply   
I bought the 750s after having the 4s. I did this thinking for surfing and I could really jack the wake up. I am wishing in hind site I would have kept the 4s and bought an extra 4 for surfing or filling and putting in the bow. That boat needs weight up front. Just easier to fill all the way up and be done instead of looking and guessing at how much weight should be. Especially most my riders are beginner and intermediate riders. Might sell my 750s or would love to trade possibly.
Old     (tampawake)      Join Date: Mar 2008       05-30-2012, 7:07 AM Reply   
Greg if you still have the stupid piece of crap manifold set up thats the first thing you need to dump! If not it will take you an hour to fill all the stuff you want to fill.
Old     (greg_smith)      Join Date: Sep 2006       08-17-2012, 7:48 AM Reply   
It's been a little while since I've looked at this thread, but now it's getting closer to the time when I'm actually going to attempt plumbing this extra ballast in.

So, I have a question about plumbing fat sacs into the OVERFLOW of the stock ballast. It seems as though this would work fine when filling the sacs, but what about when emptying the sacs? Do the stock pumps have enough power to suck the water out of both the hard tank, and the additional fat sac?? The hard tanks are designed so that they pump the water out of the bottom of the tank. But when you plumb in an additional fat sac, there must be some way you have to position the overflow line between the hard-tank and fat sac so that the water naturally wants to flow from the fat sac back to the hard-tank for purposes of pumping the water out of both tanks back into the lake.

Any thoughts? Did that make sense? Lol.
Old     (xstarrider)      Join Date: Jun 2007       08-17-2012, 8:38 AM Reply   
Double post

Last edited by xstarrider; 08-17-2012 at 8:41 AM.
Old     (xstarrider)      Join Date: Jun 2007       08-17-2012, 8:40 AM Reply   
If you are even contemplating piggy backing off the hard tank and pumps just rip them out and get bigger sacs. It will be so much simpler and easier by removing the hard tanks.

If you are talking about piggy backing a bow sac off the tank it won't work. The reason being is because there is no gravity due to the tanks being above ground . There will be no flow to empty.

You can piggy back your bow sac off your center locker sac no problem though.

Last edited by xstarrider; 08-17-2012 at 8:44 AM.
Old     (greg_smith)      Join Date: Sep 2006       08-17-2012, 9:06 AM Reply   
I was actually talking about piggy backing fat sacs that I have laying beside the hard tanks. I'd rather not remove the hard-tanks but.... I might end up doing that anyways. I just thought I'd see what the other options are first. But yeah, I imagine that gravity would be an issue here when trying to empty both tanks. There is no gravity pulling the water from the fat sac into the hard-tank since they are both sitting at the same level, and because the overflow port on the hard tank is located at the top of the hard-tank. Is there a way around that?
Old     (kybool)      Join Date: Aug 2004       08-17-2012, 9:30 AM Reply   
Remove the hard tanks in the rear and get 750s, just for the few times you may want to really slam it. Took me less than an hour to make the swap. Spend the extra $$ and get the quick connect/ disconnects so you can easily pull the bags out.

Run a triangle sac in the bow when only filling to 550 in the rear. Have an extra sac for the walkway for days when you have a small crew and want to maximize your wake.
Old     (jrw160)      Join Date: Oct 2006       08-18-2012, 3:17 PM Reply   
I have the same hull. I had the integrated bow sac, and it just doesn't hold enough weight. I run the 1000lb bow triangle. If you don't trailer your boat, lead is the way to go. I pulled the factory hard tanks and plumbed in 750s. I only fill them all the way for surfing. If I have a boat full of people, I fill the starboard one to around 500 or so and the port one to around 300 for wakeboarding.

The factory manifold is terrible and only really only provides enough flow to run one pump at a time. Last winter I added 2 more thru hulls, so that each pump would have it's own source. It used to take me upwards of 30 minutes to fill everything. Now I can get it full in under 10. I have the ski locker sac and the bow triangle on the same pump with a three way ball valve on it like the one in the link. I also have a tsunami pump I put on the bow sac to make it fill faster.

You will probably need to reprop running all that weight. 14.5x14.25 is the way to go.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CHwQ8wIwAQ

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