Cobra VM AK + Lateral Thrusters Ready to go

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

The new Ultimate A k will also be mechanically compatible with the new mega fang plus system or the L T s that part is your decision , but the ultimate system will allow you to set the fins to go up mostly out of the water at speed if you are using the surf point this may be a good choice , and they are adjustable if you want to have them stay down for super steering at speed or at idle if you choose to keep them in the water at planning speeds plus this set is spring Loaded just in case you run over a rock wall or some fixed object and they are tempered aircraft aluminum so they can work at all speeds and not need to be huge so they still keep the V configuration and not in the way. Plus very important! You also get the second tie rod for your boats steering system to be balanced out, and with that tie rod you can set the nozzles and fin tow in settings knowing they will stay set. Water sports to docking these cover it all . the total Ultimate A K with the complete mega fang plus setup will be about $644 with free shipping in the U S A

 

[Bennie]

ok @swatski I need some help here bud.
I feel like I can trust a man that also roots for my Cards!!

Will has his amazing sale going on right now and since I REALLY want some Lateral Thrusters and a steering enhancer I am running into a bit of a personal dilemma.
Listening to you and @ttzz I was looking at getting some AKs with fangs.... however my frugal and OCD (everything must match) part of me is arguing for some Thrust Vectors.

We rarely do any water sports. We mostly find quite areas and go swim. My biggest need for steering enhancement is in NO-Wake zones (fighting tides) and near the dock. Wind and moving tides have made their mark on my (used to be) beautiful black hull.

Thoughts? Guidance?

 

[swatski]

ok @swatski I need some help here bud.
I feel like I can trust a man that also roots for my Cards!!

Will has his amazing sale going on right now and since I REALLY want some Lateral Thrusters and a steering enhancer I am running into a bit of a personal dilemma.
Listening to you and @ttzz I was looking at getting some AKs with fangs.... however my frugal and OCD (everything must match) part of me is arguing for some Thrust Vectors.

We rarely do any water sports. We mostly find quite areas and go swim. My biggest need for steering enhancement is in NO-Wake zones (fighting tides) and near the dock. Wind and moving tides have made their mark on my (used to be) beautiful black hull.

Thoughts? Guidance?

I said what I think I know and beyond that it is all guessing/speculation for me.
I'm on the fence about LTs myself, they seem to function well but I do not like the concept/design out of concern for loading them up with crap (like a funnel), also do nothing if not reduce strait reverse which I need. I would personally go with a BRP/RiDE/diverter style mod for reverse in a nanosecond - so far only @SamCF has done it the right way. It is a bit more involved for twins though and not commercially available.

@Foobar is the only one I know who posted a side-by-side review, very informative and covering all major issues, but unfortunately the thread around it imploded which is a shame.

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[MidnightRider]

ok @swatski I need some help here bud.
I feel like I can trust a man that also roots for my Cards!!

Will has his amazing sale going on right now and since I REALLY want some Lateral Thrusters and a steering enhancer I am running into a bit of a personal dilemma.
Listening to you and @ttzz I was looking at getting some AKs with fangs.... however my frugal and OCD (everything must match) part of me is arguing for some Thrust Vectors.

We rarely do any water sports. We mostly find quite areas and go swim. My biggest need for steering enhancement is in NO-Wake zones (fighting tides) and near the dock. Wind and moving tides have made their mark on my (used to be) beautiful black hull.

Thoughts? Guidance?

I’ll just throw my .02 cents in here as well. I don’t like to say anything about thrust vectors cause I’ve never used them but I can simply state how I ended up on AKs instead. I’m like you and thought thrust vectors are really finished looking product with the color match ability and engraved branding, design wise JBP has these things dialed in and I was also tempted by having nice looking matching setup. I also think JBP makes quality products and many people love the thrust vectors. 2 things tipped in the other way to the AKs,
1. All we do is water sports and IMO always down is a must for skiing and wake boarding. (Sounds like this point is a non issue for you)
2. @Foobar vids showed how the thrust vectors don’t come back down until you are fully off plane and you may lose effect of the fins if trying to maneuver in between that power off and finally off plane. That stuck with me, but how big a deal that is really... I don’t know. From the mouths of many users the thrust vectors are awesome and work great for them. So you are where we’ve all been trying to consume as much info about these setups as possible and make your own decisions on what will best work for you. Honestly, since you don’t do water sports, I doubt you’ll be disappointed either way you go. Good luck.

 

[Jack Long]

LT's are really worth it!

My wife is able to drop me off at any dock no matter how strong the currents or wind are, no matter how many boats are around and she is in complete control of the boat.

 

[LukePrinsloo]

Jeff's been trying to help me out via PM and we have covered a plethora of options.
Just bought the LT's from the group buy. The old style stabilizer (Jeff's words) requires you to drill into your jet to mount it.
I've got the lt's on order and will take some pictures of the stack up before I buy anything else. If it truly does not work I may just send the LT's back and add mega fangs to my setup. (I'll probably try the lt's w/o the fins first).
My wife is a huge fan of the forward speed mobility the Cobra setup gave us, so i cannot get rid of that and I am not interested in paying for the TV setup at this time. (even at discount.)

Per Jeff my used setup is Ultimate's with old style fangs (2).

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

yes he has the smaller original fangs with only one per nozzle and if he wants to remove the current side force stabilizer he needs to change to the early bolt on stabilizer that bolts to the nozzle to free up the underside of the nozzle for the l t .

 

[Weeb]

Interesting you should try adjusting the fins to the next setting and re think the small fang position as you may be able to place it back in the correct bolt position also it will angle the fins more in live with the hull on plane.

Just tried this it doesn’t work. The fangs hit the fins rear bracket before you can get to the second hole. Can you mount the fangs to the outside of the fins?

Edit. Can’t put the fangs on the outside of the fins either and go up a hole on the fins. There is no room between the fin bracket and the fang nut and washer.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Not exactly sure what you are doing using the fangs with the magnum ak ? What bracket are they hitting? Send me a few pictures so I can see what you are trying to do . I believe you can use a longer bolt and do it on the outside using the same hole as the fin and bracket , worth trying.

 

[MidnightRider]

View attachment 82150 View attachment 82149
Just tried this it doesn’t work. The fangs hit the fins rear bracket before you can get to the second hole. Can you mount the fangs to the outside of the fins?

Edit. Can’t put the fangs on the outside of the fins either and go up a hole on the fins. There is no room between the fin bracket and the fang nut and washer.

It’s really not that hard to drill a new hole. Just put the top bolt in the fang then swing the fang down to a point where it clears the LT and mark with a pencil. Then drill the hole and then lay it on top of the other one and use it as a template to mark the other fin and drill that hole - done.

 

[Beachbummer]

Hello OP @ttzz

I just did the same install (and it worked great), but the mounting bolt seems a little short with the added thickness of the Cobra "beam" that also bolts under the nozzle. I am missing some thread engagement on the lower nozzle bolt.

Did you get a longer bolt to use here?

Any thoughts?

After a close look, we have a different set up as I have an sx230 and my Cobra fins are a little different.

 

[MidnightRider]

Hello OP @ttzz

I just did the same install (and it worked great), but the mounting bolt seems a little short with the added thickness of the Cobra "beam" that also bolts under the nozzle. I am missing some thread engagement on the lower nozzle bolt.

Did you get a longer bolt to use here?

Any thoughts?

After a close look, we have a different set up as I have an sx230 and my Cobra fins are a little different.

Hmmmm.... do you have a picture. My first thought with you saying "Cobra Beam" bolting under the nozzle is you are using a Cobra product/setup that is not compatible with the Lateral Thrusters. The AK fins and "original single" fangs don't use the nozzle pivot bolt, only the LTs use the nozzle pivot bolt. What cobra setup are you using?

 

[Beachbummer]

Wow, I can't say I know the exact name. Its fixed and similar to yours, but there is a stabilizing piece attached to the bottom also.

It worked very nicely in conjunction with the Cobras last weekend, so compatible or not it fit and functioned very well, but the bolt is too short to engage all the existing thread.

 

[Weeb]

After a lot of debating I decided to drop the fang like @ttzz because it was blocking 1/3 of the lateral thrusters output nozzle when the steering was straight and I didn’t want to take a chance on breaking something do to too much force. I didn’t lower it as much as @ttzz I just cleared the bottom of the output nozzle on the LT’s. Because my fins were on the boat already I did the process a little different. I mounted the fang on the outside of the fin and drew a line across the top of the fang on the fin. I then took the bottom screw out and moved the fang down 3/4” marked it on the leading edge of the fin and clamped them together. Using the drill I started a hole in the fin through the fang hole then I moved the fang out of the way and finished drilling the hole then I mounted the fangs back on the inside of the fins. I will be testing it tomorrow. This set up is with the Magnum AK regular fangs and Lateral Thrust Enhancers. I don’t know why it keeps loading my pictures on top

 

[swatski]

View attachment 82326 After a lot of debating I decided to drop the fang like @ttzz because it was blocking 1/3 of the lateral thrusters output nozzle when the steering was straight and I didn’t want to take a chance on breaking something do to too much force. I didn’t lower it as much as @ttzz I just cleared the bottom of the output nozzle on the LT’s. Because my fins were on the boat already I did the process a little different. I mounted the fang on the outside of the fin and drew a line across the top of the fang on the fin. I then took the bottom screw out and moved the fang down 3/4” marked it on the leading edge of the fin and clamped them together. Using the drill I started a hole in the fin through the fang hole then I moved the fang out of the way and finished drilling the hole then I mounted the fangs back on the inside of the fins. I will be testing it tomorrow. This set up is with the Magnum AK regular fangs and Lateral Thrust Enhancers. I don’t know why it keeps loading my pictures on top

Could be the best of both worlds! Lookign forward to your review!!

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[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

@Weeb it looks like you have the magnum ak system with the single fangs and people are lowering that fang as you did when they choose to add the lateral thrusters and your steering system is compatible with the lateral thruster as you found out. The older Utimate steering that has a side force stabilizer would need the alternate older side force stabilizer replacing the current one to free up the bottom nozzle bolt to mount the L T. but people are doing it. And I have no problem with it .

 

[Weeb]

I had the boat out the last couple days on a fairly calm lake. The boat tracked and handled great, also turning when pulling the throttles off. Straight reverse seemed about the same as with the mega fangs on it but it wasn’t to windy so time will tell although I’m confident with the single fang. The lateral thrusters were great lining up the boat to back into a slip to go to a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately a small bass boat pulled in the slip I wanted while I was putting my fenders out so I backed right up to a slip the boat wouldn’t fit in because it was to narrow, I didn’t even notice they were smaller until I tried to put 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag. I had the boat lined up to do it though. I agree with @ttzz that the LT’s are another very useful tool to have. While moored I was easily able to swing the backend into the shade, if I tried to do that without them I would have been pulling on my anchor and using a ton of throttle to get the boat to move in reverse and sideways. I like what the LT’s have to offer and don’t notice much going from the mega fangs back to the single fang. But I’m not Mario Answatski anymore (well not with the wife in the boat). I will say it will take a bit to make the LT’s usage second nature without having to think about it but it’s the same as anything new to you. I really like the setup, thanks @ttzz for the original post and pointing me and the boat in the right direction.

 

[Scottie]

I have the older Ultimates with the alternate stabilizer and Lateral Thrusters. I've enjoyed it from the beginning and had no issues at all. I'm usually looking for more, so I got a set of the original "small" fangs from Jeff, drilled a new hole and mounted them up. Had the boat out this past weekend to test them out. The small fangs made a marginal improvement in low speed steering. They DEFINITELY improved straight line tracking at speed. Good addition. No compatibility issues.

 

[LeeFlan7]

So...in simple man language....with the AK system and fangs....
Take out one bolt, swing the fin down a little, drill a hole a little lower to make room for the LT and thats pretty much it?

 

[MidnightRider]

So...in simple man language....with the AK system and fangs....
Take out one bolt, swing the fin down a little, drill a hole a little lower to make room for the LT and thats pretty much it?

Yep. Just for clarity when we say "fangs" we are talking about the original single fangs that bolt to the outside of the AK fins. Not the newer Mega Fangs which need the center bolt the LTs are using. I swung the fang down a tad to where it was out of the way of the LT, drilled it, and then I removed and used it to trace the hole on the other fang - then reinstalled them both. The tricky part for me was getting the toe-in on the AK fins to where it tracked well - took a couple of tries of adjusting and then trying on the water for me to get it where I liked how they tracked.