Just picked up a 2018 242 s e seris

[Paul Steele]

Traded in a 2013 Sx192 with 120 hours on it.
Went in looking at 17 242 limited s and ended up leaving with a 18 blue 242 limited s e seris.
Sizzle marine in Columbus, OH took great care of me.

Really looking forward to more space and more horsepower. Ready for some warm weather in Ohio.

How are the lateral thrusters for sale?

Any immeadiate upgrades mandatory?
Did not do much to my Sx192.

 

[0627Devildog]

Congrats on the purchase. . . . AND Welcome aboard!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Congrats! That is quite an upgrade. For steering, the Cobra MegaFang system made docking so much easier for me. I would also say the boat buckles are a mandatory upgrade. I just installed mine and they are WELL worth the $100.

 

[Bluewater272]

You should get rid of that terrible shipping cover, I'll take it off your hands.


Congrats on the new boat!

 

[Sbrown]

Congrats! That is quite an upgrade. For steering, the Cobra MegaFang system made docking so much easier for me. I would also say the boat buckles are a mandatory upgrade. I just installed mine and they are WELL worth the $100.

I think the newer boats are coming with trailers with the retractable transom straps already equipped. At least mine did and all the ones at my local dealer are.

 

[0627Devildog]

I think the newer boats are coming with trailers with the retractable transom straps already equipped. At least mine did and all the ones at my local dealer are.

My 2014, AR240 came with boat buckles from the factory.

 

[Sbrown]

My 2014, AR240 came with boat buckles from the factory.

I wonder where the break is when they started installing them from the factory? I see a lot of posts recommending them as an upgrade, so they must not have come with them at some point?

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

My 2017 didn’t. It might be a dealer upgrade. Like how some car dealer put tint on or something like that. Either way lucky for you guys! The straps were pure garbage.

 

[swatski]

Actually my 2016 did come with the (low grade) boat buckles, so I take it back.

--

 

[CAM212SS]

i believe they are installed on 24's only

 

[0627Devildog]

My 2017 didn’t. It might be a dealer upgrade. Like how some car dealer put tint on or something like that. Either way lucky for you guys! The straps were pure garbage.

They didn't come on the 21ft series in the same year. . . . I believe they started offering them on the 24ft AR240 and up boats in '14

 

[AlphaKap]

Congratulations! Now the brutal wait for warmer weather.

 

[mraz72]

Awesome boat, I have the 2016 version. The only work I've done has been to the trailer, I changed the trailer jack and replaced the bow roller. My next steps are

1. Grill - probably bow mounted to leave the swim platform open
2. Additional ballast - might just throw bags on the swim platform, not sure yet.

Other than they, get all of the toys you want and enjoy the heck out of it. I'm curious about the wake created from the 2018 compared to the 2016, supposed to have improved.

 

[Matt Phillips]

If you tow any distance, get those crappy bias-ply tires off the trailer and go with Radials. You won't be sorry...as I upgraded my old trailer to radials and the new one to new wheels and tires. With my 2017, I went with Good Year Endurance Tires (load D in our 14" size) as well as aluminum wheels I bought on line for about $75 each. I took the stock wheels and tires off my trailer and sold them locally on Craigslist for $300. So basically the price of upgrading my wheels cost $75. I don't count the price of the tires as I was going to upgrade those regardless.

If you have a chance, upgrade your batteries. I got a $200 credit on batteries from my dealer and had them install the group 27 & 31 I had in my old boat (they are now only 3 seasons old). They will perform much better than anything your dealer will install.

You'll have to fight with it for a season (before the boss will let you upgrade), but look at going with some Sea-Dek replacement for that carpet. I found it to be a pain all last year as water was always under it and it seemed like after every trip I had to remove it and hang it to dry. This year I'm installing Sea-Dek and won't look back.

One other small mod I did was I fount a small kids' sticker and placed it on the aluminum portion of the steering wheel to indicate the helm is centered. Since these boats have rack & pinion steering, it's hard at no wake speeds to tell if the wheel is centered. I found a small sticker on the wheel helps give a visual reference.

If you're doing any tow sports, either get a good GPS unit or a good app for your phone. I've found that when at wake surf speeds, the cruise control will often be slow by 1-2 MPH. When I took it in, Yamaha said this was within specs and nothing to change. The work-around is to bump the speed up until the boat is holding at the speed you want it to.

 

[giroux68]

Congrats on the new boat. Tons of great info here.

 

[Shookie]

Congratulations on your purchase! I just bought a 2018 242 e series too.... bluetooth issue and will post a separate thread about it.

 

[Thai929]

Congrats on the new boat! I’m still new to mods also but sounds like steering fins and Seadek is a must.