New Parts!

[AboveTheBest]

I just received the L13 Cone suggested by @swatski and have had the Cobra Viper NK from @Cobra Jet Steering LLC sitting on my desk at work for a couple of weeks now. I'm heading to South Texas tomorrow for a hog hunt until Monday, and I'm honestly a little bummed I have to go and can't install my new parts until Tuesday...

The wife and I are taking the boat out next Thursday for its first trip of the season, and I cant wait to see the difference. I won't fully realize the benefit of the Viper until I get to do some skiing (not happening next week), but I'm sure that will be a big help in a couple of weeks when I get the wetsuit on for the first time this year.

 

[Coheeba]

I'll take your place at the hog hunt.

 

[swatski]

I just received the L13 Cone suggested by @swatski and have had the Cobra Viper NK from @Cobra Jet Steering LLC sitting on my desk at work for a couple of weeks now. I'm heading to South Texas tomorrow for a hog hunt until Monday, and I'm honestly a little bummed I have to go and can't install my new parts until Tuesday...

The wife and I are taking the boat out next Thursday for its first trip of the season, and I cant wait to see the difference. I won't fully realize the benefit of the Viper until I get to do some skiing (not happening next week), but I'm sure that will be a big help in a couple of weeks when I get the wetsuit on for the first time this year.

You are running the OEM impeller, correct? Those work best by far with the L13s , especially in 190s. I have tried just about any possible impeller maker/pitch combination, always came back to the same conclusion - the OEM is the best performer, overall. And as far as the hole shot and cavitation (which is a much tougher issue to conquer in singles) - the OEM is hands down the best, mostly because of the largest size/length of the blades as compared to all commercially available aftermarket impeller models.
You are going to love it!

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[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I just received the L13 Cone suggested by @swatski and have had the Cobra Viper NK from @Cobra Jet Steering LLC sitting on my desk at work for a couple of weeks now. I'm heading to South Texas tomorrow for a hog hunt until Monday, and I'm honestly a little bummed I have to go and can't install my new parts until Tuesday...

The wife and I are taking the boat out next Thursday for its first trip of the season, and I cant wait to see the difference. I won't fully realize the benefit of the Viper until I get to do some skiing (not happening next week), but I'm sure that will be a big help in a couple of weeks when I get the wetsuit on for the first time this year.

Cool but I promise you even though the skiing part won't happen you will definitely get the realization of the difference in the boats steering and then get the admiral behind the wheel , however do not do that too soon because you just became a passenger for the remainder of the day once you let the boss drive.

 

[AboveTheBest]

Thanks for the advice @swatski, I am running the stock impeller and won’t be boring out the Venturi either.

The thought of this cone shaving even a second off of my plowing through the water waiting to get up on a slalom would be worth it in my book. Jeff at CobraJet also mentioned the planing effect of the Viper, so I’m hoping that will translate to a faster hole-shot as well.

It will never be a Nautique, but I’m hoping I can turn my family-fun boat into a better towing machine!

 

[AboveTheBest]

Cool but I promise you even though the skiing part won't happen you will definitely get the realization of the difference in the boats steering and then get the admiral behind the wheel , however do not do that too soon because you just became a passenger for the remainder of the day once you let the boss drive.

Good point Jeff, and thanks for all your help with everything from selecting the Viper to telling me stock parts and bolt sizes for my steering replacement.

BTW; Jeff’s customer service was unbelievable, and I’ve never had response to tech questions from a manufacturer (or anyone) come as fast as his!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Thank you And I look forward to your comparison review regarding the different systems I had a thread with many of those comparisons on it although it somehow was sidetracked.
In any event many people have done the same thing and loved it. I doubt your experience will be any different.

I fond the other similar thread however it does go sideways on the third page still up to that point it was very informative.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/swapped-out-thrust-vector-xv-for-cobrajet-fins-opinions.16469/page-3
I also have one about the alternate side force stabilizers for the ultimate steering where I explained that you can get lateral thruster compatible ultimate steering just contact me like some have already done here.
They can tell you about it if they choose to or not their call on that I fully understand either way.
The magnum A K systems are compatible as sold, and if you want serious real reverse along with several other important benefits you should choose the mega fangs ,more features, less cost. With my money back guarantee .
And I may have a new surprise coming in the near future you just never know. But you can be sure if I do it will have nothing to do with any non metallic parts.
Remember it is the beginning of boating season so do your homework and buy your last steering system first, all steering systems are not created equally not by a long shot!
At Cobra jet Steering we won't steer you wrong.

 

[AboveTheBest]

Finally got out for the first run of the season and had a chance to test out the new additions.

The L13 Cone almost entirely removed all cavitation issues with WOT from a dead stop. I say almost, as there is still about half a Wah (down from the usual “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, etc..........”)

My results with the stock impeller and Venturi are identical to what @swatski shows in the videos in his post.

As for the CJS Viper; it makes the boat feel like it’s riding on rails at full speed. The combination of the two parts has also decreased the speed required to plane, and the boat feels like an entirely different animal now; more deliberate and responsive.



The wife enjoying the upgrades on our first trip of the season.

 

[swatski]

The L13 Cone almost entirely removed all cavitation issues with WOT from a dead stop. I say almost, as there is still about half a Wah (down from the usual “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, etc..........”)

My results with the stock impeller and Venturi are identical to what @swatski shows in the videos in his post.

Fantastic! Thank you for sharing.

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[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Very good ,glad you like the improved steering and handling, sorry you let the wife drive because now you become the passenger a lot more than before .

 

[Lake_Spray]

Finally got out for the first run of the season and had a chance to test out the new additions.

The L13 Cone almost entirely removed all cavitation issues with WOT from a dead stop. I say almost, as there is still about half a Wah (down from the usual “Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, etc..........”)

My results with the stock impeller and Venturi are identical to what @swatski shows in the videos in his post.

Excited to hear this! L13 going on my AR190 this week. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Spooling]

Did the cone noticeably effect your top speed at all?

 

[AboveTheBest]

I can’t comment on top speed, as yesterday was very windy and choppy. Hopefully it will be calmer this week and I can sneak out during lunch for another test.

RPMs dropped about 300, but I doubt that will amount to much.

 

[swatski]

I can’t comment on top speed, as yesterday was vety windy and choppy. Hopefully it will be calmer this week and I can sneak out during lunch for another test.

RPMs dropped about 300, but I doubt that will amount to much.

That is a good sign that the L13 is working well actually, as it makes the pump work more efficient and keeps it loaded, preventing the impeller slippage (or ventilation, or cavitation - whatever you want to call it, lol - the wah-wah-wah sounding thing). That may or may not affect the top speed much but either way the added efficiency is worth it, IMO.

When the top RPM drops with the L13, one can bring it up by widening the venturi (bore) or bending the impeller's trailing edges - a tad - to decrease the pitch. Both doable, but one quickly ends up chasing something these boats are not really designed for - top speed. For us, 99% of family fun happens below 35mph anyway.

I'm guilty, have spent crazy amount of time and effort to get my sx190 to do 49mph at some point, with my "high speed" setup. But it was awful for casual boating, and took forever to get to 45+ in that boat! I had cavitation that was unacceptable (to me). I ended up settling on a killer low-end setup with top speeds at about 39-40mph, but I could pull anything and it was FUN. With that setup, I could run with 2,000lbs of ballast, no cavitation (almost) on hole shot, and still go 35mph. That was my favorite setup, by far.

To me, it sounds as @AboveTheBest hit a home run, already! I would just enjoy, and not worry if the top speed drops by 1-2mph, it means nothing, IMO.

I have a lot of surfing and wakeboarding friends with very expensive boats, I don't ever hear them talk about top speeds, it is just irrelevant in that world. Some of them can't go much above 35mph.

We are primarily using the boat for water sports, so the towing capacity is paramount. But when we cruise - the pump efficiency is the king. And the L13 helps with both.

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[AboveTheBest]

I ran it again today, still not a perfectly calm day to test the speed but RPM’s got to 7800.

The fins are awesome, and I feel like I’m bleeding off less speed in the turns. Unless I do a 180-270, which the boat does on a dime now

 

[Spooling]

7800 that's spinning pretty good. I boat at 900ft elevation, I don't think I've seen that many on my engine.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

The fins are awesome, and I feel like I’m bleeding off less speed in the turns. Unless I do a 180-270, which the boat does on a dime now

I am very pleased that you appear to be very impressed with the VIPER steering since removing the T V 's
I imagine the admiral is smiling now when she drives the boat like others report after doing the same change over.
Now just wait until you get behind the boat on a slalom ski .

 

[AboveTheBest]

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC, I’ve thought of little else since last Fall...

At 200lbs, I was easily able to wag the stern on hard cuts to the outside using my old steering setup. I’ll share my experiences with the Viper’s ability to stabilize the back of boat as soon as I get a chance, as I’m assuming the difference will be noteable.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Yea I slalom ski behind a p w c with my steering and it holds just fine heck I tow 2 tubes a 3 seat and a 2 seat in tandem snapping them with 5 people in the tubes and do it driving with my feet , real steering makes all the difference. As you are currently learning. I also drive with the same setup while standing on the seat no hands.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10213791974664047

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10213791986504343

Not a boat with any weight to it but a P W C using the steering to do all the work.

 

[AboveTheBest]

This is from today at lunch: just me in the boat w/ a full tank of gas. The water was nice and calm. I’m not seeing any decrease in Top Speed and a negligible decrees in RPM from before. It would seem the L13 Cone did no harm, just helped.