Wakeboard Tower

[Viper76Man]

Hello, I just bought an Aerial Airborne 2.0 tower. I have peaked at some installs in this forum. To those that have done it, how did everything hold up? Saw the cutting board trick, any other tips or tricks on install (positioning etc)? Can you guys still open your bimini up? I have seen in some other forums some mods were needed.

 

[Yamatuf]

I was not able to open or use my bimini top, i just removed it. At some point I may mfg a new one that sits on top of the tower but not on my top list
I would recommend 3 people to help layout the tower for positioning, measure , measure, measure and cut once. I cut two round access panels in the back of the boat right behind the drivers/passenger seats. be careful there is wiring and cables flowing thru.
I would also apply a small amount of grease on SS screws prior to tightening. This should aid in them not getting to hot and scoring the threads. 2 of my bolts seized then I had to cut off with a cutoff wheel. not fun. I went out and bolt new bolts to help eliminate this issue. After measuring the bolts and nuts they supplied me, they were out of spec tolerance wise.

Support each area with some wood and cutting boards, there is a lot of load stress on the fiberglass. =Cheers

 

[Viper76Man]

Thanks Yamatuf, yours is the install I was referring to. How big were you cutting boards? I know you heated them up and bent them, but then did it create a void between the wood and bent cutting boards? Think you could share you measurements from rear to your post locations? I have the Airborne but like the lines and position of your install.

 

[Yamatuf]

Viper,

Not sure of the dimensions but I attached a picture for your review. My bought is 1 hour away and won't use to Labor day. The cutting boards - I believe I bought a small/medium size cutting board and cut them in half for each location. I attached some pictures for your review. I have no dimensions to give but the picture shows how I moved the tower forward to miss the bump out in the side haul behind the front seats. I used 3M adhesive (5200) i believe to adhere the cutting boards and plywood to the boat boat and each other. I also screwed the wood to the cutting board prior to installing so I only had to hold one item and not 2. (drop them down in the hull and life gets real fun) I added adhesive between the wood board and the cutting board also to fill any void between the two.

I believe the wood was only 1/4 inch thick, maybe 5/16 that I used. if it did not contour, the adhesive filled the void. Hope this helps. I have had no issue with my tower or any signs of strain on the boat. Cheers.

 

[4x15mph]

@Viper76Man , I have the aerial 2.0 and I am able to use my bimini. There are a few days out there when it is useful to keep the sun from making the floor and seats too hot....

 

[heloskick]

How hard/ difficult was this add? I have an LX2000 and I am looking at adding a tower plus a way to try and surf begind it. Has anyone ever had any luck surfing behind their jet boat?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[4x15mph]

This was not too difficult but you have to measure twice and cut once You also need at least one other person bit it is even better to have 3 people when getting it lined up.

I bought 2 x 350 pound ballast to see about surfing and we used them twice for wakeboarding only. I gave up on trying to chase a surf wave and I never heard of anyone doing it.

 

[Yamatuf]

Measure twice if not three times for sure. Three people is ideal so you can move it back or forward and mark the spot. i always wanted to add ballast bags and try to obtain a surf wake. I have done it behind wakeboats, it's a large surf and not sure if this particular model boat will produce the needed wake. 4x15 - why did you give up? small wake - not enough boat torque at 11mph? just curious, just had shoulder surgery not sure if wake boarding is the right medicine, wake surf is easy and no torque on the body

 

[4x15mph]

@Yamatuf - I really think the LS2000 could do it and it wasn't lack of power. We really had a decent wave and with even more ballast as well as some positioning in the ski locker or front bow, it has to be doable. It takes a lot of set up to blow up the bags even though the pumps are quick. The bags take up so much room on the boat just to get them onboard as well as when you are done with them. The LS2000 is plenty of big for us but not when you have all these ballast bags....

If I had your surgery issue, I would be all over this. I may try it again this season and if I do, I will report back

 

[heloskick]

This was not too difficult but you have to measure twice and cut once You also need at least one other person bit it is even better to have 3 people when getting it lined up.

I bought 2 x 350 pound ballast to see about surfing and we used them twice for wakeboarding only. I gave up on trying to chase a surf wave and I never heard of anyone doing it.

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for not getting back to everyone. Is there a tower that you would recommend or are they really one size fits all?

 

[heloskick]

@Yamatuf - I really think the LS2000 could do it and it wasn't lack of power. We really had a decent wave and with even more ballast as well as some positioning in the ski locker or front bow, it has to be doable. It takes a lot of set up to blow up the bags even though the pumps are quick. The bags take up so much room on the boat just to get them onboard as well as when you are done with them. The LS2000 is plenty of big for us but not when you have all these ballast bags....

If I had your surgery issue, I would be all over this. I may try it again this season and if I do, I will report back

I was able to surf last summer but with a rope and a few people in the boat. I bought a wake shapper to try out. Ill let you know how it goes and I might need to get a ballast bags as well to try.

 

[4x15mph]

There are a lot of towers and I just went with one that I saw others had used on the LS2000. As for the surfing, it really is surfing once you can put down the rope and ride the wave free handed. I'll be interested to hear about the wake shaper. I am still more interested in wakeboarding than surfing with the speed, etc.