Bovhica

I don't remember exact cost of install.  I had the dealer install some tower lights and change my vdrive fluid as well.  All that included was about $500 during winter months when dealer was offering a deal on shop labor.

49 minutes ago, Jase said:

Hi there!  Great write-up and project - thank you!

Question: this offseason, I'm planning to do almost the same project - split an existing thru-hull with a "t fitting" in order to add a reversible pump to feed a bow bag.  How much does "t-ing" the plumbing cut down on fill/drain time between 2 reversible pumps?  Have you been able to notice?  Also, have you noticed that adding an addition "t fitting" to fill/drain into 2 different ports on your bow bag making much of a difference in fill/drain times?  And, did you use all 1" material?  Or, did you go 1 1/8" material to the "t", and then reduce to 1"?

Hopefully my questions make sense!

Thanks!

Jase 

Fill and drain times are faster on these bags compared to my center and rears which are on aerator pumps with 3/4 hose.  I'm sure the T causes longer times running 2 pumps but I dont think its significant.  Time really isn't an issue for us. We launch, start filling and by the time everyone and gear is loaded we are setup to surf.  5 to 7 minutes probably but I've never clocked it.  The additional T was installed for draining purposes.  It gets all water out of bag.  I was having a small amount that wasnt getting pumped out from front bag.  Didn't seem to change times.  I used 1 inch for everything.  After 2 seasons, it's working great and I wouldn't do anything different.  Hope that answers you questions.  Good luck!

Mike

27 minutes ago, freeheel4life said:

@Bovhica Just curious....Do you know what actuators got used?? XD 101s?? Or XD102s

Not sure.  I purchased a spare, just in case. I have the box in my garage.  I will try to remember to look this evening  and let you know.

5 hours ago, Landho said:

Thanks!  That’s a lot of weight... we’re hoping to not have to put as much weight up front with the GSA.  Currently we have stock rear, center tanks  -  700 piggy backs integrated in each rear corner (I have ordered 810 from wake makers) , a 300 plug and fill under front seat, and two additional 400’s we can move around. Plus dual 1100 cca batteries, three amps, subs, and usually 5 or more ppl.

Which prop do you run for that setup?

Your weight should be good! You can always have someone sit up front if you need it.  I'm slammed and we love the wave slammed, but the key will be your ratio.  GSA needs more in rear and less up front than suckgate.  You will just have to dial it to your liking. Sounds like you know what you're doing!  Post some pics! 

I run the Acme 2419 with the Lcr 5.7 base motor.  At 2500 to 3000 ft we have no problem pushing the weight at 11 mph.  If I reduce front weight it struggles a bit. If crew is more than 5 or 6, I need to put people in the bow. All my ballast is under seat or hidden which frees up seating.  I used to need my bow bag (sumo 750) full and on top of bow seat when we ran a suckgate.  Now it's under my modified seat which gives us room for bigger crew up there with some lead to supplement. I like my wave with crew of 4 to 6.  Love it with 8 to 10!

6 hours ago, Landho said:

Thank you for this post & pics... just started install for an ‘05 VLX (same hull as yours), and your tip on hacking the hinges saved me wasted time waiting for support to reply 

Glad it helped! Once you get it dialed, you will wonder how you lived without it!

Dialing will be different than using a suckgate.  GSA likes lots of weight in the rear. Without making proper adjustments, you will likely be disappointed.  I upgraded to 1000s in the rear.  Here's our current setup after a couple seasons dialing and perfecting the wave.

Rear: 2400 tanks and bags + floating wedge, 150 lead in vdrive tray under middle seat. 50 lead under each port and starboard rear seats. Fyi....We also will drain non surf side hard tank to clean up wave sometimes.

Mid: plmbed 300 bag under port coffin seat for slight list to surf side, 50 lead in observer compatment, 500 to 600 plumbed bag in place of mid hard tank (my boat only has rear factory tanks) mid bag is a 650, but actual weight is my best guess.

Front approx 300 to 400 bag under modified playpen seat, 200 lead stuffed in the nose.

1st Picture of skim setting. Rider is on skim board and way back! He's about 5'9" and 175 lbs for reference. 

2nd photo is of same rider at surf setting. I know camera angle is different but wave does change significantly. 

8 hours ago, freeheel4life said:

Bovhica, great write up and great install. We were at lucky until 10 last night after work. The weather has been off for is and theres another cold front on the way in. Will be rolling a lime green and grey Tige r23 this summer. Come flag us down if you see us at lucky. We are mostly midweek evenings and occasionally buzz up on Sunday but wont get up there until 530-6

Likewise, flag us down if you see us!  Haven't been to lucky other than to test the system early in april.  We've been at lowell quite a bit.  Water temp was 75 last time we were out over the weekend.  What's the water temp at lucky? 

16 minutes ago, ryan said:

Nice!   A whole lotta love for GSA out there, sounds like for good reason.  

Curious... maybe you can throw the suck gate on too... just to see if both do anything together.   Before and after.

Its definitely memorial day weekend as the weather has come in.  If we get a break, we plan to get some time on the water.  I'll throw it on and see what happens.  Ultimately these devices and systems are just delaying water convergence.  Not sure what doubling up will do, but cant hurt to experiment...lol.  I'll let you know!

Update:  Now that we have been able to ride and tweek the GSA wave, i thought I would report our experiences.  A bit of weight adjustments were necessary to accommodate for the new system vs. the suckgate.  Once dialed we were blown away with wave shape, height, length and push at the back of the wave.  My average size riders were riding the pocket about 15 ft back and recovering from the wash approx. 20 ft back on skim boards! The fat guys like me, lol, were on the brakes way back in the curl! I had to adjust my normal stance back a bit on the board to get off the brakes.  Wave on port side had that curl and lip I've always been envious of on the goofy side! GSA, Imho, is superior in every way to the suckgate we ran last season.  Here is our ballast setup.

Bow ballast approx 500 lbs: approx 350 in plumbed bag under seat and 150 lbs crew.

Midship approx 500 to 600 lbs in plumbed bag under floor in place of hard tank.

Cabin approx 1000 lbs in crew, gear and 300 plumbed bag under coffin seat for slight list to surf side.

Rear approx 2600 lbs: 750s, hard tanks, 200 lead placed under bags, simulated wedge weight.

Note:  We also had another 300 in lead to move around depending on surf side and crew seating to dial in the wave.

GSA was dialed to surf setting for port and skim for goofy.  Bow rise was noticably less than last season with a suckgate.  Most riders preferred this setup for each side.  A couple less experienced riders preferred the GSA set to skim on port side for more mellow transition and height, which brought the bow even more.  I love being able to make these adjustments at the push of a button!

7 minutes ago, freeheel4life said:

That is fantastic. Thanks for the info on your setup. Happy and safe boating this summer!!

Thank you! You too!

I attempted to upload a few pics of wave, but im getting an error.  I will try again later.

With my hull the consensus seems to be that it should be close to a 40% bow and mid to a 60% rear ballast weight ratio as a baseline for an optimal surf wave with a suckgate.  With this ratio my wave is fairly tall and has good length and push.  After lots of trial and error, I've found this setup gets about the most I can from my boat.  The more weight to the rear, the wave will be shorter but taller.  Its definitely surfable but the extra bow weight lengthens the wave and moves the pocket further back behind the boat.  This is also true for the lsv with the same hull.  Im 280 lbs and can surf 15 ft behind the platform.  My lighter riders are almost 20 ft back with current setup.  I just installed GSA and have not surfed it yet, but my setup shouldn't change much however will likely need more weight toward the rear and less in bow due to some lift from the tabs.   This mod and added lead was done to gain back bow seating (bag was on top of seat) without losing bow weight.  The 750 bag wont fill all the way under front seat, so im supplementing with lead to keep the same ratios.

Bow bag: approx. 400 + 500 lead

Mid:  approx 500 bag

Rear: 1500 bags + 400 tanks + 900 simulated wedge weight.

Note: slight adjustments made to this setup for larger or smaller crew including 300 under coffin seat for slight list.

So my baseline ratio is 1400 front and mid to 2800 rear which is closer to a 34/66 ratio.  This works well to start and we adjust from there.  I also can set bow bag on top of seat with lighter crew and move lead around to maintain ratio.  Hope that helps!

12 minutes ago, Rugger said:

Agree with above....Great write up. The pics of hose angles are helpful.  Timbrr loves his GSA on his Malibu I’m sure I would too and was a toss up between that or custom gates.  Thanks for posting.

Hope I can help someone else researching or on the fence.  I will not comitt to loving it until I surf it but so far I think it was money well spent.

15 minutes ago, Number9 said:

Great write-up.  Looks like a well executed install.   I really love that launch feature of the GSA.  I haven’t been able to try one or test it but your description is money for wake boarding.    

Thank you.  I think it could be a game changer for my boat with the base power plant at elevation.