falcon v switchblade install

[h20king 794]

the blade came today cant wait to get started.It's no secret my brother owns a marine repair shop so most of my parts I get at dealer pricing.I had my brother check in to becoming a dealer so I could have the aluminum blade.dealer price was good but E-bay was better enough better that i bought off them and settled with the stainless blade.To my surprise when I opened the box I liked the E-bay kit better it is the 07 model and in my opinion has a better read out system the blade has a gauge to show position instead of an led readout also there are three switches that match the factory ones perfect.the dash has room for three switches and two gauges so those are the openings I will be using I will probably install a compass in the extra hole so everything looks symmetrical.here are a couple pics of the goods I will follow up with more pics as I make progress

[h20king 794]

couple more pics of the goods I will polish the blade when install is finished

[h20king 794]

you can see in this photo the openings provided by the factory

[Joe B 17]

Post up how much torque your going to put on the mount bolts.

 

I called switchblade about how much torque to put on the plastic sandwich part that moves up and down and they said lock tight, then back off 1/4 turn. If it's too loose, the blade will have play and the boat will be hard to drive dead straight at boarding speed. If it's too tight you run the risk of blowing a seal on your lenco ram. You should be good from the factory, but something to remember should you feel play in the blade and need to adjust.

 

The nuts that hold on the lenco rams are guides and don't have to be super tight.

 

I'm surprised there's not a plate for the back side of the mount. I've never checked mine so maybe that's the way it is?

 

Good stuff, keep the pics of install coming

[h20king 794]

Joe there is a stainless plate for the back side of the mount I just forgot to take a pic.Also if your boat seems to pull there is an adjustment on the rudder it is the small swivel block cut out in the rudder. if not you can tune the rudder.To tune your rudder determine which way the boat pulls then go to the back of the boat looking forward and grind rudder on the opposite side of the direction of pull on the back side of the rudder.Grind small amounts at a time it might take a couple tries but end result will be rudder is neutral and boat will not pull anymore.Think back to when you were a kid riding in dads car with your hand out the window buy changing the direction of your hand the wind will pull your hand up or down,a rudder works the same way just in water not air.I will be working on install today and will post more pics tonight

[Foiler 1]

Joe there is a stainless plate for the back side of the mount I just forgot to take a pic.Also if your boat seems to pull there is an adjustment on the rudder it is the small swivel block cut out in the rudder. if not you can tune the rudder.To tune your rudder determine which way the boat pulls then go to the back of the boat looking forward and grind rudder on the opposite side of the direction of pull on the back side of the rudder.Grind small amounts at a time it might take a couple tries but end result will be rudder is neutral and boat will not pull anymore.Think back to when you were a kid riding in dads car with your hand out the window buy changing the direction of your hand the wind will pull your hand up or down,a rudder works the same way just in water not air.I will be working on install today and will post more pics tonight

 

The boat is supposed to pull to one side, that way when you hold the steereing wheel against the pull it enables you to drive straight. If it is really neutral then to drive straight you would have to move the steering wheel back and forth and then the play in the steering would be more pronounced. This is what the dealer told me and to be honest, I thought he was full of crap but then I think I ended up reading it again in the manual.

[h20king 794]

Foiler I have tuned my rudder and my boat drives straight with no play in the wheel I could leave the helm and the boat would stay on course.Once you have operated a boat with the rudder tuned you will never go back to the pull I promise.At my brothers shop they tune and water test every new rudder installed plus they also offer it as a service.The only time a boat should be set up to pull is a competition ski boat running through a slalom course to counter act against the pull of a really good skier.Most dealers shy away from it as it takes several trips to get it right. My brother uses a co2 bottle and an air sander goes to the ramp and loads and unloads the boat a couple times to get it just right

[Carter13 69]

h,

 

What does your brother charge for this? My Avy pulls to the starboard side if I let go of the wheel.

Not a huge deal but it would be nice to have that corrected.

You can pm me if you don't want to say what it would cost here.

[h20king 794]

carter he charges $85 dollars if you bring the boat to him or$170 if he comes to you

[duffymahoney 10]

H20,

 

What does a shaft alignment cost? I have to be careful with my local shops they tend to try to rip me off. Not a lot of competition and they charge huge sums for most work.

 

Duffy

[h20king 794]

duffy a shaft alignment is fairly easy ill check what he charges and let you know I could also talk you through it if you want just let me know

[h20king 794]

I just called him he said an alignment costs $250 for a v drive and $185 for a direct drive heading out on the bike ill post back later with pics of the blade install

[h20king 794]

Well turned out to be an easier install than I thought. The factory was nice enough to use the same hole pattern for the wake plate standoffs so the bottom two holes are already there just increase the size to 1/2" after you remove them from the transom.tape off the area the blade will be mounted to. use two bolts to set mount in place and mark the other four holes.Remove mount and drill your holes making sure to run drill in reverse to prevent cracking the gel.Next take backing plate and trim carpet behind it on the inside.I then cut studs and welded them to the mount for wake plate anchors.Feed wires through mount then use clear 5200 on the mount and backing plate.Feed wires through holes in the transom apply clear 5200 to the bolts and a little anti seize then mount to the boat THIS TAKES TWO PEOPLE.allow 5200 to set up over night then its time to wire.

[h20king 794]

here are a couple more

[h20king 794]

Also notice the bolts i swapped the standard mounting bolt's for a cap head allen bolt's I think it looks better and ads to the custom install look

[Colombian Surfer 2]

Looks good, how low does it hang below the hull? Also, how heavy is that thing?

[h20king 794]

It hangs to just above the bottom of the rudder the blade and mount weigh about 60 lbs but that is just a guess.the transom is super solid and is over an inch thick.The farther I dig in to the boat the happier i get centurion did a great job on the things that really matter

[Spud 7]

I'm jealous, that looks sweet... Hmmm PP or Blade?

[h20king 794]

spud if you are happily married and want to stay that way I would buy the perfect pass first.Nothing worse than owning the boat and not being able to get a good pull yourself.I use to get so mad at the wife because she could not maintain speed but with the pp she drives like a pro and I get a good pull every time

[Joe B 17]

Great job.

 

Spud: PP first

 

Good to know about the rudder shaving. I'm happy with mine but wanted to point out some characteristics if your blade is loose. Without blade I've always driven fine.