Leaderboard

It Shipped this morning! Should be here Saturday. Here are a few pics that the salesman send today.

A woofer change will not address this, as the current enclosure is the biggest factor in how the woofer sounds. You would need to change the enclosure volume. If the woofer is whats making all the unwanted noise, then you need to first determine if any external factor was the root case, before installing a new woofer.

2020 Ri257 (w/LSX). Canadian Blue Sparkle and White. Interior is standard white, hex black, hex deep bronze. I'm not swooned by the bombshell racks, so I have a set of PTM Edge wide-mouth clamp racks I'm trying to figure out how to get the right brackets to get mounted. Sorry for the kids tubing pic, its' one of the few I have with the interior. Our adults crew is 95% wakesurf.. and we hope to get the kids into it too. (my kids are only 6 and 8 y/o)

Thanks guys! Glad I could help Josh! Yeah, that’s what I seen/read Mob. I don’t do FB though. When it first started I told my wife “that’s the devil and I will never have an account”. Haha! at this point I’m kinda committed to that take! Haha! We can’t wait to get that ZS out on the water and get back to surfing!

Quick followup.. I went with the Ri257 (with the LSX) -- in all honesty because the Ri is more of a known quantity for me. I've spent 30+ hours on two different Ri257s, and I love the boat. It also became obvious from BoardCo answers that having the same hull means the boats are so similar it comes down to preferences. I was able to finally see an Fi23 in person, and overall I like the calmer RI styling and slightly higher freeboard for big Lake Tahoe, so that's the way I went. We took delivery two days ago.. and we couldn't be happier. Picture below. @BoardCo - Thanks so much for all your help answering questions on here, and posting awesome youtube videos of Centurions on the water! They really made a large purchase decision much easier. Your answer above helped me shed the FOMO of not having the Fi ski-pylon. @Duneit - We bought from https://www.mellomarine.com/ in Folsom, CA. Sally and Brandy have been fantastic to work with. Sally (the owner) negotiated the COVID-modified Tahoe boat inspection restrictions for us to get it in the water asap, and has been great.

New gas new filter drained can could not get can all the way off big black hose in the way of dropping down far enough so I just sucked out the gas in can and put back together fired right up and ran with no codes so thank you for your help

Sad this forum is not as busy as it used to be since so many jumped to the Facebook groups .. the FB groups are not nearly as easy to search, and the threads do not get organized well ...

Finally did mine but went with the Angled Starboard and Port side specific LED's.

I just had to replace my steering cable on my 05 SV230 and figured I’d add a few things that might be helpful. First, as I understand it, Teleflex no longer exists and was replaced by SeaStar so the new part number is SSCX15420. I ordered from Fredwarner.net and it cost $150 w/free shipping. I followed a lot of the guidance from above, but just to add a little more, I had to remove both water hoses from the back of the water pump to make accessing everything easier. Just unscrew the hose clamps and they pull off. I didn’t need to remove the water pump or sideswipe and was able to reach the cotter pin on the pitman arm fairly easy, and I’m on the husky side. The hardest part was getting the threaded nut on the steering cable unscrewed from the shaft housing that’s held in place by the clamp with the 4 bolts. I used an adjustable wrench but I THINK it’s about a 1 ¼” nut if you have a wrench that big. You could always take the new cable to a hardware store and find the right size wrench since the nuts are the same size. The shaft housing would turn with the nut when I would try to loosen the nut, but not as much as the nut, so it eventually came off but was a tedious process. I sprayed PB Blaster on the threads but I’m not sure if that even made a difference, perhaps some vice grips would help if you could fit them in there. Once I got that unscrewed, I pulled the cable/shaft out of the housing and then tied a rope to the end of the shaft where the retaining bolt would normally be. Before I could pull the cable out from the helm, I had to remove the paneling underneath the dash on the floorboard to access the hole where the cable comes out. The cable/nut got hung up on the gas tank, so I removed the floor panel to get access to the cable. This was well worth the few extra minutes, plus it made it easier to pull the new cable back through. I also agree that it’s much better to buy a new cotter pin; I tried the old one to no avail, but a new one went in on the first try. It’s definitely helpful to have a second person to lend a hand but is possible to do yourself. All together from start to finish, it took me about 3hrs which includes re-installing the under dash paneling and floor panel along with centering the steering wheel and rudder.

Hi again, all. Thought I'd post a quick update. We took the boat out about a week ago for a test run. Prior to heading out, I poured in two bottles of HEET to help absorb any water or bad gas. At the lake, we had the same problems with acceleration. It idles fine, goes okay at low speed, but dies out when going for higher speeds. We ended up getting it started and were able to drive slowly back and load it on the trailer. A couple nights later, I took off the old water separating fuel filter and poured the contents into a glass jar to see if there was water choking out the fuel system. There was no sign of water, sediment, particles, or anything. So as far as I can tell, there's no water in the fuel. (Glad to know that the filter is working well, tho.) When I went to O'reilly Auto this morning to pick up another Sierra Water Separating Fuel Filter (they can order them and have them in about a day for about $2 more than Amazon), I talked to one of the guys there. His brother used to have a Ski Nautique and Moomba, so he knows the engines and layout a bit. He said that since there's no problem with the actual fuel (from what I could see), the problem has to be in fuel delivery - most likely the fuel pump. He said that if the fuel pump diaphragm is cracked, it could have enough pressure to delivery the fuel at lower speeds. It wouldn't sputter or anything, but appear to be fine at lower speeds. But upon acceleration, when the diaphragm is working harder to deliver fuel to the engine, it won't be able to keep up, and the engine would end up stalling out. He said on trucks with the Chevy 350 small block engine, if there's a problem with the fuel pump (cracked diaphragm or whatever), the excess fuel gets squirted out of the pump as you drive, and it ends up on the ground or somewhere else on the pump housing where it can evaporate. But you can't do that on a lake, so the gas ends up being sent to the crankcase and mixes with the oil. So he said to pull the dipstick, wipe it on a clean paper towel, dip again, wipe again, and then smell. If it smells of gas, then it's probably a bad fuel pump. So I came home, followed the steps and..... It smells a heck of a lot like there's gas mixed in with my oil! I had just changed the oil in our 4Runner (full synthetic, but should have a similar smell to regular used oil), and I smelled both of them separately. The oil from the boat DEFINITELY smells of gas. So the next step is going to be to put on a new fuel pump, new water separating fuel filter, change the oil... and then at some point, I'll get the steering cable (got it from Ron today) and the bilge pump done, too. Thanks for helping out, @Timr71 and @InfinitySurf. I'll keep everyone in the loop as I move forward. I feel like I'm finally on the right path!

I did it! Got a really good deal on the new one and the trade-in. Can't wait to get it in the water. Thanks for the responses!

Newbie to the page! 1994 Ski Centurion LaPoint Tru Trac. PCM 351 Pro-Tec. The Cadillac of ski boats 26 years ago.

Just picked this up, works quite well. I can grab my drink or put it down without taking my eyes off the lake ahead. Heavy enough it doesn’t move around even over most waves. Called the beverage bandit.

A few things here: The Fi25 and Ri257 ride almost identically in rough water - you will be VERY happy with either one. The Ri257 has a tow point above the swim platform that is ideal for tubes. You can ski from this point but from my experience, the tower is a better spot. As far as this goes, it is one of the common misconceptions I run into when talking to people about skiing. People consider it near blasphemy to talk about water skiing from the tower, but for 90% of people who ski it is actually a better tow point than a pylon. It allows recreational skiers to get up easier and reduces overall drag once they are up. The benefit of having a lower tow point really only matters if you are pulling HARD through the wake and honestly if you are pulling hard enough to justify going to a pylon you aren't going to want to ski behind a Fi25 / Ri257 anyway. To give you some background I am a tournament skier, I own a Carbon Pro boat (along with a Ri257) and spend time in a buoy course regularly. When I ski behind a Fi25 or Ri257 I am barely impacted by skiing from the tower. This point causes me some frustration because for most people skiing from the tower is not just ok, but it is actually BETTER than skiing from a pylon, but when I suggest it I get weird looks like I don't know what I'm doing haha. Jack (one of our guys here) gets the same reactions and he can run into 34 off in a course (which if you aren't familiar is REALLY good). The Ri257 ski wake isn't quite as good as the Fi25, but they are close. Out of the box the Ri257 puts out a slightly better surf wave while the Fi25 has a slightly better ski wake. They have the same running surface and the only reason for the difference is the Ri257 is slightly heavier. That said, most people wouldn't be able to tell a difference between them as far as ski wake goes. As far as stereo control goes, you can have an automatic volume adjustment installed but you can save a lot of cost and actually get better functionality by installing an app on your phone called Volumatic. It is AWESOME and a lot better than the volume controls that are set to RPM in my opinion, plus it only sets you back about $10. The Supra SE550 has some great features and is a really nice boat. There are some nice features on Supra but for me there are at least 2 BIG things you will miss out on vs. a Centurion. The most important factor that can't be overcome with modifications is the rough water ride. If you are using the boat on Tahoe the water can get ugly fast and having a boat that won't beat you up or scare you going through 5-foot waves is a must in my book. The next one is the surf wave on the Centurion is a lot better out of the box. You can get the Supra to throw out a great wave, but if you do much research you will find that pretty much everyone is running 1,000 lbs. of lead to get it to surf on the level of a stock Fi25/Ri257. If you cruise around a lot that is a problem since you can't get rid of it. The other downside that is just speculation from me is that the ski wake on the Supra wouldn't be as good. Supra boats have a very stiff wakeboard wake and from my experience, that translates to a stiff ski wake. I haven't skied behind one, but I have heard the ski wake is actually worse than a Centurion just because of the wake shape. The best thing to do if you are looking at one is taking them both for a drive, the difference will become clear very quickly. Lastly, the H6 engine will work fine for you but you probably wouldn't be disappointed with the 550 (for 2020 it will be the new LSX engine). If you cruise around a bit the added power and reduced RPM on at cruising speed is really nice. As far as reliability goes, its a bit early to tell on the LSX but thus far they have had no problems at all and should be more reliable than the XR7 (550 Supercharger) was. The main benefit is similar power but the engine is naturally aspirated so longevity and reliability should be better. It's a new engine for the boat world but it has been bulletproof in cars for a while so we anticipate really good things. If there is anything we can do to help you out on the boat decision process at all let me know. Thanks!

From what I have heard around here that hull with the back cut outs on the transom make it hard to get a good wave….

On the Asymmetrical trim tab, I would worry about that down the road after the ballast is dialed. I did do the Asym plate and it was really useful for cleaning up the goofy wave and making wave length/height adjustments. Here's my Asymmetrical plate thread for anyone who is interested:

Hey Cliff, There is no wood in a 2005 Enzo. It is full fiberglass construction.

Update: The block to add an Air Chair to the Maximus tower does not need a separate angle adapter and fits just fine. So far it has worked terrific.

Able to check another small item off the list last night. Was having trouble getting the oil changed, no matter what I tried couldnt get the siphon tube down the dip stick tube. Finally figured out that the threads at the top of the dipstick fit a garden hose. Heres what I came up with, couple pumps and the oil started flowing. And after changing the filter a remote filter looks really appealing. Man what a pain. Used a couple plastic bags and was able to catch all the oil though, so no mess.

Thanks a bunch for all your advice guys. I decided the 2014 SV233 was my best option (newer, CATS, Ramfill, updated touchscreen, high altitude Acme 1847 prop, better looking exterior/interior) and made a deal today - HOORAY! The boat market in western Canada is much smaller and is crazy hot right now (as it turned out the 2012 SV233 I was considering also sold today) so I am thrilled to have secured a great surf boat now. The dealer agreed to give me first shot if any comparable Centurions came in on trade with 409 in the next few months. Many thanks to everyone on the Centurion Crew site for all the great posts - this is such a great resource.

Thanks for your perspective and advice on this. It is looking like pricing on used Centurion is universally (at least on the east coast) the same as you describe in TX. Definitely willing and able to go higher, not so certain I will have the opportunity. There are other very similar boats across state lines, so all is not lost. One thing I have read about here and other places is the importance dealer support and relationship, which is what makes me so concerned about the "vibe" of this interaction and what the future might hold if I end up buying this one. They're not the closest to me, but I hate to alienate anyone nonetheless. I'm in NC, but appreciate the offer for sure. I'll be spending a few early weekday mornings on the ramp when nobody is around to try to get my act together. Hopefully this will help me avoid or minimize the stage fright factor when a line of experienced folks are waiting for me to back down the ramp and launch.

My 08 Avy listed. Just my wife in the boat.

just put 2 tanks of fuel through a 'new to us' 20 Ri257. I can't believe how fuel-efficient it is. Coming from using a 20LSV- that thing was chugging fuel.

I installed a new swim ladder for my boat, even with ballast its hard for my mom and some others to get up at times and I wanted them to feel comfortable since I had not heard any negative feedback regarding the swim ladder effecting the surf wave (and I can now confirm that it does not effect my surf wave the way I did it). Since only the new boats come with metal glassed in under the platforms and I have been too busy to go thru all that extra work, I decided to try something new as I did not want to use carriage bolts, I didnt want to drill thru my platform and then also have to replace the SeaDeck. That process didnt seem very strong to me, I imagine that will also let water into the center of the swim platform and for a guy as OCD as I am, I just couldnt bring myself too it. My thinking is if the process I used below fails.... then I will take the time to glass in stainless metal strips and will just cover the holes I made doing it this way. So, I ended up using 5/16" brass nutserts, 4 on each side and bolted up the frame using 5/16" stainless hex head bolts. 3/4" long would work but I did 1" long thinking that since the center of the swim platform is filled with the fiber I would drill the size hole needed for the nutsert and then "mushroom" the bottom of the cavity so I could add epoxy and strengthen it (I used a smaller drill bit and a hand pick to mushroom the bottom). It was time consuming but I after I prepped it all and had the nutserts ready to install.... I filled the hole with epoxy (I used a 2-part) and then inserted the nutsert using a makeshift bold. Immediately after the nutsert was in, I covered the bolt threads with wax so I could remove the bolts later (I used a commode wax ring for this) and then ran the bolt down all the way, it went thru the nutsert and into the epoxy bed I had created below it so the epoxy would cure around the bolt threads. I let it cure for 24hrs before removing the bolts so I could finish the install. I used 3M 4200 to seal everything and bolted down the swim ladder frame securely and then let that cure for another 24hrs. My thinking was that doing it this way, the swim ladder would be held not only by the nutsert which was also partially imbedded into the epoxy, but the bolts also continue threading into the epoxy and since the cavity was mushroomed, it would spreading out the weight more efficiently, this is also partially why I bought a swim ladder that had 8 bolt holes, but I also wanted one that had a spring loaded latch so the ladder would stay in place without velcro/rope holding it. I honestly don't know if my theory was correct on imbedding the bolts into the epoxy, but this swim ladder does not budge at all, I have probably been out 4 times since the install without any issues! Just before I started my install, I found another guy on the Malibu forum who was also installing his swim ladder the same way! Funny that we both had similar ideas.... I dont think he did the epoxy quite like I did, but he said his also turned out very strong. This is the ladder I bought ,NovelBee 3 Step Undermount Sliding Boat Ladder https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YZL4MWR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 5/16" nutserts Holes with mushroomed cavity Bolt threads waxed and threaded thru nutsert and into epoxy to cure 3M 4200 to seal frame before bolting it up Installed

First thing to check is the cap and rotor. Look to see if there is any corrosion on the metal inside the cap. Some caps also developed hairline cracks, you you may just want to change it. Its a cheap item and typically needs replacement every few years.

I received the new brackets yesterday from Alloy Marine and they are nice. Going to install soon.

Well I finally had enough people in the boat to do some surfing this weekend. The wave was great, and the surf RPM was 2900-3000 RPMs from 11.3 to 11.6 MPH with minimal current. There is more lift in the rear of the boat now, so I am going to move 100 pounds of lead from the front of the boat to the back and see how that works out. Not sure if I will get to test it before My Lake Powell trip at the end of the month or not.

Matt, You have a great boat that will throw a great wave. But you are doing it wrong! Lose the suck gate! It does not need it. That boat likes to lean! 1100# in the surf side locker, 500# under surf side seats, Center ballast full. Minimal bow weight (maybe 125 # and wearing a bikini), stack all your people on the surf side and back seat toward the surf side. Perfect pass at 10.7 to 11.2 (GPS speed). Boom! Big and long wave with tons of push.... much more "playful". But seriously.....lose the suckgate and slump that thing. Suckgates are for hulls that are not shaped for surfing.

So I am very happy with the mod. With the 15.5 inch prop, I gained 2 mph at top end. Dropped 400 rpm at surf speed and 24 mph cruise speed. Does 28 at old 24 mph rpms. Holds all ballast with no issues now for surfing. I was able to accelerate to 15 mph (upstream) with all ballast full with testing quicksurf (with the 14 inch prop I could not get above 9). At normal lean I was at 3100 rpm for surfing setup. So if you have enough adjustments in your engine mounts (room to go up in front and down in back) and enough clearance in the through hull, then this mod is 100% worth doing. I am very happy.

Just install new fresh air exhaust on my 2016 ri 237. Didn’t have to modify the stinger plate at all.

That's fantastic. I really like that the ladder in its down position is not completely vertical but at an incline. I will need to do this. When my in-laws clime up the platform, there is a sudden grunt, followed by a thud and sudden expulsion of air released somewhere behind me.

Final install pictures

I’ve still got to button up everything and tighten the engine mounts, and get the strut bolts 4200’d and tightened, but here are a few pics of the change in clearance. On the supercharged engine, it is a pain to get to the six bolts. I’ll post some more pics later this week of the alignment and prop log clearances. After talking to ACME, they are recommending a 15.5x15 prop even if I have clearance for a 16” one, so I am going to hold off on countersinking the steel plate to see how the 15.5 performs. I should have slightly more clearance for the 15.5 than I currently have on the 14

Thread revival from the DEAD! I finally got my Krypt board rack put up after about 4 years. Bought them on clearance years back and I've always had DIY pvc racks for years. Wanted something a little more streamlined for the new shop (which isn't new now after 4 years ) Anyway here it is!!

Sure this is my 85 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pZNl9UcEQoLYdknQXSFeNsEmpnGCzcXu/view?usp=sharing This is my 86 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o7att_AaOzodIeOW9tc1KOzkRCn48Loy/view?usp=sharing

My Diacom software showed up. I installed it on a Windows 10 image in Parallels on my MacBook Pro. The software was able to read everything on my engine, and was able to clear my old O2 sensor codes. Other than the price, the software seems fairly good. It gave a histogram of how my engine has been run, the Amount of time At each RPM level, the octane of the fuel, etc. It also reads fuel flow while the engine is running. I plan to take it out this weekend and record some runs to see how the boat performs.

if it doesn't have a dripless shaft seal, you should 100% install one first. the best thing to do is to keep water out of the boat, particularly the bilge where it can splash on everything.

On #1, it does sound fuel related and probably the first thing would be to look at the carb and potentially do a re-build... if any ethenol fuel was left in there and the boat sat for a period of time, it could be gunked up in some places, perhaps clogging a jet. If it ran fine the first time you test drove it and then didnt.... point to possible trash in the fuel clogging something. However, it also points toward replacing any fuel filters you have in-line since it sounds like as you bump up the rpm, it starves for fuel and stalls so its not delivering the fuel the motor needs to run at the higher rpm's. I would also suggest replacing the fuel lines since if they are original they could be badly degraded on the inside, some of those old fuel lines will collapse as you increase rpm and not allow fuel flow. Doing a tune up is also in the cards since it could be related and is something you want to do regardless unless you know it was done recently....new plugs, wires and replace the distributor cap. Distributor cap gets corrosion on it and is a "wear item" and meant to be replaced every so often. That can cause all kinds of strange issues to happen. Don't forget replacing/servicing the impeller as that is really important to a healthy engine...at very least pull it and check the condition. (Pro tip)....use something like dawn dish soap rubbed on the impeller to make re-install super easy. You basically turn the impeller as you are pushing it back into the housing and with the soap lube, it goes much easier. It also helps impeller to stay in good condition since it will run dry a few seconds before the water gets too it when you re-start. #2 sounds like your steering cable is bad, that happens. You probably also have a grease zerk for your rudder box, its typically at the very back of the boat where the rudder box comes thru the bottom of the boat. That may help some....but likely your cable is the main culprit. Youtube has videos on how to replace, its not too hard... just be sure to use your existing steering cable to pull the new cable thru the hard to reach areas or you could spend a lot of time trying to fish the new cable thru the right places. Also check your rudder visually under the boat and make sure there is no obvious damage that is making the steering real hard....at that age it may be worth putting new packing in the rudder box at some point. Any maintenance you do is gonna make your overall experience better as well as keep the boat in top shape. Good luck and congrats on the boat. Good looking boat and the best family time ever

hey guys just picked this up the day after thanksgiving has 600 hours on the ol girl she is a 1987 trutrac? havnt seen this exact color scheme

Nevermind. I called them again and talked with another guy there and he found it. He said it is kind of difficult to install, but we build machines for a living so I think we can handle it. Thanks again for your help.

Buying a Malibu over a 257??? Come on, let’s not make any bad decisions here.

Great guys thanks for the replies. Guy was meticulous with the boat inside and out so I feel good about it. Thanks again.

If you are going to list it, you need the rub rail close to the water sitting still. Here is my 08 Avy. Little exaggerated, the run tail is usually just at the water level. Then here is my buddy at 6’7” surfing with his 8yo daughter. I would call up wakemakers and have them build you custom sacs that fill the locker and go up under the seats also. Have each bag it’s own reversible pump to fill and empty. It takes about 8min to fill/empty my custom sac. If you want to list it, you can. If you want to use the suck gate you can. Best of both worlds and just buying bags once. I started out with the 1100’s and then bought the custom. I bought bags twice. lol.

Here’s a 19! Love it! Would definitely recommend a Centurion!

The BEST boat is the one that is paid for. I have an 07 Avy and love it. You can do everything with it. Yea, you can spend 3x as much for a new boat with all the bells and whistles, but your money may be better spent else where. Yea, I drool at the new boats, them remember mine is paid for and maintenance costs are not that much. We surf and board just fine behind our boat.

I'm pretty sure It's the 90 amp fuse on the starter. I put the tester on the cable side and got 12v. Put the tester on the other side with the nut and got zero's. The stereo not working was throwing me off but that ended up being a 10amp fuse on the back of the deck. Picking up a fuse from the dealer tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

I just had a flawless week on Lake Powell with my 2014 SV233.

Pull 6 plugs on the engine/manifold to drain. Pull heater hose on one end of engine and blow to clear hose and radiator. Remove intake strainer and dump out water Pull v drive plug Turn on ballast pumps to ensure no water between ballast pump impeller veins Open and close QF valves to ensure no water Extra pooh: top off gas tank, pour appropriate stabil oil change oil filter change replace impeller every other year quick inspection of all hoses/wires/belt/lines

Since we are back on the custom DIY ballast install topic I wanted to show a bit of what my install was about. So for a baseline my boat is a '03 Elite V Air Warrior with the factory center ballast only which uses a jabsco Water puppy to fill the hard tank under floor. My plan was to install a ballast system which would fill/empty on the move and would work equally as well for surfing as it does for wakeboarding. I wanted the majority of the ballast to be hidden but not take up ALL of my storage. The system consists of me adding 2 Launch Pad V-Drive Bags (from a previous boat, and will be upgraded to Flyhigh 750's) in the rear lockers and the Flyhigh wrap around bow bag in the front. At first I had the bow bag piggy backed onto the center ballast but that has since changed and is now on its own pump, thru-hull pickup and vents due to the slow fill and for more adjust-ability. I hoped to do like many others and keep track of every fitting, hose, clamp and pump but I have lost track after changing things here and there along the way. Parts - It started by ordering two Simer "Blue water" utility pumps from hardwareworld.com one for each Launch Pad in the rear lockers.Later I ordered one more for the bow bag. From boatownerswarehouse.com came the brass thru-hulls for the inlet/outlets, chrome thru-hulls for the vents and a number of pipe to hose adapters. From my local home depot the rest of the threaded pipe to barb hose adapters, ball valves, clamps, check valves and bulk hose was bought. Carling technologies dual throw / dual pole switches with lights were purchased on ebay. Switch covers to match my "Contura IV" factory switches were actually ordered from the dark side over at my local Mastercraft parts department. Finally the bow bag and flyhigh fittings were purchased on ebay as well. First thing was to make a rough diagram of the rear ballast setup. Here is the start to the parts for the install. First hole cut was the starboard locker vent. I put it in the factory location next to the bilge and center ballast vent. (3/4" chrome plastic 90 degree thru-hull) I replaced the factory black plastic for the chrome look thru-hulls. I cut a hole on the port side in the same location as the vents on the starboard side. Installing a chrome thru-hull. I choose to put the intake/output thru-hulls in the bottom of the boat so they were always underwater unlike the factory thru-hull on the stern. Here is the factory thru-hull for the center ballast tank. Yes I know it is VERY dirty. That has all been cleaned up. The previous owner kept the boat in the water and did not clean it very well, these pictures are from just after my purchase of it this spring. The thru-hull in the bottom on the hull were measured, mocked up, and cut just in front of the V-Drive. Again very dirty but there were some yellow marks showing my center of each hole, it was taped up and holes cut. Some silicone sealant put around the o-rings on the thru-hulls Both holes cut, thru-hulls in the holes, ball valves threaded into thru-hulls and hose attached. Under the dash I put fuses into the factory labeled holders, verified wire colors and then attached the powers and grounds from the fuse box to my switches. Wired up the switches and put them into the panel. I used 25 amp fuses as the Simer draw a higher amperage than the Johnson or Jabscos. ] The Simer Pumps are mounted in the front of the locker on the seat backs. Attached the hoses from the ball valves, and attached hoses then leading to the lower fittings on the bags. I ran the 10ft wires from the simer pumps up to the switches. Later I found the factory pump wiring in the Starboard locker tucked up under the edge so I used that and removed the extra wiring. Some of you will notice the giant rectangular holes the previous owner cut into the seat back for "bass ports" for the huge sub boxes he had in the lockers... I am building some covers to put over the pumps to protect them, and using those ports as vents with some slotted covers on the seat side. The poor boat was butchered by the audio install shop / last owner. I set the bags in the lockers, attached the vent line to the 5psi check valve (so the bags will go into a vacuum when emptying) and attached the check valve to the TOP of the bag. Here you can see how well the pumps empty out every last drop of water with the check valves shutting off the vent hose. That pretty much wrapped up the rear install. The original front install was very easy to do the piggy back as well. I removed this plug on the back of the factory center tank. Attached a matching threaded to barb adapter to the hole, and ran that hose to the front. The flyhigh bag is almost a perfect fit under the seat. Here it is on top. Here it is set under the seats empty. Here is the hose tucked up under the observers seat from the center tank. I put the hose on the port side lower flyhigh fitting because I wanted to try to be able to fill that side of the bag first seeing as how most of our riders are regular (port) riders. I forgot to take any pictures of drilling the bow bag vent thru-hull but I put it right below the starboard front tower mount just below the rub rail. I attached the vent line to the center upper fitting on the bow bag then to a check valve and then the vent thru-hull. Finally here it is full. It will pop the seat cushions up if no one is sitting in them. After all that agian I decided I didn't like the piggy back system and scrapped that idea. I put one more thru-hull in the bottom of the boat, and mounted the bow pump in the drivers foot area. From the pump I ran the hose to a Y and to both sides of the bow bag so it would empty correctly. I am VERY happy with how it works and now I just have to clean everything up and make it look pretty. I figure it puts 500# in front, 880# in the rears and whatever the factory center tank is 200-400#(?). For wakeboarding with a full crew of 6-7 it is too much weight for me to have it all full. The boat planes out, but has a hard time on the stock prop. If it is just myself and my wife it is still a bit too much but I am kind of a wimp... But for surfing with that crew of 4-6 sitting surf side, the surf side locker full, center tank full, and the bow bag full the wave is great! Just incase we have a light crew I have 4 launch pad 85# bricks to move around. So there you have it, that just ruined my whole evening putting this together...haha