86SKI

Thanks @Timr71, I'll definitely see how it changes after getting the prop refinished. The cheap wheel weight ballast is also a great idea. I'll try to post before and after pics if there's any significant change.

I have a question about wake size and rooster tail. Lately, I've been noticing that my wake is a bit larger than usual. Then again, this is the first year that I've been actively skiing behind the boat in quite a while but still I don't remember it being as bad as it is now. The worst part is definitely the rooster tail/bump. At 15 off and 34mph, I'm getting smacked in the shins and knees by water when directly behind the boat. What could be causing this turbulence? I know my prop is in desperate need of refinishing and balancing. Could this be it? I've already tried skiing with as little weight in the boat as possible and this helps with the wake itself but the rooster tail is still there. Any advice would be appreciated!

I'd say that the steering cable is worth the investment since mine broke while on the water earlier this season. I actually did a write up about it on here. So far, I'm loving the Uflex system that I got from SKIDIM.com. Effortless steering and feels great.

Yeah they're cool boats for sure. The owner really didn't know what he had and didn't care too much either, which is a shame.

Welcome to the site! Your rebuild is looking great so far, can't wait to see it when it's all done. It's awesome to see people still giving the older boats the love and attention they deserve. How much longer do you think it will take until you finish the boat structure? Also, any plans on repowering?

Had a great time skiing this week, although I ate it harder than I ever have this past Friday. Learning to really commit to crossing the wake on the slalom ski and every now and then, you get bit. I had a great encounter with an owner of a 1990 Falcon Heritage Open Bow who seemed like he was really into the brand. Didn't get to mention the forum but I'll try to direct him this way if I see him again. Also beached next to this 1993 Falcon Barefoot. Owner didn't really take care of it and needed some love but regardless, I had to snap a pic.

Please let us know how you like it. My prop is in desperate need of refurbishing and I have been playing around with the idea of buying a 541 and keeping my old prop as a backup.

1). Boat financing. It's possible to finance a $100k boat for up to 20 years. With a decent down payment, it can make it fairly attainable regarding monthly payments. With that being said, the prices of boats these days is pretty ridiculous. 2). The garage specs are the dimensions of the boat while on the trailer so you can get an idea of whether or not the trailer will fit in, well, your garage. The boat itself is 25 feet but the trailer is 30.

Timr71- I have to say, your boat is absolutely gorgeous. Great colors, beautifully restored, also made the same year I was born! Also, I've been following Austin's build for a while now. Great boat as well.

Its a very weird feeling isn't it? If I had my tools with me, like I normally do, I would have been able to switch it on the water but I live down the road from the launch so I figured I might as well just take it home since it was late anyways. One up, one down, its all the same haha. Making mistakes like these is the best way to learn, because I'll definitely never forget it. Glad I could keep that memory alive for you

Timr71- 1). I was thinking the same thing. Also, I'm sure I could just find a larger diameter bezel that will cover the old holes. It's not super pertinent, purely aesthetic lol. 2). I grew up going to the west coast (St. Jo, Benton Harbor area) of MI with my family every summer with the, now mine, 86. I just moved to MI about 2 years ago and live in Howell now. I've been on Belleville, Chemung, and I live very very close to Thompson which is where I've been going the most lately. I'm a bit west of where you were in West Bloomfield but am planning to meet up with a few other Centurion owners on White Lake.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please see the post I just made about an important lesson I learned yesterday about helm replacement in the Maintenance, Performance, and Troubleshooting thread HERE.

So, I thought I'd share an important lesson I learned yesterday when taking the boat out for the first time after replacing the helm and steering cable on my 86 TruTrac. You can actually find my write-up I did on the replacement in The Official TruTrac-I-II-III and Falcon Thread or in This thread, which included pictures. Anyway, I decided to take the boat out for a quick run yesterday after I finally got the boat back together completely. During the installation process, I made sure to align my steering wheel and rudder for a "straight ahead" position. What I failed to check was the fact that when I turned the steering wheel right, the rudder would indeed turn to the right. Now I'm sure that it is stated somewhere in the manual for the helm that the direction that you feed the cable into the helm will dictate what direction the rudder will turn. Apparently I fed the cable in through the wrong side of the helm and, in essence, reversed the steering without my knowing. Right was left, left was right. Fast forward to me trying to get the boat off the trailer... I immediately knew that something wasn't right but I couldn't tell what it was. I get the boat off the trailer and proceed to try to pull the boat forward and toward the dock at the boat launch while the girlfriend parks the truck and trailer. I turn the wheel left, boat goes right. Took me about 15 seconds of pure confusion to finally realize what the problem was and about another 45 seconds of the most difficult boat maneuvering I had ever experienced. I got the boat next to the dock, backed the trailer back into the water, winched it up, then got it back home and thought about what just happened. I figured out how to fix the problem pretty quickly but I'm glad that nothing bad happened to the boat. Yes, this may be common knowledge to some, and it was definitely a mistake on my part not checking this before going on the water but it never occurred to me that this could happen! Thought I'd share this in hopes that it helps someone down the road, or makes some of you chuckle a bit.

So, I replaced the helm and steering cable assembly on my TruTrac this weekend. I thought I would share my experience for anybody who wants to do something similar in the future. I am posting the majority of this as text here, but I also have a photo album with some pictures and essentially the same writeup, since this site has such a small limit on attachment size, which can be accessed via this link: PICTURES! Some background info on the steering system on my 1986 TruTrac to get started since I couldn't find similar information anywhere on this forum or elsewhere on the internet. Old Helm: Teleflelex (now SeaStar) Big-T Helm Model #TEL-SH5000 Old Cable: Teleflex SSC7217 Cable (SSC72xx is the base part number and 17 is the length of the cable in feet) New Helm and Cable: Rotech Uflex System, Item #2417 on SKIDIM.COM While I did not take many pictures during the removal and installation process, there are some things worth mentioning. First, since it was supposed to rain all weekend up here in Michigan, I decided to try to get the boat into the garage for the first time. I'm surprised I got it to fit on the first try! To get a general idea of how to replace the steering cable in your boat, refer to THIS VIDEO by Ron Tanis of skiboatpartsonline.com. Something to keep in mind while watching this video. The complete engine and transmission assembly is removed, which made a pretty significant difference to in my boat. This is because the steering cable in my boat was routed directly under the rear port side engine/transmission mount. This meant that when I was pulling the old cable out of the boat, the nut that secures the old style teleflex cable to the helm could not fit between the hull and the engine mount. This prevented me from pulling the cable out of the boat and I ended up having to cut the old cable in half with a Sawzall and pull the rest of the cable out from the engine compartment. Thankfully, the new helm and cable install went very smoothly. I ended up routing the new steering cable around the rear port engine mount which didn't make any significant difference and the cable pulled through the boat smoothly. One thing to keep in mind if you decide to switch from the old Big-T Teleflex helm and cable to the Uflex helm and cable... The Uflex helm quite a bit shorter than the Big-T helm. This will mean that the steering wheel will sit closer to the dash and in my case it obstructed the view of my Tachometer, but that doesn't bother me much. What does bother me a bit is the fact that the Uflex helm bezel does not cover the holes left by the old Big-T helm bezel, as you can see in the pictures in the linked album. While I was at it, I decided to overhaul my clamp block assembly since it was essentially bone dry and suffering from some pretty bad oxidation. I disassembled the clamp and mount, hit it with the bench grinder and wire wheel, painted with some rustoleum rust stop (Ford Gloss Grey), lubed it up with some heavy grease, and I think it came out looking pretty good. Again, I recommend looking through the photo album linked here: https://imgur.com/a/6BHhKQF as it makes a lot more sense when you can actually see what I'm talking about.

I actually contacted them recently about making replacement graphics made for my 86. Just a heads up, if they do not have a template of the graphics you need, they need pictures with dimensions. They also stated: "Usually we have you make a pencil rubbing of each on Xmas/Gift wrapping paper taped color side down over and roll them up and mail them to us…Then we scan them and make sure size/spacing is correct to align to gelcoat “ghosted” images of where originals were…" Also: "Only issue is we are backed up this time of year on such a job so it would be upwards of a month before we could have them ready to produce…" This was about a month ago. Pretty good customer service, will try to post pictures when I eventually get mine made and put on the boat.