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2020 AR210 Mod/Build thread

@ctyke looks like you've been busy - impressive. I've had my 2019 AR210 for 10 months and haven't done as much. I want to put Cobras or Thrust Vectors on my boat. After reading the 8,486 posts discussing the pros and cons of the two, I still don't know.

A couple questions (for @ctyke or anyone else with a recent AR210 who has installed steering fins):

How long did it take you to install the fins on your AR210? I don't own a trailer - I'll be doing the install standing in the water with my boat up on its lift, and my wife repeatedly going back and forth to the house to hand me all the tools I forgot. So I'm looking for "as easy as possible." Any idea if there's a difference between the 2019 and 2020 model in this regard?

I'm a little unclear from your posts above - the hardest thing for me is pulling on to my lift at low speeds under control - did the Cobras help a lot?
 
@ctyke looks like you've been busy - impressive. I've had my 2019 AR210 for 10 months and haven't done as much. I want to put Cobras or Thrust Vectors on my boat. After reading the 8,486 posts discussing the pros and cons of the two, I still don't know.

A couple questions (for @ctyke or anyone else with a recent AR210 who has installed steering fins):

How long did it take you to install the fins on your AR210? I don't own a trailer - I'll be doing the install standing in the water with my boat up on its lift, and my wife repeatedly going back and forth to the house to hand me all the tools I forgot. So I'm looking for "as easy as possible." Any idea if there's a difference between the 2019 and 2020 model in this regard?

I'm a little unclear from your posts above - the hardest thing for me is pulling on to my lift at low speeds under control - did the Cobras help a lot?

Tim, I have cobras that came on my 2018 AR210 when I bought it used. I boat in northeast MD And trailer in case you want to meet up since this would be easier done on a trailer. I could drop in and you could retrieve on my trailer. Just an option to consider once your ready
 
Tim, I have cobras that came on my 2018 AR210 when I bought it used. I boat in northeast MD And trailer in case you want to meet up since this would be easier done on a trailer. I could drop in and you could retrieve on my trailer. Just an option to consider once your ready
Awesome, @4x15mph - many thanks, and I'll definitely keep that in mind.
 
@ctyke looks like you've been busy - impressive. I've had my 2019 AR210 for 10 months and haven't done as much. I want to put Cobras or Thrust Vectors on my boat. After reading the 8,486 posts discussing the pros and cons of the two, I still don't know.

A couple questions (for @ctyke or anyone else with a recent AR210 who has installed steering fins):

How long did it take you to install the fins on your AR210? I don't own a trailer - I'll be doing the install standing in the water with my boat up on its lift, and my wife repeatedly going back and forth to the house to hand me all the tools I forgot. So I'm looking for "as easy as possible." Any idea if there's a difference between the 2019 and 2020 model in this regard?

I'm a little unclear from your posts above - the hardest thing for me is pulling on to my lift at low speeds under control - did the Cobras help a lot?

Tim, I just bought a 2020 AR210 and took it out for the first time last Sunday, without any fins installed. And WOW, even with Yamaha's new "articulating keel", docking or turning at low speed was very annoying, uncomfortable. 10 times more difficult than when I've docked a pontoon boat. (Backing up with sharp turning however was amazing - the new built-in lateral thrusters from Yamaha really do their job, no upgrades needed there).

I did a ton of forum research, back and forth between Cobras and Thrust Vectors. I really wanted it to be the Thrust Vectors that would win out simply because they look cooler. In the end for me though, Cobras were the right choice by a landslide for the following reasons:

1. Durability - Cobras are a quality aluminum, look like a solid OEM part that will last the lifetime of the boat. The TVs are plastic.
2. Alignment - The Cobras come with a 2nd tie rod for the other jet and alignment instructions to ensure both jets, the keel, and the 2 fins are all in proper alignment.
3. Safety - The Cobras stay down in the water at speed. The TVs pop-up out of the water at speed. This is the #1 reason to go with Cobras IMHO, and it's a safety reason. If you're going at high speed, see an obstacle and cut the throttle and turn, you can lose control with the stock boat - and the Thrust Vectors won't help you at all in this situation. The Cobras stay in the water and will help you steer in this emergency situation, and help the boat track better at high speeds in general. The TVs don't do anything for you at high speed.
4. Customer Service - Cobra has Jeff - and everyone here attests that he provides great customer service. You can literally just call him up if you need to and he'll talk to you over the phone. (I have, and can vouch for that). And Jeff took my order over the phone and shipped it out to me the same day! (Mine are arriving tomorrow actually).

FINALLY - Jeff also helped answer the one question that was nagging me... IF the 2nd tie rod, and IF the fins staying down in the water are such a great idea, why wouldn't the great minds at JetBoatPilot, or Yamaha ALSO do it??? Answer... they CAN'T because Jeff owns the patents for both.

Hope that helps you, as I spent hours and hours reading about the differences between the two, and these were the main ones that stood out to me and helped solidify my decision. (Didn't mean to open a can of worms). The only argument I could think of maybe in favor of Thrust Vectors.. and this is just a question I haven't answered, is do they perform better at docking, slow speed, steering in neutral than the Cobras? For the record, I haven't seen anyone make that claim. I could theorize that they do, since they have 2 full fins per jet nozzle on twin engines, (versus 1 1/2 for the Cobra on twin engines). However that's just pure conjecture on my part, and not enough to make up for the other big reasons stated to go with the Cobras.
 
@Daren and Heather,

Great info - thanks a lot. I was leaning pretty heavily towards the Cobra already, and appreciate all the detailed info you provided. One other thing about the thrust vectors is I didn't want to be messing with epoxy - again I hope to do this while standing in 3' of water (low tide, calm winds) with the boat on the lift in front of me (and a large piece of rigid foam floating on the water to catch whatever I might drop.

When do you plan to install yours? If you could provide any write-up about how that goes, how long it takes, any challenging bits, etc, that would be much appreciated. I've seen on this forum that Jeff does a great job of customer service, and his installation document is fairly clear, but his installation videos (at least the ones I've seen) are much less clear than the JBP videos. I really want to understand what's involved, and exactly what tools I'll need, before I get in the water and start this process. At some point I'll email or call Jeff directly and discuss. I plan to install in June when the water is a bit warmer.
 
@Daren and Heather,

Great info - thanks a lot. I was leaning pretty heavily towards the Cobra already, and appreciate all the detailed info you provided. One other thing about the thrust vectors is I didn't want to be messing with epoxy - again I hope to do this while standing in 3' of water (low tide, calm winds) with the boat on the lift in front of me (and a large piece of rigid foam floating on the water to catch whatever I might drop.

When do you plan to install yours? If you could provide any write-up about how that goes, how long it takes, any challenging bits, etc, that would be much appreciated. I've seen on this forum that Jeff does a great job of customer service, and his installation document is fairly clear, but his installation videos (at least the ones I've seen) are much less clear than the JBP videos. I really want to understand what's involved, and exactly what tools I'll need, before I get in the water and start this process. At some point I'll email or call Jeff directly and discuss. I plan to install in June when the water is a bit warmer.
I think I'll be installing them tomorrow if it doesn't rain, I'll let you know how it goes!
 
@Daren and Heather,

Great info - thanks a lot. I was leaning pretty heavily towards the Cobra already, and appreciate all the detailed info you provided. One other thing about the thrust vectors is I didn't want to be messing with epoxy - again I hope to do this while standing in 3' of water (low tide, calm winds) with the boat on the lift in front of me (and a large piece of rigid foam floating on the water to catch whatever I might drop.

When do you plan to install yours? If you could provide any write-up about how that goes, how long it takes, any challenging bits, etc, that would be much appreciated. I've seen on this forum that Jeff does a great job of customer service, and his installation document is fairly clear, but his installation videos (at least the ones I've seen) are much less clear than the JBP videos. I really want to understand what's involved, and exactly what tools I'll need, before I get in the water and start this process. At some point I'll email or call Jeff directly and discuss. I plan to install in June when the water is a bit warmer.
Hey Tim, I made a video of the Cobra install that you can watch. It's not hard though the paper directions can be a bit confusing, so this video should help. It should give you a really good idea of how you would efficiently do this in the water, though I would recommend doing on a trailer if at all possible.

 
That roller is better than stock, but I found this Stoltz roller to fit the 210 hulls a lot better.

View attachment 117417

Link

Since you wil have the parts, I would leave the Big bells with that newer mid section. One thing to keep in mind is the ears of the housing where the roller bolts to are very close to exposed, and one member actually did damage his boat. I run the same set up as the picture maybe slightly different, for where I load/unload it won’t be an issue for me, but it could be an issue for some.


@AZMark

 
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Since you wil have the parts, I would leave the Big bells with that newer mid section. One thing to keep in mind is the ears of the housing where the roller bolts to are very close to exposed, and one member actually did damage his boat. I run the same set up as the picture maybe slightly different, for where I load/unload it won’t be an issue for me, but it could be an issue for some.


@AZMark

I’ve scratched my hull with that smaller setup.
If those bigger stoltz bells aren’t scratching your gelcoat then I would leave them 100%. I have the smaller ones and they do nothing at all but cover the bolt and nut if you were to come in super off-kilter.
Nice boat, good to see someone doing some work on something other than a 24 ft or an X model!
 
Wow - @Daren and Heather - great video, and thanks a bunch - that's a big help.

The only thing I was confused by was the bolts that were re-used (as the instructions indicate) to install the sacrificial anode to the bracket. They appeared to be quite short, such that they barely engaged what looked like nylon lock nuts. And then you said you didn't need to get a wrench on those nuts (which would have been pretty impossible at that point?) - that you could just tighten the bolts without holding the nuts. Again, if they are nylon lock nuts, how is that possible? What is keeping the nuts from simply turning as you tighten the bolts? And, checking Jeff's instructions, it looks like maybe the bolts are supposed to be in the back, and you would then tighten the nuts? But again, how do you get a wrench behind the anode after it's already attached to the brackets? I'll be asking Jeff what kind of bolts they are and if there's any harm replacing them with bolts 1/4" or so longer, but that still doesn't address my concern about how to tighten them.

Other than that, great work, and thanks again. To show my appreciation, I've dropped a crisp $100 bill in the mail to you. I didn't have your address or last name, so I sent it to "Daren and Heather, near a lake in Minnesota" - I figure that should narrow it down enough to get there.
 
Wow - @Daren and Heather - great video, and thanks a bunch - that's a big help.

The only thing I was confused by was the bolts that were re-used (as the instructions indicate) to install the sacrificial anode to the bracket. They appeared to be quite short, such that they barely engaged what looked like nylon lock nuts. And then you said you didn't need to get a wrench on those nuts (which would have been pretty impossible at that point?) - that you could just tighten the bolts without holding the nuts. Again, if they are nylon lock nuts, how is that possible? What is keeping the nuts from simply turning as you tighten the bolts? And, checking Jeff's instructions, it looks like maybe the bolts are supposed to be in the back, and you would then tighten the nuts? But again, how do you get a wrench behind the anode after it's already attached to the brackets? I'll be asking Jeff what kind of bolts they are and if there's any harm replacing them with bolts 1/4" or so longer, but that still doesn't address my concern about how to tighten them.

Other than that, great work, and thanks again. To show my appreciation, I've dropped a crisp $100 bill in the mail to you. I didn't have your address or last name, so I sent it to "Daren and Heather, near a lake in Minnesota" - I figure that should narrow it down enough to get there.

LOL, thanks! So regarding the sacrificial anode original bolts, I think I did tighten them up a bit more off camera, after I saw that the brackets were aligned how I wanted them, and before I bolted the anode/bracket to the nozzle. When I tightened them up further they engaged reasonably far enough into the nut, and then the nut seemed to be gripping when I further tightened it after it was mounted. However, I also noticed that there were 4 extra bolts that Jeff included in the package, which weren't mentioned in the instructions, but are longer matches for the anode bolts. So assuming those 4 extra bolts come in your package as well, you could use those instead. See the 24:45 minute mark of the video.
 
Update, loving the boat, wish the water was not 65 degrees.. Anyway, had some time last weekend to install the Hydrophase. Easy installation! Seems to be working well. Need to clean up some wires as I didn't have what I needed at the lake.
 

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Nice! @ctyke Regarding the Hydrophase, can you provide more info regarding what "easy installation" meant? How many hours, any particular issues or advice? I know the Hydrophase website has some installation info, but it's great to hear actual users' experience on a particular boat model.
 
Nice! @ctyke Regarding the Hydrophase, can you provide more info regarding what "easy installation" meant? How many hours, any particular issues or advice? I know the Hydrophase website has some installation info, but it's great to hear actual users' experience on a particular boat model.
Sure, took me about an hour, but I'm not done (still need to dress up the wires), but that shouldn't take me more than 15 mins. The instructions were decent, but the CAM sensor is nothing like the what's pictured in the instructions, I've attached the pics i took. To make the power hook ups under the helm easier, I removed the starter switches. To run the GPS and Control screen wires, I looked up from inside the helm and saw a little gap that was just big enough to run those through, so I didn't have to drill any holes. Let me know if you have any other questions or want any more pics. Oh, I bought a big roll of Velcro to clean up wiring, but left that at home that is why I didn't finish. I like that better than zip ties. The kit had a bunch of zip ties included, but I would have wanted more if that was my preferred method.
 

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Thanks - pics are always great. Sorry if this is a dumb question - I'm not near my boat this week to take a look. What exactly does "I removed the starter switches" mean?
 
Thanks - pics are always great. Sorry if this is a dumb question - I'm not near my boat this week to take a look. What exactly does "I removed the starter switches" mean?
The key switches, where you put the key in, you have to connect to the wiring on those. It was easier for me to remove them, connect up the wires and reinstall them.
 
Wow, just got done with the sound system upgrade. And it is crazy loud.
Twin Rev10's for the tower
Boat Speakers.jpg
syn-dx-4 for the Rev10's
Boat amps 2.jpg
HTX-6 for the in boat speakers, I left the stock ones in, but got the 6 chanel if I want to add a pair of mid speakers
Boat amps.jpg
WS-420SQ
Boat EQ.jpg
Infinity INFREM1 remote for the swim platform
Boat remote.jpg
Milennia REX20-6 extension cable for the remote
25' of 1/0 power cable
power runs.jpg
Add a battery kit,
Boat Add a batter.jpg
Fuses, ground blocks, a lot o sweat and zip ties.
Boat fuse.jpg

Overall I love the outcome, achieved what I wanted. It was a lot of work though and I told my wife, next time I'd hire it out. I left the factory in-boat speakers and they seem to be doing there job once I added the amp. I have yet to get it out on the water to see how it sound out there, but my neighbors are impressed.
 

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I like the font and the outline, not to mention the color matches the tower pretty darn good. I pooched my font and will be redoing it come fall/winter. Where did you order from?
 
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