Hydrojet Pro

[DBamaC]

@haknslash the offer for a free ride is still good!

Me too @haknslash, you're on my way to the lake.

 

[0627Devildog]

Hmm I wonder why their product doesn't work on 2013 and 14 boats?

Plastic reverse gates?

 

[fairpilot]

I don't see a reason to buy any other fins than the cobra's. They work just fine and do the job as designed, Jeff has worked very hard to build a product that worked, my cobra fins are like 9 yrs old, never bent, never corroded, never broke. The boat steers great with them so I dont see the need for another Fin manufacture, they will not survive the market. Jeff was a first, if i ever need another set (if I sell boat) then I will support Jeff and the cobra's, dont believe all the smoke and mirror marketing you read. PLUS now i have heard Brian's name I say double HELL NO!!!

 

[Gym]

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC and @JetBoatPilot watch out as the competition for steering fins heats up. No need to mount them to your boat. These are worn by your passengers. All you need them to do is get them to look in the direction of your turn and the boat will instantly turn. And they work in reverse to.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Well thanks @fairpilot I still remember the day you and Johnny O came to my beach and picked up the steering for your boat and on the note of my early designs still making boats steer look closely at this picture posted on another thread, those fins are an even earlier model than the ones you have I believe those were actually hand made by me with a plasma cutter. The boat they are on is a 2004 looks like they have been on it since it was new.

 

[0627Devildog]

Some new developments here: https://jetboaters.net/threads/hydrojet-pro-explained.9698/#post-166006

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Strangely I did receive a phone call from someone who said he was a member of this web page, he said he had my older style steering on his boat for many years, He also said he was close to these people and he knew they were working out of a hanger as he claimed to have visited them, he must be old like me because he called them KIDS. Well my kids are in their 30's soooo.
He further stated that they " the kids" were doing a discount promotion so he purchased a set for his boat, he then removed my old style steering. He claimed that their new system did not come close to improving the steering and he was returning them for a refund in person as he was totally unhappy .
Now keep in mind that this was a phone call out of the blue and I have no first hand information but I can tell you that if you want a steering system for an older boat or smaller boat like an exciter or ls2000 and you want to be capable of dialing it in to give you the assistance you need with the ability to change it from time to time if your needs change and have the compatibility to add on the fangs if you wish, you should look at my Magnum steering systems since they are less expensive than my Ultimates and very effective.
One of his comments about this new system was that the fins were up so high in forward that he could see no improvement at all when the boat was on plane and little to none at slow speed and He also stated that even though he was assured that he would not strike the ends of the fins what he called the points ,that he made a point " pun intended" to tell me that he did in fact did hit his leg on the points at the back of the fins while climbing up the rear ladder of the boat. I was thinking that if people were looking for an economy set of very effective steering fins ,plus the ability to add assistance at speed for water sports, I can give you a J B N member discount on the magnums for $299 a twin set and $157 for a single set, just email or p. m. me, word of advice if you should consider purchasing those other fins make sure that they will give you a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee so you are not gambling on the results.
F Y I the base of the magnums is designed to give way on a serious impact to avoid any damage from having fixed fins, in most cases you can just pull the fin back down since the bases are not tempered for that reason. If you look at the u shaped base you should easily see how it will allow the fin to move up .
Just for clarification the MAGNUM set is the non spring loaded adjustable set it does not have the option of rising up at speed, not to be confused with the ULTIMATE steering that has spring loaded fins and the optional ability to rise up at speed taking 90percent of the fins out of the water or you can set them to stay down at speed an with a variety of settings for various levels of influence and retain the benefit of the fins being spring loaded if they come in contact with a fixed object they can still flip up and then return to their preset position . BOTH are compatible with the FANGS.

 

[*DMZ*]

I was the one that talked to Jeff at Cobra Jet. I had his originals, and was really was ok with them; but Pops drives the boat occasionally and wanted a bit more control. I bought the Hydropro fins as an upgrade to the original style Cobra Jet fins; because they were local, so I drove out to get a set. I got to talk to the owner and the kid who designed them, who of course told me they were the best thing out there. They said they had already sold over 50 sets in their first month of production and that everybody loved them. I assumed the ones that loved them never had steering fins before. They operate out of an airplane hangar with many nice planes; but they had no inventory to choose from like I was told, and I had to wait for them to put a set together; even though I had called in advance. So I went and grabbed lunch and killed an hour or two and went back and they only had one complete; which kind of ticked me off so I ended up leaving and had them ship them to me.

Let me start by saying that they asked me to share what I thought of them good or bad; so here goes. I really wanted to like them; but it was NOT an upgrade. It was actually a downgrade. I was not happy with the performance and told them I would be sending them back for a full refund. I sent them back and am awaiting the refund now. They just don't work, they do not operate as claimed, and have issues which I will try to explain.

First, the whole goal of steering fins is to compensate for lack of low speed steering; but because they are mounted to the reverse gates, when you bump the throttles forward in no wake mode the fins come up and provide little help. I never realized how far the buckets opened in no wake; but they actually open up quite a bit with little difference from WOT. And after having them; I don't think the extra strain from mounting them on the buckets could be very good.






As you can see, they are already up with the throttles in no wake mode; and the only assistance is from the very bottom of that lower point.

Second, They mess with the wake. They throw water up in the air which sucks for tubers.

Third, I had an issue with them binding up the throttles a couple of times after anchoring, and had to jiggle them up and down to get the throttles back.

And finally, and probably the thing that ticked me off the most is that if you don't put the throttles in reverse and the steering straight when anchoring; when you get back in they hit the ladder, and if turned just right, they stick out where you can bang your leg on them...and let me tell you...those points hurt.



Not fun pulling yourself up and hitting you leg on that!

So I decided to look at what else was out there, and decided the new Cobra Jet Venom Ultimates were the best thing out there for me, so I ordered up a set of them. They seem to be the innovator when it comes to jetboat steering, and they have a butt load of patents for their products. Plus I am not a fan of the plastic fins because I have heard several others that have had screws pull through on hard turns, and the Cobras are heavy duty stainless like what is used in aircraft, and I never had an issue with the originals which were stainless, and had been on the boat since 2006. Cobra Jet also has an add-on called Fangs which I would love to get too; but cash is tight, so I will have to see how the Cobra Jet Venom Ultimates perform without them.

Hope this helps.....I will let you know what I think about the Cobra Jet Venom Ultimates after I get a chance to try them out.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

I agree with your write-up @*DMZ*

Thanks for your input here. One note though, we've not heard of screws pulling through in hard turns but have seen some pulled through as a result of grounding or snagging a tree branch.

I don't think it's possible to pull through during use because we designed the fins to be completely out of the water at speed. If this is happening I really need to know about it so it can be addressed.

 

[*DMZ*]

I agree with your write-up @*DMZ*

Thanks for your input here. One note though, we've not heard of screws pulling through in hard turns but have seen some pulled through as a result of grounding or snagging a tree branch.

I don't think it's possible to pull through during use because we designed the fins to be completely out of the water at speed. If this is happening I really need to know about it so it can be addressed.

They said in a turn; I will see if they may have grounded or caught a branch though and get back to you.

 

[swatski]

@*DMZ* thank you for sharing your experience here and providing honest and strait forward feedback, certainly hope you will continue!

 

[*DMZ*]

After re-reading what I wrote, I would like to make a correction. The Latest Cobra Jets are tempered aircraft aluminum not stainless. The old ones are stainless; but I believe the new ones had to be the aircraft aluminium for weight to achieve proper operation. I am sure Jeff at Cobra Jet could explain why way better than me though.

 

[bronze_10]

Well thanks @fairpilot I still remember the day you and Johnny O came to my beach and picked up the steering for your boat and on the note of my early designs still making boats steer look closely at this picture posted on another thread, those fins are an even earlier model than the ones you have I believe those were actually hand made by me with a plasma cutter. The boat they are on is a 2004 looks like they have been on it since it was new.

I have a set of these in my storage room!

 

[swatski]

@*DMZ* if you like the ultimates, you will LOVE fangs.

There are no known problems with material failure and Cobras that I know of.
I'll leave it at that.

 

[*DMZ*]

@*DMZ* if you like the ultimates, you will LOVE fangs.

There are no known problems with material failure and Cobras that I know of.
I'll leave it at that.

I hear great things about the Fangs from people, and would love to get them; but they just weren't in the budget at the moment, as I am still waiting on my refund for the Hydrojet Pros. After I posted the review of the Hydrojets on another site, I got this reply about the Fangs from a guy I trust.

"Thanks for the review. I was curious about them. I have only ever had Cobra Jet fins on all my boats, so never had anything to compare them too. I recently added the Fangs and the difference is night/day. The boat will drive straight and I can actually take my hand off the wheel to take a drink or change the radio station, without flying to the side." ...and after some purists trashed all fins in general he replied... "I'll never own a YJB without Cobra Steering. If a product comes along, offering a more control and a safer experience for me and my guests, I dont see any downside."

I can drive the boat without anything; but for my dad, I want all the control he can get.....I hate fixing gelcoat from him bumping into things...lol

 

[*DMZ*]

Well that was quick. Jeff you rock! I got the Cobra Jet Venom Ultimates I am replacing the Hydrojet Pros with in just 2 days. And then 30 min later the Fins and Fangs are on....super easy! I still need to look into what the different setting holes do. Not sure if I have them in the right place or not to make them rise; but the instructions were inside (like 10 pages) and I was going from memory. I will tell you how they compare after I get some new screws the right length for the bucket controls (was told to discard the old ones when I put on the Hydrojet Pros), and fix some gelcoat on the bottom tomorrow before getting her back in the lake. I will also update when I get the refund for the ones I sent back....but off to the marina for a bit for now.

 

[*DMZ*]

Finally got a chance to water test the new fins today; so here is the promised review...tried them...LOVE THEM. The Cobra Jet Venom Ultimates and Fangs are a HUGE upgrade over the originals! I can pull in and out of my slip with the wheel only, where before I had to steer with the throttles along with the wheel to make the turns. I tried the avoidance steering claims of the Fangs too; going from 3/4 throttles to neutral, and still had the ability to change directions with no forward thrust. The boat tracks way better through cross wakes, and for the first time, I can do full throttle doughnuts with fins. Also, I noticed no additional spray and they do not interfere with the ladder. I would recommend anyone who has the the originals to consider upgrading. This is the best system I have tried hands down....Hope this helps.

 

[*DMZ*]

Last update on this topic. I did get my refund from Hydrojet Pro finally; but it did take me driving there to get the check in person. Lucky it was only 40 miles of so.

 

[swatski]

@*DMZ* Thanks for these very informative write-ups of your work, and thank you for sharing.

 

[ncnmra]

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC & (et al): I have a 2008 212X which I bought with what I think are the "original" (?) fins. They are mounted to the nozzle, and don't swing up/down. It looks like they required drilling to be installed. What is the benefit to upgrading? I'm generally content with the steering capabilities of the boat, and I like the "planted" feel when on plane. However, BOAT (break out another thousand) : I seem to always be looking for the next upgrade (especially since the new boats are out to lunch on pricing).