JetBoatPilot's New Surf Tech, Thrust Vector Wake

[JetBoatPilot]

We will be allowing returns of Thrust Vectors and other systems well beyond the 30 day policy.... thanks for the grace extended to let us further tune. We did not feel the weight to near the degree some are posting, but again we want everyone to be happy so we're pushing hard to find a solution fast. We have a solution for the single. The twin is now the focus. Parts are on order. Hope to test early this week.

 

[zwillz]

Anyone with previous Thrust Vectors(X or XV) experience any heavy steering at all, at any speeds? I have the TV wakes on now, and like everyone else, its super heavy steering at all speeds. The wife was not a fan at all driving the boat yesterday as opposed to no fins before the install. Although the wake was better, less tube spray, and low speed steering was great, I just dont want to battle the wheel and heaviness every trip out. I havent tried pulling anyone yet with bags added either, so I'd imagine it would be tougher.
Will has been great and has gone over and beyond with making things right for us experiencing this. I know he'll do everything in his power to fix the issues and make it right. But, we wana be comfortable driving the boat, not getting a workout unless its 12oz curls!

 

[Bluewater272]

Zero heaviness with the non-wake TVs, they are totally out of the water and not touching the jet wash when on plane.

 

[renrab]

Unrelated review slapped in here on an age old product with hundreds of reviews. Good stuff.

 

[the MfM]

As I watch the back and forth and prototyping, this is my 2 cents. Currently, we don't do intense watersports. I just want better low speed steering and the spray knocked down for tubing. I'm not willing to significantly impact my steering. If there needs to be a tube specific model to lighted up the steering I'm all for it. At the moment, leaning toward other options but waiting to see how this all shakes out. It's needs to be well tested before I epoxy something to my boat.

Sounds like the first iteration of the product presented for sale may be a solution.... didn’t it have multiple manually selected settings including one for tubing and one “off” setting?

 

[Bluewater272]

Unrelated review slapped in here on an age old product with hundreds of reviews. Good stuff.

Perhaps your reading comprehension is a bit off, but try reading the post above mine to see why I chimed in with what I said. FFS.

 

[renrab]

Perhaps your reading comprehension is a bit off, but try reading the post above mine to see why I chimed in with what I said. FFS.

Sorry. I guess my frustration should have been with the other person. If the person before you read this entire thread he would have seen that people mentioned when switching from tvs to tvws that they noticed heavy steering... no need to clutter this thread up anymore than it already is.

 

[zwillz]

Perhaps your reading comprehension is a bit off, but try reading the post above mine to see why I chimed in with what I said. FFS.

Thanks man for the response, preciate ya.... In regards to renard, I have been following along. I've never had the previous fin styles, and I didnt recall if there was heavy steering with them. Hence why I asked. Instead of commenting and making remarks, just troll on.

 

[the MfM]

No problem with heavy a feeling with my cobra jet steering system.



(In case anyone was wondering)

 

[Neutron]

No problem with heavy a feeling with my cobra jet steering system.



(In case anyone was wondering)

Agreed, i removed my fangs to install the lateral thrusters and still no heavy steering imho

 

[mrtrav]

Took the 2019 AR195 out with the TVW’s today. Definitely felt increased stiffness in the steering. Seems to be stiffer turning right versus left. I wouldn’t consider it a safety issue for us. The wife was able to steer, but did note that we went from basically no resistance steering to above average resistance.

Personally, I didn’t notice much of a difference in spray knockdown or wake cleanliness. We are going to give it another test run next weekend, but are on the fence about returning them or not. For an nearly double the price of the regular TV’s, I was hoping for more.

That being said, they did drastically improve slow speed handling, but I don’t think that comes as a surprise to anyone.

 

[Tayhadasuperjet]

Took the 2019 AR195 out with the TVW’s today. Definitely felt increased stiffness in the steering. Seems to be stiffer turning right versus left. I wouldn’t consider it a safety issue for us. The wife was able to steer, but did note that we went from basically no resistance steering to above average resistance.

Personally, I didn’t notice much of a difference in spray knockdown or wake cleanliness. We are going to give it another test run next weekend, but are on the fence about returning them or not. For an nearly double the price of the regular TV’s, I was hoping for more.

That being said, they did drastically improve slow speed handling, but I don’t think that comes as a surprise to anyone.

Good to know. I am on the fence about canceling the order... I am not doing water sports this summer as the kiddos are too small.

Fellow 2019 AR195 here in Washington!

 

[mrtrav]

Good to know. I am on the fence about canceling the order... I am not doing water sports this summer as the kiddos are too small.

Fellow 2019 AR195 here in Washington!

We bought an idrodisk for our kids (6 and 4). They loved it last weekend but were getting some water in their face which they didn’t like. We didn’t inflate it today but will be next weekend. That’s going to be another major checkbox for us on if the TVW will be staying on or not.

 

[mrtrav]

This is roughly 18mph, full tank of gas, two adults, two kids, no ballast.

 

[jak_of_trades]

Ok. I’ll have my boat back Monday night. I think I’m going to follow <somebody’s> advice and put everything together without the epoxy or thread lock first to see what it looks like.

I forgot to look, I guess... for those of you rubbing the wake wedge bracket, do you have 21’ boats?

If it’s super close, what detriment would there be to adjusting the upstop screw a bit to keep the fin from raising quite as far? Like if it’s only hitting by a 1/4” or something??

(Getting ready to have all these toys, I’m just not ready to give any of them up yet. )

Oh, last question (for now)... how long do we have to send in the old fins for trade-in credit?

The rub issue on the Wedge bracket was a 2015 ar210 for me.

 

[Milwmarc]

Anyone with previous Thrust Vectors(X or XV) experience any heavy steering at all, at any speeds? I have the TV wakes on now, and like everyone else, its super heavy steering at all speeds. The wife was not a fan at all driving the boat yesterday as opposed to no fins before the install. Although the wake was better, less tube spray, and low speed steering was great, I just dont want to battle the wheel and heaviness every trip out. I havent tried pulling anyone yet with bags added either, so I'd imagine it would be tougher.
Will has been great and has gone over and beyond with making things right for us experiencing this. I know he'll do everything in his power to fix the issues and make it right. But, we wana be comfortable driving the boat, not getting a workout unless its 12oz curls!

I can attest having both NO heavy steering with Vectors XV or XL,,,,I can't speak for the X as they are wider and have dual springs. Personally if slow speed is your main concern for great steering. All you need is the XV

 

[jak_of_trades]

Anyone with previous Thrust Vectors(X or XV) experience any heavy steering at all, at any speeds? I have the TV wakes on now, and like everyone else, its super heavy steering at all speeds. The wife was not a fan at all driving the boat yesterday as opposed to no fins before the install. Although the wake was better, less tube spray, and low speed steering was great, I just dont want to battle the wheel and heaviness every trip out. I havent tried pulling anyone yet with bags added either, so I'd imagine it would be tougher.
Will has been great and has gone over and beyond with making things right for us experiencing this. I know he'll do everything in his power to fix the issues and make it right. But, we wana be comfortable driving the boat, not getting a workout unless its 12oz curls!

Based on how my arms feel today after piloting tubers yesterday, I may need to do those curls just to last the weekend driving my boat. While I wouldn't characterize the heavy as a safety issue, it's definitely less enjoyable giving a wild tube ride for sure. It seems more heavy than the steering system was designed to handle just based on my feel for how it reacted and 'clicked' while on plane. No concerns at slower speeds and seems to steer more responsively than the older XVs I replaced when not on plane.

 

[jak_of_trades]

We will be allowing returns of Thrust Vectors and other systems well beyond the 30 day policy.... thanks for the grace extended to let us further tune. We did not feel the weight to near the degree some are posting, but again we want everyone to be happy so we're pushing hard to find a solution fast. We have a solution for the single. The twin is now the focus. Parts are on order. Hope to test early this week.

The heavy in my steering isn't just a different feel as a matter of preference. It's a performance issue for sure with arm muscles getting tired after a while. It reminds me of driving my Dad's 1960 Ford 1 ton when I was a teen. No power steering in that thing so "sun's out guns out."

 

[zwillz]

Based on how my arms feel today after piloting tubers yesterday, I may need to do those curls just to last the weekend driving my boat. While I wouldn't characterize the heavy as a safety issue, it's definitely less enjoyable giving a wild tube ride for sure. It seems more heavy than the steering system was designed to handle just based on my feel for how it reacted and 'clicked' while on plane. No concerns at slower speeds and seems to steer more responsively than the older XVs I replaced when not on plane.

I agree. Slow speed they are superb. I have yet to pull my little ones on a tube or friend's on a surf board, but if it's like or worse than not pulling anyone, then I might return them for a set just for slow speed steering. The heaviness worries me as far as tearing other components up because of the amount of force and pressure being used just to steer. Can always come back to them after the kinks are worked out.

 

[biffdotorg]

It seems more heavy than the steering system was designed to handle just based on my feel for how it reacted and 'clicked' while on plane.

This was the first I had heard of the "click". Do you think you were feeling/hearing the fins hit the up-stop? I was wondering if we would notice that or not. You would think that once up, they would have pressure on them constant. But I suppose it is possible, depending on spring pressure, for them to bounce against that up-stop and click.

Thanks for the insight.