Ridesteady Install- 2019 AR195

[gallobg]

We took the boat out again tonight. My wife wanted to get a feel for the RideSteady. After a short while she was comfortable enough with it for me to get behind the boat on the knee board. It held a steady speed and all she had to think about was steering. I had a great ride myself since the speed didn’t fluctuate even in the turns. Definitely a solid upgrade for the boat!

 

[Wake_Dude]

We took the boat out again tonight. My wife wanted to get a feel for the RideSteady. After a short while she was comfortable enough with it for me to get behind the boat on the knee board. It held a steady speed and all she had to think about was steering. I had a great ride myself since the speed didn’t fluctuate even in the turns. Definitely a solid upgrade for the boat!

Fakwin' awesome! Love reading this. Typically my lady can hear me bitching from 65ft back after a ~5-6 mph drop in speed in the turns when I'm boardin' behind the boat. Ha ha. No more! Ya know, they say this thing is a freaking relationship saver. Bahahahahahah. LOL.

 

[gallobg]

Fakwin' awesome! Love reading this. Typically my lady can hear me bitching from 65ft back after a ~5-6 mph drop in speed in the turns when I'm boardin' behind the boat. Ha ha. No more! Ya know, they say this thing is a freaking relationship saver. Bahahahahahah. LOL.

Absolutely. The main thing to get used to is that the RideSteady can only use as much max engine speed as the throttle lever is set for. So for any given straight speed, you’ll need to set the throttle lever a bit beyond so that so the unit has enough headroom to increase the throttle (to maintain speed) when the boat is turning. If there’s not enough throttle available it will tell you (“More gas!”).

 

[cgcaraway]

Awesome post, on the fence between ride steady or perfect pass. If needed would you be willing to sell a gps antenna holder? Where are you located? Great post and can’t wait for the review.

 

[Wake_Dude]

Awesome post, on the fence between ride steady or perfect pass. If needed would you be willing to sell a gps antenna holder? Where are you located? Great post and can’t wait for the review.

Thanks! I'm located in West Virginia. I typically go boating at Dale Hollow Lake in TN. If you decide to purchase a Ridesteady, just PM me your address and I'll print and mail you one!

 

[2kwik4u]

Thanks! I'm located in West Virginia. I typically go boating at Dale Hollow Lake in TN. If you decide to purchase a Ridesteady, just PM me your address and I'll print and mail you one!

Side note. Dale Hollow is amazing. Wife and I were married at the state park lodge 11yrs ago.

 

[cgcaraway]

Thanks! I'm located in West Virginia. I typically go boating at Dale Hollow Lake in TN. If you decide to purchase a Ridesteady, just PM me your address and I'll print and mail you one!

Thank you again. I'll let you know what we decide. Enjoy your summer and your time on the lake.

 

[Wake_Dude]

Side note. Dale Hollow is amazing. Wife and I were married at the state park lodge 11yrs ago.

Much agreed! That's a great place to get married BTW. Very nice! Dale Hollow is Heaven on Earth; no doubt about it. Do you boat on DHL currently? It seems you're not too far away. Give or take 3 hrs?

 

[2kwik4u]

Much agreed! That's a great place to get married BTW. Very nice! Dale Hollow is Heaven on Earth; no doubt about it. Do you boat on DHL currently? It seems you're not too far away. Give or take 3 hrs?

We're currently right at 4hrs away. To far for a day trip.

We haven't been in a few years. Have a 2yr old little boy, and some friends at Patoka, so we spend our time a little closer to home. As the boys are growing, we'll be spreading out our circle of boating. Hope to make it down at least once this year.

We used to camp down there 2-3 times a year with our last boat. That was before we had kids though, so camping was a bit easier.

 

[gsbrown]

Finally got the boat to the lake to test out the RideSteady. I love the ease of use and the way it keeps the boat at set speed and works great during turns. My wife loves it and she drives when I board, so I love it also! Using it when pulling the tube is great also. My kids like to go fast while tubing and when we hit the turns with RideSteady they whip around those turns hanging on for their lives.

I need to read the manual to see if the speed adjustment knob can be changed from 0.1 mph per click to maybe 0.5 or 1.0 mph per click. Has anyone looked into this?

 

[anmut]

Finally got the boat to the lake to test out the RideSteady. I love the ease of use and the way it keeps the boat at set speed and works great during turns. My wife loves it and she drives when I board, so I love it also! Using it when pulling the tube is great also. My kids like to go fast while tubing and when we hit the turns with RideSteady they whip around those turns hanging on for their lives.

I need to read the manual to see if the speed adjustment knob can be changed from 0.1 mph per click to maybe 0.5 or 1.0 mph per click. Has anyone looked into this?

Just installed RS last weekend and got to surf behind it - it was AMAZING to not have to yell at my wife to try to keep the throttle steady as she navigated - night and day difference experience for both of us. Regarding the increments: I have been through the manual extensively and haven't seen anything on setting the increments any differently. For boards sports it's nice to have those little changes available. You may consider setting a few presets for tubing, ie. "tubing kids," "tubing adults," "tubing death," that you could switch out.

 

[gsbrown]

Just installed RS last weekend and got to surf behind it - it was AMAZING to not have to yell at my wife to try to keep the throttle steady as she navigated - night and day difference experience for both of us. Regarding the increments: I have been through the manual extensively and haven't seen anything on setting the increments any differently. For boards sports it's nice to have those little changes available. You may consider setting a few presets for tubing, ie. "tubing kids," "tubing adults," "tubing death," that you could switch out.

Good idea. I need to mess around with the settings for sure. Took me a few minutes to figure out the clock's time zone. In 12 days I have a week planned at Lake Norman, NC. That will give me plenty of time to figure out all it offers. Great upgrade for sure.

 

[Epsmith19]

I decided to mount the GPS assembly behind the steering wheel, which is oriented for a direct view of the sky through the center of the windshield. The assembly was secured using velcro.

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Very cool

 

[cgcaraway]

Just ordered mine yesterday, should arrive Thursday and I’ll spend Friday morning installing. We can’t wait. Justin at Ride Steady is an awesome guy and took care of me. Can’t wait to try this out.

 

[Tayhadasuperjet]

Thanks for the info on the install. My Ridesteady is getting here this week, doing the same screen setup as you. Here's to hoping it looks as good as @Wake_Dude !

Question - I should be able to execute this install on the water right? My boat is kept on the water all summer... I could pull out if I need to, but would prefer to do the install at the dock.

 

[gallobg]

Thanks for the info on the install. My Ridesteady is getting here this week, doing the same screen setup as you. Here's to hoping it looks as good as @Wake_Dude !

Question - I should be able to execute this install on the water right? My boat is kept on the water all summer... I could pull out if I need to, but would prefer to do the install at the dock.

Yes you can do this install on the water, unless you need AC power for a specific tool. I was able to use battery tools for cutting but needed AC power for the shop vac. Cutting the dash made a terrible mess of plastic. Maybe a good cordless vacuum will work for you.

If it's going to be hot out then bring water and a hat. You'll be in the hot and stuffy storage lockers feeding/attaching wires more than you realize. I did mine in the driveway in direct sun and needed to take a few sun breaks (although I went very slow and steady).

 

[Tayhadasuperjet]

I am going to do it in the late afternoon so it is cooler.

I have a dyson so that should work for the lack of power. Thanks for the input!

 

[Tayhadasuperjet]

Got RideSteady installed last Friday. 2.5 hours beginning to end, and I also drilled a circle hole and put the gauge in the dash. It looks super clean.

Thanks to everyone here for the tips, it helped speed everything along. Used it this weekend and it is amazing. So much better for water sports!

 

[YamaNoob]

Great installation....what are the blue wire connectors called and where did you find those?

 

[Tayhadasuperjet]

Great installation....what are the blue wire connectors called and where did you find those?

Not sure what they are called but the kit came with several.