Son's new toy (new wake tower)

[Speedling]

 

[Julian]

Somebody bought a tower!!!!!

 

[Speedling]

Mama bought it!

 

[buckbuck]

She is a good wife. You going to have it on for the Starved Rock trip?

 

[Speedling]

Goodness. I hope to, but my second job just put me in a construction project that will get me crazy hours. Big canopy that is deteriorated and becoming a safety hazard. If I can knock that out I will, but I am doing it ONCE and doing it RIGHT.

 

[Speedling]

FYI, I have it all laid out on the garage and half assembled.
Tomorrow afternoon I hope to go over with the wife holding it up and determining where the placement of the tower is.
Question for those of you following: Mount so it looks right on the trailer, on the water, or on plane on the water?
And how to determine that!
This guy put it too high and to the back for my liking. I hope to put it so the feet are along the side, not top mounted, and the front foot is moreso straight up from the second 2 in the 212ss logo. Probably had his placed there to make the stock bimini work, which I'm not worried about. I will of course make sure that when it folds everything clears for putting it down. My wife just says "MORE POOL NOODLE MODS!!!"

 

[Big Shasta]

What's your plan for the bimini? Getting rid of it altogether?

 

[Speedling]

@wschmidt05 has the same tower and has the stock bimini modified to mount to the tower and still open all the way. I have messaged him a few times, but he's been a little busy to do a write up. Once the tower is on, I will be going through it to see my options for it anyways.

 

[MrWizard]

Just curious, I placed my order for the Freeride on July 24th. Haven't received it yet. Am nearly to the point of canceling the order due to waiting forever.
How long did it take for you to receive yours?

 

[Speedling]

lol I read all the reviews and that is the one complaint about them!
I ordered June 30. Still haven't received the racks or speakers. Looks to be a good tower, but I would not use the locktite they supply... gonna go out Monday and get some of the real stuff.
Also, the directions are fairly vague, but the connections are pretty straightforward as far as they go. Certain bolts only go one way etc. It's the mounting to the boat that has me scared! I don't wanna drill the holes, mount, and then say a swear word when it's not right!

 

[MrWizard]

@Speedling, You still haven't received the speakers or racks?!? I'd be flipping out... But who am I kidding... I'm pretty close to that point as it is!
Thanks for the heads up though about the lock tite!
And if you can limit yourself to only one swear word when you don't like the placement - then you sir, are a professional. Lol

 

[Speedling]

I asked about the racks and speakers and said they were backordered. Then he sent another email the same day saying he would have them out within 2 weeks. Either way.... SERIOUSLY?

 

[njmr2fan]

Is it possible to change the angle of the tower or is that the angle it must be at no matter where you mount it? It looks really nice but really tall.

 

[redthumper9]

FYI.....I ordered the Aerial wake mirror at the beginning of December last year......got mid April. Everytime we called it was "sending it out in two weeks".

 

[MrWizard]

"sending it out in two weeks".

Yup, that sounds about right... Same response I'm getting... What is going on with this company.

 

[MrWizard]

Is it possible to change the angle of the tower or is that the angle it must be at no matter where you mount it? It looks really nice but really tall.

From what I've read it appears that the angle is NOT something that can be changed. However the placement on your boat will determine the height. I'd actually be OK with the taller height.

 

[MrWizard]

Any chance you have pictures of your bimini open on the Freeride? Curious to see the difference between yours (side mounted and further towards the bow) and the one I've seen rear mounted aft.

 

[greg]

I ordered a free ride in February and received it in early June. Took forever

 

[Speedling]

The angle of the tower is determined on where you mount the front leg. So you can tilt it forward or back.
Height of the tower is simply how high or low you put it on the boat. You can side mount or top mount. The brackets angle/swivel 180 degrees but you would realistically only get 90 degrees out of them.
That user that has done his bimini on the tower isn't a really big poster but it looks like he did a great job. He said to me that basically he shortened the poles, bought a bracket from Lowes that would attach to the tower, and then had a custom canvas made. All that cost him about $100. My canvas is all but gone and ratted up anyways, so I figured this would be the time to do it! Once I figure out how everything fits I will do a write up on the bimini conversion as I bet it's not just the freeride that people would want to mod it for. I have found that there are a LOT of towers that have either a permanent mount or are difficult to remove but need to be removed when trailering ETC.

 

[Speedling]

@greg do you have any pictures of finished product or the install? would LOVE to see them!
And did you end up getting their bimini or no?