The official "What did you do to your jet boat today" thread.

[MattFX4]

I have been pretty busy. I got on the ADA Racing website and picked up a couple new fittings. I was hoping it would be plug and play but I had to buy a few fittings to step up the hose.View attachment 36052 View attachment 36053

I'm assuming this is the part you used? I banged mine up this past weekend on the dock...luckily no other damage or scratches to boat. I was going to plastidip the original grey outlets, but this looks much better. Do you mind sharing what other parts and fittings you needed to install? Did they fit through hole in hull without any cutting?

 

[Rob9550]

I'm assuming this is the part you used? I banged mine up this past weekend on the dock...luckily no other damage or scratches to boat. I was going to plastidip the original grey outlets, but this looks much better. Do you mind sharing what other parts and fittings you needed to install? Did they fit through hole in hull without any cutting?

View attachment 36195

Those are the ones that I ordered. I went to Lowes and got a step-up fitting 1/4 to 3/4, small section of hose and 4 clamps. I used a large file and opened up the hole.

 

[DBamaC]

I got the screen for my Lowrance Elite 4 Chirp chartplotter installed at my helm. I used a Ram mount and tapped into the power for my courtesy light. Still have the bigger job of installing the transponder next weekend.

 

[msavold]

Forgot to take pictures but a little bit of cleaning and then finally got the POC factory swim deck remote replaced with the Fusion one to match the HU.
Question: does the guy that zip ties the wires get paid by the zip tie? (Took me a while to realize that there really was no need to remove all of the factory remote wire, just cut it in a couple of places and zip tied the new one up there - and to realize that if I wasn't careful cutting it or the zip ties I could cut the wiring harness! Came THIS close to doing so!)
Also got the bow Seaworthy pair out and replaced with the other pair of Polk MM651UMs - what a difference! amp installation to follow.

So nice to have the boat out of hibernation - even if we won't have a chance to launch her for a couple of weeks.

 

[bronze_10]

We didn't even try to take off all of those zip ties when we put our fusion remote on... we just wire tied the cable to the existing cable bundle..

 

[ToddW850]

Finally got the hydroturf off the swim platform. It was freaking RIDICULOUS!! It was so thin (from age, wear, sun, etc) that it was coming off in small pieces. I'll sell my boat before I ever have to do that again. Also, cleaned and pressure washed my carpet.

 

[bronze_10]

Well its not exactly my boat. BUT I am having Firestone airbags and a compressor installed on my truck today!... I am excited to see how much it improves the ride and stablility..

 

[sstegh]

Well its not exactly my boat. BUT I am having Firestone airbags and a compressor installed on my truck today!... I am excited to see how much it improves the ride and stablility..

I had that done over the winter and the first time I towed the boat was just last weekend. It made an incredible difference in the ride and stability. I think you'll be really happy with it.

 

[MattFX4]

Well its not exactly my boat. BUT I am having Firestone airbags and a compressor installed on my truck today!... I am excited to see how much it improves the ride and stablility..

Report back your thoughts after your first tow. I think I need these on my F-150. It squats pretty bad and bounces around when towing my 242. I do not like the nose down look of the boat when it is hooked to my truck.

 

[jawsf16]

@MattFX4
On my f150 I use the rise side of the hitch and it sits level. Most people use the drop did of a hitch but not needed for out boats with an f150. Give it a shot before you airbag.

 

[jcsmith77]

Just a couple simple things to keep the wife happy. Cup holders and spring support for the glove box.

 

[MattFX4]

@MattFX4
On my f150 I use the rise side of the hitch and it sits level. Most people use the drop did of a hitch but not needed for out boats with an f150. Give it a shot before you airbag.

Ahh. Never thought about that. I'm currently using the drop side. I will flip it over and give it a try. I'm happy with how my truck sits so don't want to mess with its stance.

 

[Wayloncle]

Ahh. Never thought about that. I'm currently using the drop side. I will flip it over and give it a try. I'm happy with how my truck sits so don't want to mess with its stance.

A 2" drop hitch flipped over is perfect for my Silverado Z71. I have Firestone airbags on my truck (I didn't install a compressor) I tied the two sides together and ran the air valve out right beside my 7-pin socket/license plate. I would never have the need to air one side up more than the other.
I don't use them with the boat, but with my camper it really improved the ride. I put about 40psi with the camper, when not towing that I keep them between 5 and 10psi (I think the instructions say to keep at least 5 in them at all times).

 

[sstegh]

I also flip a 2" drop hitch. I installed the auto-leveling system on my F-150 and it has worked out perfectly. I was very surprised by the difference it made. Very glad I did it.

 

[bronze_10]

With my mfi trailer it could do with out the air bags. But this new trailer adds more tounge weight from the design. The axel are farther to the rear on the trailer and it has a long tounge. It still doesn't make my truck bounce that much however I can feel it is Definately more of a bounce. So that makes me think about if the situation occurred where some aggressive steering and braking inputs are nessasary to keep from killing someone or being killed while pulling the boat... I wanted the additional stability. I have extensive trailer pulling experience from growing up on a dairy farm and then driving semis for 10 plus years so i like to be prepared for the what ifs. I picked up my truck late last night the one thing I already noticed and will put in the con side is with almost no air in the bags the back of my durango is sitting a lot higher than the front.. and with only 5 psi in the bags it was riding a lot stiffer with out hauling. I haven't read any of the documentation or even messed with it much but I was expecting the truck to sit somewhat close to the way it did when they are not in use. I have Friday off and I have to pull the boat to have an adjustment made on the trailer. I'll be able to really mess with it then. Today I'll just read up in the system.

 

[zelone]

Not today, but in the past 2 weeks:
Changed oil, new optima blue tops on a sliding tray that goes way back into the wasted space on the left side, with relocated battery terminals, removed hydroturf and installed seadek, installed bow/cockpit covers, wet sanded and buffed basically the whole sides of the boat, hardwired and piped in an air pump for inflatables, and still working on my cooler seat hinge! Im sore, scratched, cut, bruised and tired, but in another month, it will all be worth it!

 

[msavold]

new optima blue tops on a sliding tray that goes way back into the wasted space on the left side

Oooh, that's a good idea! I just put my two optimas back in last weekend and again looked at all that empty wasted space... Care to share how you set that up?

 

[zelone]

I bought the biggest, heaviest drawer sliders that Home Depot sells. I mounted them on a roughly 2' long piece of white vinyl board, attached 2 battery trays. I climbed in that compartment, pulled the slides out as far as they would go, positioned the whole thing where the batteries are just accessible when slid forward, and out of the way when slid back. Put some heavy duty coated decking screws through the sliders. Instantly frees up a ton of space! I'll probably add a pin through the board and into the boat floor so it cannot slide accidentally. I can take pics when I'm working on it this weekend.

 

[msavold]

@zelone , thanks, there's another one for "the list"!
As is, with batteries, charger, extinguisher it's become borderline useful.
Did you have any issue with the wires that are lying around back there? I imagine they'd be easy to zip tie to the wall and out of the way of sliding batteries. Fuel line might be more of a challenge. Need to climb in and have a better look.

 

[zelone]

There was still a bit of room between the rear battery and the fuel filler line. There was no danger of them contacting each other. I ordered "+ & -" terminals on Amazon and made my own power distribution block. Now, there are only 4 awg cables going to each battery. All the boats wiring is now attached to my distribution block and doesn't need to be disconnected for any reason. I should have taken pictures.