2000 air ballast

[wcherashore]

considering pulling the hard tanks in the trunk of my family's AIR and replacing with bags.... what is the best fit back there?

[rbalan]

Custom or rear Gravity Games sacs.

[wcherashore]

I was considering those or v-drive sacks because they're much cheaper.... have you used them in a similar application?

[rbalan]

I have the GG sacs in my 2000, so does Miljack's 1999 Pro (look for his winter ballast project). They are slightly larger than the trunk space and will lift the trunk lid if you fill them all the way. Looking back, a single custom sac would have fit our needs best and probably would have been cheaper. But the GG do a pretty good job. I would suggest them or custom over vdrive, you are likely going to want more weight back there after a short period of time. My guess is that you can get 150-200 more lbs than the vdrive sacs will allow.

[wcherashore]

did you post a thread with your install?

[rbalan]

No, mine is not plumbed in yet. Did you find Miljack's thread?

[wcherashore]

yeah, but the photos didn't make the conversion from the old website...

I'm considering putting the GG bags in the trunk and the rear seat sack in the locker... with this set-up will I need more bow weight?

[Chexi]

I would think so, otherwise you are going to get a brick wall with a very small sweet spot.

[rbalan]

Yes, you will need more weight in the bow although that is the setup I rode for awhile. It is ridable and not that much of a "wall". Depending on the number of passengers/gear, you will want another 250-500 lbs.

[Miljack]

I'll try to post the pics again...first time on the new site posting pics!
Soo, if the pictures posted, you will see that I used two seperate bags in the trunk (I removed the stock plastic tanks), reason I did two bags was to have the ability to surf behind my boat (Pro Air hull), and we can surf with only a small crew, and a BIG board (Inland Surfer Red Tide), interestingly, we can surf either side on our boat. I also wanted to be able to adjust the weight from side to side with a small crew to balance the wake, again, this works pretty well.

The rear bags are the GG Supra bags, about 550 lbs or so. The ski locker sack was custom made to fit my locker, and I think that I'm getting ~550 pounds in that bag as well. I seem to remember that the size was 78" x 19" x ? (it's probably in the original thread "winter ballast project update." When we surf, we fill the ski locker sack and one of the rear bags, if we have a big crew, I'll fill both of the rears, and get my "mobile ballast" where I need them.
I don't have any extra weight in the front of the boat, except for a spare batter under the glove box, and junk under the bow cushions.

I'll see if I can dig up the wake pics too.

[Miljack]

One wake pic, I'll see if I can find some others...

[Chexi]

I would suggest adding some more weight to the bow and trying it out. By doing so, you should be able to get a longer sweet spot. Maybe just try something heavy you have lying around and seeing how you like it.

[wcherashore]

Miljack,

Thanks for the post, I saw your old thread and have been hoping to get your input...

I'm planning the GG bags in the trunk and rear seat sack in the locker, I am just trying to plan wiring and plumbing things (size of thru hulls, how to use factory thru hull, size of hose, etc) before pulling the trigger

I have a few questions:
1. did you use the stock thru hull?
2. I assume you used the stock vents for the hard tanks for the rear bags?
3. what did you use to vent the center bag? I am thinking of using the glove box drain (its a thru hull near the bilge...)
4. did you use aerators or reversibles?
5. is the boat still able to get out of the hole or does it feel overburdened? stock prop? what speed?

thanks for the pics!

[wcherashore]

thru hull

I am planning on using three jabsco's to supply water to the bags and am deciding what to do about thru hulls and hoses

from what I can gather, the factory thru hull is 3/4"....

I think the capacity for this is 2100GPH which should supply 3x 540GPH Jabsco's right?

I was told I should add a 1" thru hull to plumb the rear bags and use the existing thru hull to supply the center bag for capacity reasons, but I'm not sure if that's necessary.

Alternatively, I could run 3 off an added 1" thru hull?

It would be nice to run all pumps off a single thru hull because I plan on adding a flush to the system and then I wouldn't have to do multiple connections/flushes.

[Miljack]

WC, I replied to your Pm, sorry it took so long.

I use 6 aerator pumps to fill and drain my bags, if I had to do it over, would go with the Jabsco/Impeller pumps. My problem was the current draw, and packaging the pumps.
In my setup, I have increased the size of the stock through hull from 3/4" to 1 1/4", with a ball valve right behind it, and a RV "wastegate" to control the water flow to my manifold with the fill pumps. I built the manifold from PVC fittings and it sits under the front of my engine. I plumbed the fill side with 1-1/8" bilge hose, and the vents and drains with 3/4".

I used the stock rear vents for the rear bags, and I utilized the through hull on the driver's side from the OE fill system.

I think with the Jabsco's you will need to feed them with their own through hulls, but not sure about it.

My boat has a Python engine, so it doesn't matter how much weight is in it! :-) You do feel the difference when coming out of the hole, but on my boat, no probs!