Tower install
 

Hi guys, getting ready for lake season here in east TN.

I have a 94 Barchetta I bought last year, runs very well with low hours.

Im really interested in getting a tower for it (most likely monster), a dealer close by says they carry them and they usually charge ~ 6 hours for the install and running the speaker wire. Im looking at like $2300 or more for it. That's half the cost of the boat.

Has anyone installed their own tower? My only concerns is spiderwebing of the fiberglass, and actually finding where exactly on the boat is the best mounting points for the tower.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Re: Tower install
 

I bought my tower for $800 and installed it myself in about 4 hrs. Watch an installation video on YouTube it will tell you how to drill holes so it won't spider crack. It is very easy to do. Attachment 5960


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Re: Tower install
 

Hey ckoek what tower is that? Is it that much better wakeboarding from a tower?. It's a.lot of cash to find out it's not much different...

Re: Tower install
 

It's a Big Air Ice tower. Yes, it is better off the tower, also great for storage of boards, keeps them off the floor and out of the way!


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Re: Tower install
 

Thanks ckolek, Im still not sure about placement, how did you decide where you wanted to put your tower on your boat? Did you use any reinforcement?

Re: Tower install
 

They suggest the pull point about center of the boat. Yes, I cut and used 1/2 plywood along with the metal supports included with the tower. I've pulled some pretty heavy men with it, no problems at all.


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Re: Tower install
 

Looks good

Re: Tower install
 

Hey ckolek how long have you had it installed? You hear a lot about the single loop cheaper towers flexing and loosening but I'd like an opinion from one of our members.

Re: Tower install
 

I had it all last season, very happy with it so far, no problems. I did go back and tighten it after it settled, but it has held since.


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Re: Tower install
 

Does it flex when pulling boarders?

Re: Tower install
 

I've pulled two skiers at one time with no movement.


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Re: Tower install
 

Thanks for all the info! I think what Im going to do, to lower costs is just buy the tower and have the dealer install it.

Then down the road buy speakers and accessories and do myself. that stuff I can do. :)

Re: Tower install
 

Install it yourself, and go buy your speakers. It is very easy to do.


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Re: Tower install
 

I got my Aerial Airbourne Tower from H2O Sports Warehouse. I installed myself with help from some friends 2 years ago and have had no issues. Very solid tower. I just looked on their website h2osportswarehouse.com and they are offering Airbourne Tower package with 2 speakers for $1352 plus free shipping. You might take a look they have several different towers and packages to choose from. If you look at their Airbourne gallery you will see my boat along with some others. My boat is the solid yellow Z212 Mariah. I have posted some pics as well on here. Hope this helps.

Re: Tower install
 

I'm waiting to pull the trigger this weekend. Still undecided between the ascent or the airborne and with my green sides I can't decide between black or polished... Any opinions? I hate having ocd... Lol.

Re: Tower install
 

I bought an Aerial Airborne last year from H20wharehouse....have yet to install it. After shopping around, I found them to be a pretty good deal.

As for H20warehouse - less than impressed. Good price but gimichy. I ordered since it said they had them in stock - didn't get the tower until 8 wks after order. The "FREE" wakeboard was even longer. Needless to say, the end of last season came and passed without a tower installed.

Hoping to get this on in the next month or so....

Re: Tower install
 

Thanks guys for all the input. Bahoktz, that sucks about the shipping, I hate when that happens. With all the rain weve had last week my dock is starting to float. Wont be long now, I still need to get a motor rehoned and put in my old kawi stand up ski.

Re: Tower install
 

Ariel towers (aka h2owarehouse) just charged my credit card THEN called me a day later to tell me the tower wouldn't ship for 6 to 8 weeks!! I still don't have my refund back t days later. When I do I'll be ordering from fluidcore in Austin tx. The guy there is awesome and even matched Ariel's package price but with better product!! I'll let you know what I think when I get it. If anyone is interested in a tower definitely look up fluidcore. Just my .02 on my experience so far.

Re: Tower install
 

gahooligan, i ordered mid July of last year. Took 5-6 weeks to get to me. The promotion was for a free wakeboard. After calls and chats I finally got the wakeboard in DECEMBER.

For the money I think they give a good product, but the hassle they put you through probably isn't worth it. I did alot of shopping last year for one of these - they were both attractive in price and design. Maybe Aerial from someone other than H20?

As for Fluidcore - looks like they have alot of designs but only one listed on the US website.

I'll post a picture when I get mine put up.

Re: Tower install
 

Baholtz h2owarehouse IS Ariel. It's one and the same. Kane, the guy at Fluidcore in Austin carries all their towers. He matched prices on Ariel's package deal and his come with better speakers even. Also, he powder coats here in the USA. My tower will be shipped today. I'll take some pics. Looking at their photos fluidcore quality looks equal too or better than Ariel. He said Ariel makes good towers but manufacturers overseas and it's always a long wait to receive product. I know I wished they had been honest upfront about lead time. Not telling me until after they charged my card really put a bad taste in my mouth...

Re: Tower install
 

Never heard of fluidcore but they have a nice package for thier cobra tower, and lifetime warranty.

Re: Tower install
 

I had a similar issues with Aerial, delay in shipping then came powder coating issues that had chips (covered up with black paint) and thread issues. The customer service is horrible when trying to get any assistance, they like to pass the buck. Ended up having to get pieces re-powder coated which was a hassle but they finally came off of it to pay for it.

Re: Tower install
 

I'm a couple of hours into my install. Confused is the best way to describe my current state.

Double and triple checked the layout of the legs. Holes were right on the money. Made sure I leveled the boat and the plumbed the legs. Started on the legs to the receiver today. My buddy and I spent over an hour trying to figure out how much the legs should bury into the receiver. Seem to me you should be able to measure the foot dimensions and look at a chart for this info. Nope. Nothing tells you how wide it's supposed to be. Looks to me like you just guess.
Back legs were 1/8" different. Not perfect but okay. Drilled and started on the fronts. Again it's all how you look at it. Putting them at the same meant the thing was racked terribly. Probably 1" in each direction (one leg pushing out, the other pulling in). Did my best and just let it go where it wanted to. One side is still racked but the other isn't bad. Front legs are 1/2-3/4" different.
Is it noticable? No. Will it fold perfectly? Probably not. Oh well.
I'm in construction so pretty good at this type of stuff. It's not overtly hard or complex but if they gave you an idea of dimensions you could at least try to verify you were putting it up with the right dimensions. Attachment 6018

Re: Tower install
 

Looks fine to me... Wouldn't notice that minute difference if you never mentioned it!

Re: Tower install
 

I am ocd and it was a nightmare for me. I have a severe symmetry complex too. If it's out 1/2" I see it and it kills me. I do a write up on mine too. Btw, that fiberglass is some thick stuff ain't it??!! Mariah really did build a Damm good boat!

Re: Tower install
 

Thanks Moto. Yes Gahooligan, pretty thick. The whole thing will come apart and I'll reinforce connection points and loc-tight everything when it's going back together.

Re: Tower install
 

What did you guys use for reinforcement? I'm gonna use 3/4" form-ply (cause I've got it). Trying to decide whether to set that in bondo or fiberglass resin or just 3m 5200

Re: Tower install
 

I used 1/2 hardwood ply. The bolts weren't long enough after going thru the 1/2 to 3/4" of fiberglass to use anything thicker. I used loc tite on anything that did not have to be loosened for folding. To run speaker wires I used 18/8 cable and passed it thru the hull using a pcv grommet from the auto parts store

Re: Tower install
 

Unhooked the tower to fold it down. Man those legs were shaky! I dropped it off to a buddy of mine who owns a fabrication shop to weld the legs to the head receiver. Those 2 bolts per leg just weren't going to cut it. TIG it together. I'm hoping to reduce the amount of shake and side wobble. At this point I didn't notice too much wiggle when pulling it over to him. When only one side hit a hole or a bump it shook but not much. And I haven't even reinforced or cranked down the feet to the hull yet.

Found what I think is the issue with the alignment on the front. Spread from front connection to back connection points! Drivers side to passenger's side varied by 3/4". Yup. How does that happen?

Re: Tower install
 

All,

Put up a How To on my install. Just FYI.
http://www.mariahownersclub.com/foru...html#post57139

Thanks,
Brandon