[jeffro788]

I have a 1996 180 Shabah, it had a dreaded hydrafoil on it which is about to be installed on a trash can, I haven't ran it yet without the hydrafoil but I am hoping that it plains out ok.
I notice you have the same boat that I do, so I was wondering what about an 18' boat made you decide that you needed the smart tabs? Also, Is there something extra about your boat that might make it harder to plain out or heavier on the rear?
I am just curious in case I need to be looking into a set for mine.

[Phlorida]

I am confident that MikeyT will have a better response but I wanted to share my experience with them on my 2007 SX-18. My boat has the 3.0l with the Alpha One and adding the tabs fundamentally changed the boat. The boat no longer pointed at the sky when given throttle and reached plane far faster than without the tabs. The tendency to wander at slow speeds diminshed dramatically. I am moving my boat to a marina where it will be transported by forklift so I am going to install hydraulic trim tabs but I highly recommend the SmartTabs.

[mikeyt]

The hydraulics are very nice and give you that added ability to level out your boat at speed with the adjustment of one side or the other at the flip of a switch but for those of us who cant afford that pricey option, Smart Tabs are hard to beat!

Mine had a hydrofoil on it when i bought it also but i found it did nothing for low speed wander or high speed chine walking. It did work okay at getting the boat on plane but i've seen 2 instances of damage to the cavitation plate from those hydrofoils and i realised just how ugly they really are, so i decided to do a little research at the suggestion of a couple of other members (Paul F comes to mind) and was impressed with what i had read. I ended up buying a set of Smart Tabs SX with 60lb actuators and installed them myself (took about 2 hrs but i'm slow) then took the boat out for a test run. I did end up moving the pins one notch from the starting point and they have done just about everything advertised. The only thing i did not gain was some extra top speed but then i didn't lose any either. The boat planes much faster and levels out (side to side) quickly and stays on plane at much lower speeds, the low speed wander is not completely gone but the improvement was considerable and the boat also feels much more stable at high speeds. I did take the boat out for a couple of runs without either the hydrofoil or the Smart Tabs installed and i didn't enjoy it. The boat liked to tail walk out of the hole and pulling a wakeboarder up out of the water was an adventure so the investment of less than $200 resolved those problems quickly.

The install is quite straightforward if you are reasonably handy with a drill and a marking pencil and very good at following instructions. You DONT want to drill too deep with the mounting holes and you DO want to use some 3M 5200 when you are installing the mounting plates.

[jeffro788]

Mikey I did read that you sent back a set of actuators, where they the 80lbs ones or 60lbs? Also, can you give me the brand that you used and maybe a part name or # so I know what I am looking at, I would really hate to get a set that no one has experience with and they turn out to be junk.
I was just having a hard time trying to figure out why a small boat would need so much help, but they are heavy. If it makes a difference, I do have the 4.3lx Gen+ motor.

[jeffro788]

I think I just found Smart tabs SX, I see all of the sets and they are showing 2 different actuators for an 18' boat, it is showing that I need an 80lb one for my boat being 18' and 205hp, is your boat also a V6?

[mikeyt]

Mine's the same as yours and the 80# actuators were too stiff for my boat. When i switched to the 60#'s they were perfect. John at Nauticus said it was an 'iffy' thing as at that size the hull & transom design, as well as the weight, of each boat affected the decision on the actuator size.

[jeffro788]

I think I am going to go ahead and add that to the "to do list" this summer. Doesn't look hard to install. Thanks Mikey!

[Tom]

The 60 lbs. are the ones you want. We have the same boat/engine combination and the 80's were too strong. We ended up with a slight list to the port after putting the tabs on. Some have told me it's partially due to the 4 blade prop, so I got a 3 blade. Yesterday I talked to a prop guy and he said it doesn't matter. The list can be fixed by putting a new anode under the fin that has a small rudder as a part of it and it is adjustable side to side. He said make a small adjustment with it and see how it works. It may take a couple of runs to get it right and of course make sure the weight is balanced during the runs.

[mikeyt]

I run a 4 blade SS prop on mine and have no list. Neither do i have an anode with a small fin. Usually the list problem is due to uneven weight distribution in the boat. I'd be interested in hearing what happens when you install the anode your prop guy mentioned.

[jeffro788]

not to get off the subject Mikey but what pitch 4 blade are you running? And what mph and rpms? I am looking into props and it is like anything else you ask 1000 different people and you get 1000 different answers. I haven't talked to another person that has the same boat I have. Most of what I will be doing is cruising, but we will do some skiing and I hope to one be coordinated enough to wakeboard. I would like to be able to run about 48-52 mph at WOT and the place I bought the boat claims it runs 52 mph at WOT.