Aerial wakeboard towers
 

Has any one heard of aerial wakeboard towers? Feedback? Im thinking of adding a tower to my 96 shabah. what types of changes can i expect to affect in the boats handleing. do towers add a ton of weight? What about like top heavy problems cause this boat wasnt really desinged for a tower.

Never heard of aerial towers. We have had our add-on tower for 8 years. I have never had any problems with it being top heavy unless you are pulling a tube from the tower and it submarines on you. the boat's handleing hasn't changed, I think even though the boat wasn't designed with a tower in mind most are light weight enough not to cause any problems. Do your homework and make sure it is mounted correctly, our was not and we have had major fiberglass cracking issues.

did you install the tower yourself?

We had our tower installed at the local marina.

I've got an Aerial tower on my Diablo and I love it. I looked at a ton of different style towers before I decided on this one. I got it off Ebay for $630 or so. The install was pretty straight forward. I used extra backing that I made from 1"x4" PVC "wood" to help more evenly distribute the stress the tower puts on the glass. I found the PVC boards in the trim section of Home Depot. It took my brother and I a couple of hours to install and that was with me measuring things over and over to make sure I got it on right.

This winter I added some polished board racks and am in the process of adding some Kicker KMT6 tower speakers and a tower mounted anchor light.

The tower itself is light, being made of aluminum, but when boarding behind the boat there is a noticeable pull when the rider edges way out. It's nothing major, but it is noticeable.

The tower fold down below the windshield height, so I have no problem putting the boat in my garage.

Here are some pictures I took of the tower after I put it on last summer.

wow that tower looks amazing on your diablo. I have been looking at them on ebay as well and have been debating it. With the extra backing you put have you had any problems with the glass cracking? Thanks for posting the pictures the boat looks excellent. Thanks again

Thanks, I thought the tower looked better than most of the other ones I looked at. I really don't think the pictures I posted do it justice, but they are the only ones I have with the tower mounted. They were just quick shots I took with my phone to send to a friend.

As for the glass cracking, only time will tell. I only got to ride on it for a couple of months before it got too cold. I check it all the time and I haven't found any cracks yet (I doubt the actual glass will crack but more likely the gel coat). I will have a better idea after I beat on it more for an entire summer. When I mounted it, I made sure to radius the edged of the holes I drilled to prevent stress concentrations and I added the extra backing just to be safe. The tower itself is pretty solid once you get it all tightened up.

well once again it looks amazing i have been thinking about getting one for my shabah for a while now i agree the tower looks really good and the price is right. Now that i have seen one actually installed i can say its probably only a matter of time :) If not this summer definately will install one next winter. I would definately do something about the support on the backside of the glass as you stated. keep me posted if you see any cracking. thanks again

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

Did you end up getting and installing the tower? I just purchased an Aerial tower today. I plan on doing the install next week.

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

If you can, document the process for us! We can always use more writeups! :wink_thumbup:

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I just installed the Aerial wakeboard tower myself and it looks great! I was wondering if you had any pictures on how your speakers were installed, specifically how the wiring feeds from the tower tubes into the hull of the boat. Did the install of the speakers retrict the movement of the tower when folding down? Any tips would be great as I want to only drill the minimal amount of holes as needed!

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I have a 96 talari and was looking into mounting a wake board tower and was just wondering if some one can help me a tell me if there is a way of popping out the inside panel, haveing to drills holes with a hole saw, or open for other suggestions.

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I just installed the Aerial Airborne Tower on my 1996 Z201 Talari. I started a new thread for it because I didn't see this one. It is awsome. No creaking or moaning of any kind from the tower. I used plywood to back up the tower with some epoxy called PC-11. This epoxy has a 1700 PSI tensile strength and is rated for use with marine applicaitons. Check out my post for some pics. It is tagged "Aerial Airborne Tower on 1996 Z201 Talari." http://www.mariahownersclub.com/foru...01-talari.html

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I cut holes in the panel on my 96 talari for the back mounts. On the front left I went up through the speaker hole, and on the front right I went in from where the glove box should be on the bow. I chose to cut holes in the back because it was easy and completely concealed by the side bumper. Way less work than pulling the back seat, and then pulling all the screws to the side panels. Plus that fiberglass is structurally insignifcant. Just cut low because at the top there is a wood sticker that runs all the way back on the boat that you don't want to cut into because it is structural. Good luck.


EDIT: ha ha I just realized the date in which you asked this question. You have probably since solved your dilema. Hope my reply can help somebody else.

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I have been considering getting a tower for my 2001 Shabah 202, any particular brands to avoid? The local Marina sells monster towers but their prices seem higher than other brands are they really that much better? Thanks

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

I like the looks of Monsters new MTK style. Don't have a clue about the mounting of it or the stress factor. I would surely put some exra support under the mounts to minimize cracking though.

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

Well I don't have great pictures yet but here are some pictures of my Talari 200Z with an Aerial Airborne on it. I'm really happy with the look and function of it! Doesn't even make a creek or sound when my 250lb friends get behind her. The rubber mounts do allow for slight laterial movement when you pull on it from the side but it's not significant. I did have to pull out my rear speakers to get up under the sidewalls to mount it. I was then limited by the size of my speaker to size my plywood backing plates on the back mounts. I bought a wire harness from Aerial as well which is suited for lights and speakers. I will post pictures later of the wire routing install (most difficult part of the install). All in all I'm very happy with the value of the Aerial Airbourne but be careful when installing the tower as the chrome plating will scratch if you look at it wrong. I would recommend covering the entire tower in masking tape for the whole install.

Happy Boating/Wakeboarding!!!
Mike

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

That does look good. Congrats. The photo with the old barn in the background is pretty cool.

Re: Aerial wakeboard towers
 

Just purchased an Aerial Assualt for my 94' Talahri 210. I will let you guys know how it goes during install. I will post some pics before, during and after. If anyone has any tips let me know..

Get ready for your arms to get scratched up... :)
Also when I installed mine I used a piece of 1/4" plywood backing and a water proof epoxy with a 1700 psi tensile strength called PC-11. I recommend using it, or something like it for structural support. The boats fiberglass wasn't designed for a tower so you could end up cracking your gelcoat when you put pressure on it from pulling a skier. Mine hasn't cracked at all with the plywood and epoxy backing. Hope this helps. Ps drill your holes in reverse.

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