Aerial wakeboard towers

wssb11 · 12-11-2008, 06:36 PM

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.

***supastipa*** · 12-12-2008, 02:00 AM

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.

wssb11 · 12-12-2008, 08:49 PM

did you install the tower yourself?

***supastipa*** · 12-12-2008, 09:35 PM

We had our tower installed at the local marina.

Jayhawk04 · 01-25-2009, 03:38 PM

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.

wssb11 · 01-26-2009, 05:51 AM

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

Jayhawk04 · 01-26-2009, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wssb11

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.

wssb11 · 01-27-2009, 01:53 AM

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