inboard / outboard - can you add weight

nikko · Newbie Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 2

I have a boat with an inboard / outboard motor with recently fitted pylon and have been advised not to add weight to increase the wake size. my mechanic said "if the headers go below the water line constantly on inboards/outboards then it can destroy your motor. the saltwater will backflow into the motor and into the internal components of the motor"

has anybody got a view on this as i was looking to add about 1000lbs and now it sounds like i shouldn't.

bighitbiker3 · Soul Rider Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 386 City: Seattle

Whenever I ride in my cobalt i/o I add 1200 lbs and iits a 1983 still runs like new. Go for it but add weight in the front and middle. Then youll get a sick big wake.

nikko · Newbie Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 2

what have you got in your boat and where's the best place to buy?

LoudonTN · Posted: Aug 10, 2005 3:42 pm Post subject:

Like bighitbiker said, don't add weight to the back of your boat. Heck, if you add weight to the front/middle of your boat, you may even pull the lower unit more out of the water rather than sinkin the headers. I'd have to know more about your boat before I said if 1000lbs is a good idea or not. I'm hesitant to add more than 500 to my I/O.

bighitbiker3 · Soul Rider Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 386 City: Seattle

I have a 600 in the bow and a 600 in the ski locker. i bought them off of here used and there great check ebay for good deals also. But it does depend on your boat and how much hp it has.

Wallrat · Posted: Aug 10, 2005 4:32 pm Post subject:

What's the difference between 8 people or 1000lbs of ballast? Like everyone else said, on a i/o you want to add the weight to the front/middle and then trim the motor up some to sink the whole thing. I'm running about 700 lbs in mine.

tWaker2 · Soul Rider Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 375 City: Gilroy, CA

I run 750 in the bow, and 550 in the middle, and then there are people on top of that. So far I haven't encountered any problems (knocking on wood). BTW, I have a 190 hp v6 4.3L.

wakerider_23234 · Criminal Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 68

yeah i have 400 in the back and 200 in the front and 600 in the ski locker if i put some of that wieght in front would it make a diff. in the size of the wake

JohnM_ttu · Newbie Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 46 City: Richardson

I run about 2000 lbs in my I/O.
1,000 in the fornt
350 in the locker
500 under the back seat
2-3 people

The boat sinks very evenly and puts out a nice clean wake between 25-27 mph on the speedo. A mechanic told me about not sinking it lower than the cylinder heads, but I think to actually get it that low the boat would have to be sunk another foot almost.

My advice would be to weight your boat the way you want it and look at it from shore to see how it sits in the water. This should give you an idea about whether or not your cylinder heads are in danger.

I am more afraid that the hull of my boat is just not as strong as a wake specific boat and it is going to crack one of these days. knock on wood

Wakeboarder166 · Outlaw Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 112 City: Sioux Falls

tWaker2 Damn dude your IO looks like it throws a pretty damn good wake.

nan0 · Criminal Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 55 City: San Jose

tWaker2 · Soul Rider Joined: 12 Jul 2003 Posts: 375 City: Gilroy, CA

Wakeboarder166, haha- ya, it does alright. My profile picture isn't really that good of a wake either(compared to the usual), it didn't have as much weight that day. It is still a step and a half down from a nice loaded wakeboarding boat, but hey, it does the job, haha.