Big Air Tower vs. Monster Tower

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

Ok, ive been looking for a tower for my Bayliner 185. I need your input before i buy one though. I like the look of the Big Air. But i want something thats not crap. Suggestions of other towers but not to exceed the monster tower price is welcome. But which tower is better? thanks in advance

AirProfile · Addict Joined: 17 Aug 2004 Posts: 602 City: Brookfield

just out of curiosity what's the price difference GooseR, ??
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Motorcycle tires

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

oh yea, the Tower also must be able to come completely off and does not have to fold. thanks

gilby00 · Outlaw Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Posts: 216 City: Sparks

monster is very sturdy, and customer service is awesome. Why would you want the tower to come completly off. why no just get a skylon then?

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

I dont want that pylon thing in the bottom. Tower is more sturdy. and when my rents take it out, they can take it off if they dont want it on.

WakeTech · Addict Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 949 City: Edmonton

Go Monster, excellent customer service and excellent product. You won't be disapointed.

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

it says that the monter will most likely not fit with a bimini. How many of you guys have the monster and you biminis will or wont fit.

GooseR · Newbie Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 29

I just saw the whiplash towers. How are those? any good or bad?

DrJ · Posted: Aug 22, 2005 11:36 am Post subject:

Our stock bimini didn't fit inside the Monster, but we got a slightly smaller one, i think it's 65" wide and ~40" tall. That size fits in there just about perfect on a SN2001. I've been on a big air tower (i'm pretty sure that was it) and the "adjustable" tubes are held together with removable pins like on a weight lifting machine and it made a fair bit of noise. I"d have to say Monster

Rinker04 · Newbie Joined: 29 Mar 2005 Posts: 17 City: Orland Park

I narrowed the bows on my factory bimini top (cut a section of tube out of the middle & riveted it back together). Works great with the Monster Tower.

Vampyre · Addict Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 622 City: Ooltewah, TN

I have a monster Tower on my 99 Bayliner 185. Picture on profile. I had to heavily modify a bimini Ii ordered to fit in the tower. I will be taking pics.
Here is what I had to do:
Ordered a 65" wide by 40" high bimini.
had to make aluminum mounting blocks, because I wanted to mount the bimini legs to the rear tower mounting blocks.
removed 18" from each of the 3 center bimini bows, to clear under the tower.
chopped the front legs of the bimini by 13", and added a larger diameter tube at the base. This is to give me more lenght of the forward bow, over past the windsheild. When its folded up, it all straps to the rear horizontal cross bar of the monster tower. When i unfold it, I pull the front legs out about 8 inches of the larger diameter tube, and use quick release pins to fasten the lenghten tubes. I will have pics illustrating this.
Lastly, i had to have the canvas top tweaked in about 20 inches in the width, and tucked and stitched in a few places.
I had to do all this because my bayliner has the wraparound glass tha would prevent me from mouting the bimini legs conventionally.
The top looks great, and is quite large.
When I get home, I will post pics.

Brit Rider · Posted: Aug 30, 2005 12:19 pm Post subject:

GooseR, Monster Everytime.

The big air takes far far longer to install and utilises alot of raw aluminium and stainless side by side... whch tends to sieze together over time if used near salt.

There is also a lot of drilling involved when installing the Big air.

The monster has a higher quality finish (Bright dip anodised opposed to bare aluminium).

Backup and support from both companies is however incredible, as are the warranties.
Just my thoughts and experiance...

Vampyre · Addict Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 622 City: Ooltewah, TN

See my new thread for my custom bimini and monster tower on my bayliner 185
http://forums.wakeboarder.com/viewtopic.php?p=683232#683232

QNev · Posted: Aug 30, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject:

Hey does anyone have a pic of the big air tower..? I'm curious to see what it looks like... I've heard of it but ye..

joedirt00 · Posted: Aug 31, 2005 6:28 am Post subject:

I have a Big Air on my boat and its actually pretty rigid. I liked the more traditional design of it rather than the swoop and I thought the 2 1/2" would look to bulky on my boat. My tow point is about 7' of the floor of the boat so its pretty far off the water.

I did the install myself, pretty straight forward. It took me a about 10 hours to do, but I was doing it all myself with the exception of having my wife help lift it into place a couple times. 2 guys could easily knock it out in less than a day. The drilling really isn't that bad, The give you starter bits that cut through pretty fast and then you follow the holes with a 3/8" bit.

The cross members have pins with rings on them so you can take the front legs off when you fold it. The rings do make some noise in the chop, but I'm coming up with some alternatives to those pins. Other than that its pretty good.

Customer service was very good. When I got my tower the crossbraces were too short. I installed them anyway not knowing they were short so they ended up high on the tower legs. It didn't look right so I called them and the next day they had another set fabbed and shipped, 2 days later they were at my door. If you look at the pic you can see I have 2 sets installed instead of the standard 1 set. It looks better IMO.

So I'm pretty satisfied with it. Ive been pulling all summer with no problems with the tower or my hull cracking.

They are both good towers so you'll probably be happy with either one.

Vampyre · Addict Joined: 12 Oct 2004 Posts: 622 City: Ooltewah, TN

Looks good Joedirt.
Yes, I have been very happy with Monster Tower, and get lots of inquiries at the boat launch/ gas station.
It sounds like either one will be an excellent choice, and it is good to know that both have excellent customer service!

YELLOWMOBIUS · Addict Joined: 25 Apr 2004 Posts: 776 City: da region

wow that would get annoying taking the tower off everytime

wetirish · Criminal Joined: 17 Apr 2003 Posts: 56

I have had a Big Air for three seasons now it has been a great tower no noise and as strong as the first day we used it. It did take most all day to install it, you could easly take the tower off in about two minutes. Great customer service!

gene3x · Addict Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 759 City: Dallas

I had a Big Air on my old Four Winns and it was very loud in the rattle department. Of course mine was one of the older generation towers so it was more boxy or square looking. It was fine for what I paid ($695) but definately would go have gone with Monster had I known they were that much more rigid. The newer versions of Big Air like what these guys represent may be much better now.