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Aerial Assault and FreeRide Towers

 
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Pop Addict
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Joined: 25 Jun 2010
Posts: 79

PostPosted: Sep 05, 2010 6:01 pm    Post subject: Aerial Assault and FreeRide Towers Reply with quote

Haven't seen much talk here about Aerial towers. I think the Assault line looks wicked, but I'd want it in black (I heard they dis-continued it in black??).

http://www.aerialwakeboarding.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BT-ASU225W-BK

I saw the new Aerial FreeRide line, but not sure I like how far back they mount.

What do you guys think?
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hawkster0001
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Joined: 21 Jul 2010
Posts: 441
City: GR

PostPosted: Sep 06, 2010 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah there sweet towers, but hey a bi on the pricey side
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shonuff
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Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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City: Atlanta

PostPosted: Sep 07, 2010 4:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been doing a lot of research on towers, Aerial is among the lowest quality towers you can buy. The Assault tower is known to flex a lot.

A factory in China makes those towers and are rebadged by Aerial. If you look up Hydrowake, Krypt or LT you will find the exact same tower lineup because they're all made by that factory.

If it were me, I'd avoid those brands and go for a higher quality tower for my boat.

If you're deadset on the Assault tower, here's the same tower at a much lower price. This one is branded by Hydrowake.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-HydroWake-Universal-Wakeboard-T-Rex-Tower-/180557966287?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0a17ebcf
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kartman
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Joined: 29 Oct 2008
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City: meridian, Idaho

PostPosted: Sep 07, 2010 9:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

shonuff, aerial doesnt even have a tower that looks like that one. i have put a couple aerial towers on boats, and they offer a great product. i have never noticed any flex in the towers.
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shonuff
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Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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City: Atlanta

PostPosted: Sep 07, 2010 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is the factory in China that makes them:
http://liantai.en.alibaba.com/index.html


Aerial Assault:
http://www.aerialwakeboarding.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BT-ASU225W-BK

Which is the LTP Wakeboard tower:
http://liantai.en.alibaba.com/product/213941110-209772447/LTP_Wakeboard_Tower.html

Aerial Airborne:
http://www.aerialwakeboarding.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BT-AIR225-PA

Which is the JSKL Wakeboard tower:
http://liantai.en.alibaba.com/product/204878596-209772447/JSKL_Wakeboard_Tower.html

Which is the Hydrowake Colossus:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-Black-HydroWake-Colossus-Wakeboard-Tower-/130429116189?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5e2e5f1d

Aerial Ascent:
http://www.aerialwakeboarding.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BT-ASC225S-PA

Which is the JSK Wakeboard Tower:
http://liantai.en.alibaba.com/product/204877628-209772447/JSK_Wakeboard_Tower.html

The Krypt Pro Air:
http://www.onlyinboards.com/ski-boat-accessories/krypt-pro-air-tower.html

Which is the LTX tower:
http://liantai.en.alibaba.com/product/204757508-209772447/LTX_wake_board_tower.html

Which is the Hydrowake Shark:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-HydroWake-Universal-Shark-Wakeboard-Tower-/130429235450?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e5e3030fa

If you do some research on the internet you'll see posts by the chinese manufacturer even state they supply the towers to Aerial as well as other companies. The only differences are different mounting feet, extra braces here and there, etc. but you'll see they're all supplied by the same factory.

I didn't say all Aerial towers flex, just the Assault tower due to its single loop tow point. I'm only sharing what I've learned through my research. Enough owners of the Assault tower have complained about side to side flex to scare me away from it. Another common complaint about Aerial towers is creaking and constantly having to retighten the set screws.

I have no brand loyalty, a month ago I was about to pull the trigger on an Aerial Airborne or Assault tower. Then I started doing some research and found owner complaints about them. I'm not trying to promote any brand, I'm just telling him to do some research and get a quality tower which from my research, Aerial is not. If your experience with Aerial is good, that's great. I've just read enough negative reviews on their towers to steer me away from them.

Pop Addict- Do your own research and form your own opinion. A wakeboard tower isn't a small purchase, research the hell out of it before you buy one. That's what I've been doing.
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Pop Addict
Criminal
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Joined: 25 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Sep 08, 2010 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the advice and comments. I'm sorta surprised that the Aerial towers are any weaker than, say, DIY or MT2 towers. I'm a structural engineer and they all appear to be single loop towers to me and if connected right, they should have similar stability performance. Prolly gonna piss a lotta people off on here, but the DIY and MT2 towers look very plain to me. If I'm gonna spend $1K+ on a tower, aside from being stable it better look kickass too!

What about the FreeRide? Any thoughts on that one?
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Pop Addict
Criminal
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Joined: 25 Jun 2010
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PostPosted: Sep 11, 2010 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright. I bit the bullet and bought an Assault tower today. Comes with 2 racks. $899 door to door. I can't see how I could ever pay less than that...

Hope to get it installed this week - can't wait!
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brichter14
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Joined: 27 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Sep 11, 2010 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

coulda got a diywake tower with 2 racks for that, and they are alot sturdier... ive been on a malibu that has the assault tower, it swayed alot, but a dude was wakeboarding that was round the 240 mark... still kinda scary sittin in the back seat
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