Ride steady

[Cusefan78]

So after a long weekend of fluctuating speeds and yelling at my driver I have decided to do a speed control install. I purchased a perfect pass rpm/ paddle wheel and wasn't 100% sold on it so I never did the install. I purchased today a ride steady GPS system with water and air temp sensors. I went with this over perfect pass for a few reasons. 1 I have been emailing ride steady and perfect pass and justin from ride steady always got back to me with loads of info and quickly. Pp barely responded. 2 the options and price that justin offers with the ride steady were way better. I'm going to document the install on here over the weekend and let you know how it goes. Hopefully by then my girlfriend and brother are talking to me again.

[TitanTn]

Sounds interesting. I look forward to the review.

[Cusefan78]

My ridesteady came in the mail today. The gauge looks awesome. Installing it tomorrow, can't wait

[Ptownkid]

Just saw that they finally have new gauges...now i am tempted!

[blackstang]

I recently installed the Ridesteady system in my 2002 Launch and couldn't be happier. Justin was extremely helpful when I had any questions when trying to make my decision between them and PP as well. Even after the sale, Justin continued to provide excellent customer service.. If you need help or have any questions hit me up. I took quite a few pics of my install as well.

[cadunkle]

Awesome, curious to hear more reviews and feedback of the latest RideSteady system. I have PP Wakeboard Pro (paddlewheel) and am very happy with it. I use GPS on the phone to calibrate it at slack tide or preferably when I'm not on tidal or flowing water. GPS cannot be consistent for me, and I wanted water temp anyhow so either way I was putting a hole in the boat. If I had to do it again with today's offerings I'd most likely go with RideSteady as they have paddlewheel and GPS on the same system along with what looks like a better display/interface.

[Cusefan78]

So it's installed and tested. I was shocked how easy it was to install. I had one question about the 12v constant wire so I called justin and he answered it quickly. So here it goes. I removed the top gauge cluster and removed the right speedo. I plugged the line with a golf tee and kinked the hose and zip tied it, no leaks. I then ran the rpm wire to the rpm tach. Ran the 12v constant to the ignition switch, the ground to the rpm guage ground post. The 12v switched went to the ignition switch. The last connection is for illumination and ran that to the positive side of the left speedo light. Now onto the solenoid. Clamped it to the driver side exhaust hose. Ran the cable to the throttle as the manual suggested. Fished the power wire from the solenoid to the helm area following the steering cable route. I then mounted the brain box on the left kick panel over my heater vent. Start to finish it took me 1.5 hours. I still have to run the water temp sensor tomorrow when I put my boat back on the lift. I'm planning on running the wire for the sensor through the old speedo pilot tube.

On to the test:
Programmed my name into the user mode and my speed which is 32mph for skiing. I then headed out onto the lake with my newly install ridesteady speed control. I activated the headunit and it was ready. Slammed down the gas and watched the speed climb to 34.2mph it then backed down to 31 and pretty much stayed on target. To stop the speed control, you can either turn it off with a press of a button or simply slow down the boat with the throttle. It will then tell you your stats for that run.

Over all I'm in love with it and I can't believe I have gone all theSe years without out a speed control. I have used pp and now ridesteady. The features, ease of use, and price win me over hands down, ridesteady all the way. The one sad feature is that my speedo is now accurate and I just found out my boat doesn't do 50mph which is my happy number. 48.5:( oh well atleast no more fighting with the girlfriend over how she can't seem to keep a constant speed.)

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[Blackntan90]

WOW! Thank you for the write up. Never heard of Ridesteady, but I will be looking into this now as well. How, where does the paddle wheel mount? Did you cut a hole in the hull(gasp!) or can it be mounted to the wake plate (that is where my paddle wheel and temp/depth sensors are now). Thanks again for the info!

[Cusefan78]

I bought the GPS version. No paddle wheel. I originally was going to do te classics version with te paddle wheel but after talking with justin decided on GPS. I do believe you can use the existing paddle wheel though. I think you would need a new pin connector. Email justin at hyrdophase and he would be able to answer that question. I will say after using it I'm glad I went GPS. I did mount the water temp sensor today. Had to run drill a new hole for the line. The speedo tube was too small and supra installed a tube with barb connectors. I'm guessing so it wouldn't kink the line when installing the fuel tank. All in all still a simple job. These inboards are so easy to run wires.

[korey]

Thanks for your write-up. You may have sold at least one system for them :D

[Cusefan78]

Korey, I have been using it the past few days and love it. It's so easy to use. It holds speed Great. On turns it'll hold it within .2 mph and barely moves on straight always. So far I have tubed, wakeboarded, and skied with it on. Also for anyone interested in this brand, they offer one hundred dollars off if you take pictures of the install. I installed it Thursday and had the money back into my account on Saturday. Great company to do business with. Also the manual is extremely detailed. If you have any questions let me know and would be glad to help.

[korey]

It's been quite a while since this thread was active, but I just ordered my ridesteady this season, and am diving into the install after work tonight! Any other tips that weren't covered here? Bummer about the water temp sensor not fitting through the pitot tube - that was my plan there. Where did you put your air temp sensor? is it accurate?

[Cusefan78]

I think I covered Everything. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but I have been busy with work lately. I ran the air sensor up under the dash and I have an air net right in front of the drivers side window. Tucked it under the grate it's pretty accurate. Water temp isn't accurate when moving cause the exhaust hits it. When I stop moving it works great. Let me know how you like it. Best thing I ever did.

[korey]

Cool! I got a little slowed down last night by getting the boat from storage and then sidetracked by messing with trailer brakes (had a shoe fall apart on my tow home! I guess better now than on I75 this weekend!), so I didn't get all the way through the ridesteady install. So far, it's nice and simple. Mounted the motor to the port side exhaust tube behind the riser, installed the gauge, made the electrical and tach connections, mounted the GPS receiver and routed that cable. Now just to mount and route cables for both temp sensors, route the motor cable, button up and power it up! I think I'll be able to knock that out tonight!

[Cusefan78]

I just remembered something. Replace all the nuts with lock nuts on the throttle lever. I had one come off last year while pulling a skier.

[gogger]

Just wanted to say I installed a ridesteady system on my 2006 24ssv and love it. It works flawlessly and is easy to use. I no longer get mad at anyone driving for me, as the ridesteady does all the work for them. Enjoy it!

[korey]

Finished my install Sunday morning and hit the water! I skipped the water temp sensor for now because of the pain of routing it, I'll get back to that some other time..

The system works flawlessly right out of the box! I haven't set up users yet - I just made speed adjustments between riders/sports, but it's so easy! I can't wait to dive deeper into some of the parameters and get my wakeboard pull fully dialed in! Held speed amazingly precisely, even in my carburated big block (not known for precise throttle response) boat heavily weighted down to surf! It became instantly apparent what a couple of tenths of a MPH will do for your surf wake!

The screen is nice and easy to read in the sun, the rotary knob is far superior to the push buttons on competing systems, it's cheaper (once you get the $100 rebate for documenting your install), it's easer to tell when the system is on or off than PP systems that I've used, I like the mechanical simplicity of the "throttle reduction" scheme, and they have been super easy to deal with (you can't even BUY Perfect pass without calling in your order, I hate that)!

Ridesteady all the way, 5/5 stars!

Also, RE: lock nuts,
Mine came with nuts with star type locking washers attached. Are those what rattled loose on you, or were they regular nuts with no locking device at all?
http://images1.mcmaster.com/mvA/contents/gfx/large/90675a029p1-b01l.png?ver=1410952145

[Cusefan78]

Those nuts rattled loose. Got lock nuts and no issues since.

[korey]

Just a quick check-in after using Ridesteady for a few months..

HOW DID I LIVE WITHOUT THIS?! The system works beautifully! I had a little hiccup 2 weeks ago, and Justin responded instantly via email while I was still on the water. Guided me to find a broken wire that could have been manufacturing error just as easily as it could have been my installation error. I stripped the offending wire back further and jammed it in the connector to continue my weekend, while he sent out a new GPS antenna at his cost which i received yesterday! Some of the best customer service that I have ever encountered! Highly recommended!

[NorCalPR]

Nice. Currently im working on ironing out some bugs with the Steadypass. Mine failed last month due to voltage spikes when cranking the boat. He should have everything all dialed in very soon.


Fwiw, what are your response/overshoot settings?

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[NorCalPR]

Steadypass fried again, this time updating it. Apparently there's a way to flash it without zapping it that I wasn't aware of...

Either way I'm done. It's been a whole summer of messing with it and not getting it to work skill but one time (and even then, it couldn't see the rpm so it would go to sleep)


Reading all the reviews on ride steady, I'm ponying up for them instead of pp

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[korey]

Sorry to hear that Dima is having trouble with his product. I spoke with him directly for a while about getting involved with him, as I had started down the Arduino based D-I-Y GPS Speed Control on my own. In the end, I took the plunge and ponied up the cash for a system that someone else had shaken the bugs out of, and couldn't be more happy! 22 pulls yesterday and about 1.3 hours of actual ride time with three new riders and I still got to rip behind my own boat with a first time driver at the helm. RideSteady MAKES my day every time i have to stick someone new in the hotseat - even more so when it's my new(ish) girlfriend and I don't have to be bitchy about a bad pull ;-)

[NorCalPR]

Sorry to hear that Dima is having trouble with his product. I spoke with him directly for a while about getting involved with him, as I had started down the Arduino based D-I-Y GPS Speed Control on my own. In the end, I took the plunge and ponied up the cash for a system that someone else had shaken the bugs out of, and couldn't be more happy! 22 pulls yesterday and about 1.3 hours of actual ride time with three new riders and I still got to rip behind my own boat with a first time driver at the helm. RideSteady MAKES my day every time i have to stick someone new in the hotseat - even more so when it's my new(ish) girlfriend and I don't have to be bitchy about a bad pull ;-)
Yeah, I was really looking forward to it since I had a background in it that I grabbed up so it looked stock. Of all the times it only worked once, and when it did, the rpm signal was not present so it would go to standby every 10 mins.

I think one of the main problems is EMI. I noticed the ride steady uses many different plugs with shielded cables and they want them ran separate and not bundled with engine wires. I think having one plug and unshielded wires probably took some EMI from my motor and tweaked havoc on it.

He'll get there eventually. I was just hoping for something that would somewhat work and be less buggy.

At least he has been willing to work with me and has been helpful along the way. I just hope he gained something from me trying to work out the kinkshttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160907/afb0a80d031d26aeb5bf8655d046ea01.jpg

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[Cusefan78]

Nice. Currently im working on ironing out some bugs with the Steadypass. Mine failed last month due to voltage spikes when cranking the boat. He should have everything all dialed in very soon.


Fwiw, what are your response/overshoot settings?

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Sorry I just saw this. I'll be back up to my boat tomorrow and I'll look at my setting.

[NorCalPR]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160910/eefa5b8a81e21861b7acd7c1fa26c757.jpg

Welp, let's see how it does on Sunday :)

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[NorCalPR]

Solid.

https://youtu.be/QDt7VHqKSR8

For surfing and 1200 lbs in my 96 brendella, response is 99, overshoot 105. I just push the throttle down and leave it. Waves, wind, chop, doesnt matter now and it holds within .1

Well worth every penny. Even out of the box it worked great, and the fine tuning of the settings made it even better

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[korey]

Awesome!

I was out this Saturday and some thick cloud cover snick up on me, then some pretty heavy rain. No lightning, and the boat was already wet, so we stayed out surfing. At one point I lost all GPS signal and had to switch over to RPM mode (I keep an RPM profile set up for Wake and Surf now after I had a problem a few weeks ago), not sure if it was because of the rain and clouds, or if I have a problem - everything in the boat got really wet... Didn't even look at it after it sat overnight. Hopefully just a reception issue, I can accept that.

[korey]

Awesome!

I was out this Saturday and some thick cloud cover snick up on me, then some pretty heavy rain. No lightning, and the boat was already wet, so we stayed out surfing. At one point I lost all GPS signal and had to switch over to RPM mode (I keep an RPM profile set up for Wake and Surf now after I had a problem a few weeks ago), not sure if it was because of the rain and clouds, or if I have a problem - everything in the boat got really wet... Didn't even look at it after it sat overnight. Hopefully just a reception issue, I can accept that.

Scratch that, everything is good today. I think it was just clouds plus being down in a valley.

[Stunt Driver]

Steadypass fried again, this time updating it. Apparently there's a way to flash it without zapping it that I wasn't aware of...

Either way I'm done. It's been a whole summer of messing with it and not getting it to work skill but one time (and even then, it couldn't see the rpm so it would go to sleep)



Came across this post just recently - wow time passed quick:)
NorCal - remind me if I took that unit back, as it's been so long ago - can't be sure.

Still working on it. Lots of good changes, and dozens happy testers. But since I didn't quit my day job (like the Founder of RideSteady claims he did) - I am moving slow.

Only encouraging people with DYI skills to join. Because it is hard to beat PP or RS from my garage here. But units no longer been dying on people, that's for sure.
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And a video from last summer by Sam (who's helping with coding, including an awesome and robust update tool)
https://youtu.be/Eqp9w2fMbDk

Dmitry (aka SteadyPass)