1989 Saltare - My god Spock, what have I done???

Some progress this weekend. Pressed in new strut bushings, cut new guide pole pvc tubes, slid on new ebay padded guide pole covers, reflective tape on the pvc top caps, added aluminum diamond plate protectors to trailer for jack wheel and bow eye drop bar, cut tow chains to length, & filled a gap between the hull and shaft log (don't think it was necessary, but it bugged me).

Also mounted the new wakeplate. The old one was pretty beat up & I'm adding electric actuators, so wanted a hinged plate anyway... I couldn't find a plate that would fit into the existing pocket, so I cut off the existing plate & left a 1.5" flange to mount the new plate (plus didn't want the hassle of removing the 27 screws that are still solid in 5200, filling, & then fairing). This moved the hinge point 1.5" further back, but I still have a 9" movable chord width (now 10.5" total) so don't think it'll have much impact on performance.

Room is tight up under the swim platform so I have "short" actuators with only 1.5" of travel. Since the Supra manual says not to adjust the wakeplate below horizontal (but I do want the ability to force that deep vee down into the chop on occasion), I'm thinking of using 3/8 or 1/2" of travel for "down" and the remaining 1-1/8 or 1" of travel for "up" (surfing).

Any ideas on what the normal plate travel is for boats with actuated wakeplates?

No, I didn't screw up on the bolt spacing - the transom drain hole is off center from the factory. Also, you can see more of my new LED trailer lights and the back-ups I added - a little functional bling-bling.

Hey Sybrmike. Are those CENTER trailer lights white?? And post a link on what back-up lights you are using?? That trailer is SICK!! Trailer of the year man. Jet

Thanks, Jet. Too bad I can't ski behind a trailer.

Everything but the back-ups are Optronix LED. They're all clear lenses & show only the reflective chrome backing when not lit up (turns out after-the-fact, the diamond plate matches real well). When powered, the tail/stop/turns, center and rear markers light up red and the front markers are amber (per DOT requirements).

It took some digging to find DOT leagal back-ups that matched (the matching Optronix work lights aren't DOT and don't throw much light), but finally found some close enough here:

http://www.truckntow.com/pc-23196-14...up-lights.aspx

Looking good. By back ups are you saying they will light up when you're in reverse like normal car back up lights?

Relective tape to the top of your PVC caps? I'm confused... shouldn't the trailer pads cover these? You know the pads are designed to float up the guide poles as you back into the water, right?

The trailer does look amazing. If anyone else is interested in those lights -- I have the same ones. They were actually quite a bit cheaper at the local truck stop than any online store that I found.

Looks GREATTT!!! I have an aftermarket hydrolic wake plate and it does go slightly past horizontal. It makes the bow sit real low and you cant drive fast like that cause its so low.

Okie - yeah, true reverse lights (couldn't see squat back there - 22' of quad cab, long bed, tinted windows and 23' of boat). They're tied into the reverse lock-out solenoid on the new disc brake actuator).

Wotan - I stumbled upon an internet coupon, so the back-ups were a little less than I could find local & these matched better.
The PO had welded pipe guide poles to the existing box beam uprights (that were missing carpeted bunks). I made new bunks for the old uprights and cut 2" pvc to slide over the pipe uprights and put caps on the ends. The guide pole covers slip over the pvc and the caps keep them from coming off the top. I drilled a small vent hole in the pvc just below the cap so the pvc/pad assemly isn't too bouyant, but will still float up & down over the metal pipe. I "borrowed" the reflective tape idea from Jet.

Mikey - how far is "slightly past horizontal"? The boat show's in town this week, so guess I need to take some measurements while there (good excuse to go :) ).

Hey man just wanted to say everything is looking awesome.. Its a great feeling when such a big project starts to look like your actaully getting somewhere!! Im going to pull mine out of storage to tear into the little odds and ends i never finished last year!

Keep up the good work and post pics! :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 87SunSportMikeyD

Looks GREATTT!!! I have an aftermarket hydrolic wake plate and it does go slightly past horizontal. It makes the bow sit real low and you cant drive fast like that cause its so low.

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oh Mikey, if you only knew what a really low bow looked like!! lol ya I still have SunSport envy!

Ahh.... I see! Didn't realize how TALL those guide poles were!