anyone tried Smart Tabs?

http://www.iboats.com/mall/?keywords...&view_id=39283

how do they compare to trim tabs like bennett? trying to figure out what to get, any opnions appreciated.

 

Haven't used them before, but if it were me I'd go for the normal trim tabs.

 

I've seen them on a few go-fast boats, but don't have much experience with them personally. Bennet makes a great product but if want to get away from the hydraulic tabs and not worry about the oil and all that mess you might want to look at the Lenco electric tabs. Each ram has an electric motor buit in. It's basically a giant screw inside the housing. Bolt them to the back, run 1 wire from each tab to the helm and plug them into a box. Easy to install, easy to maintain and pretty reliable.



BREW

 

Arrrrrgh,,,,I had them all today and threw them out..haha. I will get the part numbers for you tomorrow



BREW

 

Wookie,

Looks like the best way to do this is get the complete carb assemblies.This way the carbs and throttle bodies match up and they will have the jets and all installed in them already. The part#s are 436935 and 436936. Unfortunatly I'm not a dealer so I don't have pricing or a way to cross refernece the P/Ns to see if they changed. But those will get you on the right path. The only reason they may have changed is because Bombaridier took over and changed everything.

Hope that helps.


BREW

 

Update:

Thanks Brew, I am still looking for the carbs.

I took the boat out last weekend and started the process of getting my setup right. Here are the results.

Boat: 1996 Javlin 389SDC
Motor: 1996 Johnson 150 Faststrike
Motor Height: 5" below pad
Prop: 23p Stilleto
Speed: 63 (gps)
RPM: 5200 (tach reading)
Trim: 7/8th up (gauge reading)

Right now there are a few dings on the prop and my skeg is bent and the trailing edge is broken off. I know this is less than ideal and is on my list of things to do. The biggest thing is as soon as I top 60 I start to chine walk, not very bad but more than desirable. The steering also pulls quite a bit once I get up to speed. I am sure that part of this is from the skeg. How much would a jack plate help and what could I do to clean this boat up?

I posted this over on a bass boat forum and someone pointed out that the numbers don't add up. The RPMs don't match the speed and the prop. Does anyone here know how accurate the factory tach is? I am fairly sure that the speed is correct. I checked it with my GPS, I did one run upstream and was running at 62, and then 63 downstream. For the boat to run this fast, at this speed with this prop there is no slip. Could the prop be acting like a larger prop, or is the tach wrong?

Edit: The first paragraph was copied from the other forum. I have all but decided on a 6" manual plate.

 

Brew or Zman might know more ( ) but it's my understanding (& what I've noticed with my jackplate) that raising the motor straight up while having it trimmed out will let you run less drag, which equals more speed and the setback on the jackplate lets the prop grab "cleaner" water for better bite.

 

Your tach could be wrong... but who knows. How did you get your speed reading? GPS? Tach? Radar? That could also be off.

EDIT TO ADD: Also, a jackplate will reduce drag, and increase your top speed.

 

Speed was from GPS, I checked before I opened it up and was tracking something like 10 satellites. I am pretty confident in the speed numbers. The boat speedometer was reading 65 or so. I was told that a jackplate and raising the motor will get rid of the chine walk. I am just concerned that by moving the engine up, I will be over reving the engine.

 

The only thing I've ever noticed about raising the motor up (& again, only from my experiences) was some cavitation on hard turns.

 

If you're looking for performance, I would advise against a manual jackplate. Like with trimming out the motor while getting on plane, you'll want to be able to adjust the jackplate while running. With mine, I'll set it all the way down to get a better holeshot then raise it up once on plane. Just a thought though.

I know there is about a $400 difference between the manual and hydraulic (for the CMC brand) but it's worth it to be able to raise and lower it at the controls.

 

What he said. If/when I do get a jack plate, it'll be powered. I do equal amounts of tubing, skiing, and just running around, and it'd be too much of a hassle to stop and adjust it every 20 mins.

 

I didn't notice if you said or not, but if you dont have them already, then trim tabs will also help the chine walk. Combined with a jack plate it would be like riding in a cadillac. You'd think your boat was 3' longer but with out the added weight of the same boat that is 3' longer...

Another thing to look at that is often over looked, I don't know what brand and model prop you have, but look at the rake. You might try a different model or even brand that has less rake and or more cup. But if you go with less rake you'll need more cup to maintian the same top speed. Niether one will change your RPM's.

 

Wookie, I'd put money on it that the tach is off. I'm assuming its an analog tach and they just suck. Digitals are better, but still not the best. I'm guessing your actually turning 5600Rs while running at 60+mph.

Chine walk is just an evil you have to deal with at those speeds. I'm not so sure a jack plate is the answer. The less you have in the water, the faster you will go ( to a certain extent ) but you lose some stability which adds to the chine walk. The other thing to consider is if you do raise the motor up you can also cause blow out, which is basically the prop coming out of the water when you go over small wakes or in turns and in turn risk over reving the engine and doing damage to it.

Here's my suggestion at this point... Get the skeg straightened up and get the prop fixed if its dinged up. If you have hydraulic steering, which I'm sure you do, make sure the fluid is full and all the air is purged from the system. Once those three things are perfect, if you still have a lot of pull in the steering, adjust your trim tab ( the little upside down shark fin looking thing just above the prop) you want to adjust the aft edge of the tab the opposite direction that the boat is pulling to. So if its pulling port, adjust the aft edge of the tab strbd.

If you're looking for more speed or a better whole shot, the prop is where to start. You can tweak a prop and get alot of perfomance out of it. It just all depends on what you want more..wholeshot or speed. Pitch, diameter, rake, cup, type of prop and # of blades all affect the performance.

It's late and I'm kind of tired, so i'm not sure I was much help. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I was busy with some "stuff" this week. Give me a day or two and I will show you what I was busy with.


BREW

 

You butt head....why keep us on suspence?? OH, yeah you had a few typos in there too

Hey did i tell you how i wish tomorrow night was over? :o

edit...and if your brewing up some harsh beer......send a pony keg my way for friday night...i think im going to need it