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Post by changinlat on Jul 20, 2020 15:46:49 GMT -5
I currently have a 2008 2200. Bought it new and still love it. But my boy is 8 years old and starting to wake board more and more. Soon he is going to want a tower and no doubt he will be wanting to surf at some point. So now considering moving to the LS2 Surf.
I'm curious about the VP FWD drive. Our lake has shallow spots and some stumps. And we keep our boat in a lift in the boat house year round. So I have concerns about changing from a standard VP DP drive to the FWD drive. Does anyone have any experience or advice about using the FWD drive? Will I need a new cradle in my boat lift that is built to accommodate the FWD drive?
Thanks for the tips and input.
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Post by tc33obx on Jul 22, 2020 14:48:14 GMT -5
I guess I would ask you have you ever hit something with your current drive in your lake? I think hitting something with a forward drive vs a standard rear facing drive is going to be nasty no matter. With the forward drive, the prop may get some additional damage and maybe even the prop shaft, but I've hit stuff with my 22 foot rear drive Merc and done damage to the prop, so either way you will have risks. But if you haven't hit anything in the lake with your rear facing outdrive, I would think you would be good from that respect with a forward facing drive. It's not like the forward facing props are going to cause you to hit stuff more frequently.
I did have forward facing props on my 4460 in Volvo IPS units and I can tell you that setup is very efficient and effective in moving a boat forward. Also, in the 6 or 7 years I had the 4460 I never damaged the props. I remember someone telling me when I got the boat to be prepared to fix props at least once every couple of seasons and that isn't necessary. If you hit something with an inboard, IPS or a forward or rear facing I/O, you are potentially going to be fixing something. So again, I don't see a differece there.
I will say for surfing I won't let my boys surf on my rear facing Bryant even though the swim platform covers the entire drive. If you want to surf you really need a forward facing drive, or a properly setup wake boat.
Although I'm really not the expert in this area, I would believe with the cradle at the lake house, I would think you are going to need a little adjustment there for the bunks just moving to the LS2 over your 2200, so when doing that you should care for what you need to clear the drive.
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Post by kdubya on Jul 27, 2020 16:35:04 GMT -5
I have seen the Regal Surf in action one day as we were out cruising. The wave was impressive. I am not sure if it was a 2300 or 2500.
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spade
Full Member
Posts: 23
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Post by spade on Aug 3, 2020 6:55:24 GMT -5
I had a 2017 2300 RX Surf. It was a fun boat. Puts out a decent wake while still being comfy on choppy water. I think draft on it was 3'? If you beach or want to beach, it is the wrong boat. Because it has a fwd facing prop, trimming up will not bring the drive out of the water. Steers a little different than a rear facing drive and can feel a little squirrely at high speeds but still a lot of fun. I was in dry-stack so I can't comment on using a lift.
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Post by downunder on Aug 30, 2020 0:06:28 GMT -5
We have a 21surf and i was like you not quite sure, there is a few things that are different to our old shaft driven inboard. We do not go too close to the beach so the prop does not touch the bottom, after getting use to it ,
it is great so safe when surfing
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Post by changinlat on Aug 31, 2020 12:57:19 GMT -5
Thanks for all the replies.
We have a lot of stumps in our lake, and yes unfortunately I have hit a couple. That is why I am asking. I've been fortunate that the damage was always confined to just the prop. Obviously anytime you hit something you will probably have to fix something. My concern with the FWD drive is increased risk to the drive shaft (aka more $$$ to fix) without anything in front to deflect the blow before hitting drive drain parts. And I agree about surfing behind a standard I/O being way too risky. I won't surf anyone behind my boat either. Also agree a properly set up wake boat is the way to go. Got a $100k+ you want to give me? The reason I asked about the lift is because the LS2 surf is only 2 inches longer than my 2200 and has virtually the same step hull. If the outdrive / prop on FWD drive LS2 will clear the rack, then I have no need to change my rack or lift setup. Guess I'll have to get a tape measure out before I go shopping for boats.
Sounds like a FWD drive is probably not the way to go in a lake with stumps and shallow sandy bottom in places. Too bad. That LS2 looks like a nice boat.
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