Challenger extended ride plate

[SeptemberC]

 

[Aquaman1]

Looks good.

 

[biffdotorg]

It's been in storage all winter, so I have not dealt with it yet. It's snowing again today, but at least the ice is coming off the lakes. I HATE TWEENER SEASON!!

I'm guessing, I will pull the plate and hopefully be able to get that broken screw out with a vice grip. I will replace and see how it goes. I may order the screws listed above, but I am unsure if they are any different than the ones I already have.

Good luck!

Well, it was uglier than expected. There was no where near enough shaft sticking out to grab. Option 2, left handed drill bits and screw extractors. After two broken drill bits, and trying to drill out high carbon steel, we were left with a nice hole in the cast aluminum much larger than the screw.

JB weld aluminum filler, drill to size and tapped for threads. Then we let it cure. I now have a new screw in there and it's holding. For how long, I have no idea. It really needed a welder to go in there and weld in fresh metal, drill and tap, but that will be the long term fix next winter. What a pain.

How did you get your sheered ones out? Easy outs? I just hope this is not an issue for anyone else. I still think it was my dealer being careless. Who knows.

Good luck all, don't let this scare you from the plate as it should not.

 

[SeptemberC]

Well, it was uglier than expected. There was no where near enough shaft sticking out to grab. Option 2, left handed drill bits and screw extractors. After two broken drill bits, and trying to drill out high carbon steel, we were left with a nice hole in the cast aluminum much larger than the screw.

JB weld aluminum filler, drill to size and tapped for threads. Then we let it cure. I now have a new screw in there and it's holding. For how long, I have no idea. It really needed a welder to go in there and weld in fresh metal, drill and tap, but that will be the long term fix next winter. What a pain.

How did you get your sheered ones out? Easy outs? I just hope this is not an issue for anyone else. I still think it was my dealer being careless. Who knows.

Good luck all, don't let this scare you from the plate as it should not.

What did you end up getting to replace those? we have broken off 2 now. thinking of using bolts. . even though they will hang down

 

[biffdotorg]

Never did, I used the factory size and the filler method. It is still holding. I'm not happy with the fix, and may take a closer look at it this fall before putting it away for the season.

 

[jjpup]

Hi Aquaman,

Can I get an extended plate please?

Thank you, Jeff

 

[jhryder]

Hey, Would like to buy one for 2002 Utopia 205 if available.

 

[Aquaman1]

Did you get the extended ride plate on. If so how did you like it?

 

[A4effort]

I'm chiming in hopefully with some helpful info. I too had to drill out the screws in the ride plate and I was able to seat a stainless steel nylon lock flange nut in the ride plate. I made the hole in the ride plate slightly larger and tapped the flange nut in with a hammer. Then I used new slightly longer screws that would extended into the hole in the housing caused by drilling and tapping at the broken screw. Held perfect with no issue. I also purchased slightly longer bolts to drop the ride plate a little lower and was able to stop the porpoisesing .

 

[drwho177]

I put the smart tabs on my boat after the first test ride, Nauticus SX fixed my planing/porposing problem 100%, they have pictures of how to install on the 2001 Challenger 1800 also that helped, super simple install, thus far it has been a set it and forget it type of thing so far, made this boat a whole lot more useful.

 

[seadoomike007]

Well finally got the boat yesterday. The winds were light and the sea's were calm. This ride plate worked better than I could have dreamed of. The boat got up on plane quicker. I ran the boat at varying speeds with absolute no Porpoising. I could not believe it. The speed range where porpoising was the worse around 4000 rpm's there was none. We cruised slow 20 mph to wide open 52 mph ( I estimate I lost about 2 mph with the longer plate) with no bounce. We were able to pull a wakeboarder at 18 to 20 mph with no difficulties. It was great!!

The tracking of the boat also improved. Before the boat would pull to the right. I would have to counter steer to the left quite a bit. Now with the new plate the steering wheel is straight with very little counter steer to the left. I think by lowering the right side of the plate, will get rid of all the pull to the right. This ride plate is the solution to the porpoising problem this boat had.

I having the same problem with my sea doo challenger 1800 its out of water more than in the water and was looking for a fix

 

[grr02]

Hi Aquaman still selling the ride plates? If so PM me please. Thx

 

[Aquaman1]

Yes I am still making the stainless steel extended ride plates. The cost for the ride plate is $125 which includes shipping to anywhere in the continental United States. The easiest and fastest way to get a hold of me is to text me at 813-784-3126.
Mark

 

[grr02]

Thanks Mark I just texted you.

 

[Aquaman1]

I just picked up more extended ride plates from the fab shop yesterday.

 

[GatorFL]

Thanks to Mark for the quick fabrication and shipment of my AM extended ride plate. I took it out on the water today solo and it made a big difference in the ride quality and speed out of the hole. I am assuming I will see the biggest improvement once the family is in the boat as well.

One thing to note, I too had a hard time with the rear Philips bolts as they were frozen tight. Before I broke them off by applying too much force, I cut off the head of the bolt right between the washers with a sawz all. I then moved one of the nuts onto the other bolt and tightened them against each other, making a double nut. This allows good grip and leverage with a 1/2" open end wrench on the top nut. I then heated the aluminum post holding the bolt with a small butane torch for a few minutes. I continued heating and applying eaven pressure with the wrench until it started to break free and came out.

I couldn't find the same Philips head at the hardware store in stainless, so I used a #5 Allen head with the same head shape. This might be easier to remove later as the hex seems to give a more positive connection between the head and the tool than the Philips head. I also used aluminum antisieze on the threads to make this easier next time.

 

[kozzy4444]

Hey guys, my boat pulls hard to the left- the post I found earlier in this thread (~#11/12) is confusing/contradicting so I want to ensure I turn the adjustment screws on the ride plate the correct way.

Which one (RIGHT or LEFT) needs to be lowered/raised to correct my boat's "pull to the left" at speed???

Thanks in advance!

 

[henryb]

One way of thinking about which way to adjust it... it would be just like a water ski... lean to the left and you turn left, lean right and you turn right.

That being said, I have played around with this a lot and I found there are other factors that have a bigger impact on which direction the boat pulls. One of which is the shear fact that the thrust of the water coming out of the jet is turning, has a big impact. Another big issue is weight distribution inside the boat... getting people to move to a seat that provides the best balance will help you alot. Another factor is water current, cross wind... so many things go into it!

The fact of it is that you can probably never get it to drive straight with the steering wheel at the Center position... you just have to make steering corrections to make these boats to go where you want it to go... once get used to that, you will find it goes very straight at at certain speeds and wanders a bit at other speeds.

 

[biffdotorg]

That's good advice from Henry. When tuning the steering, you have to eliminate variables. Start with a clean slate.

I start by lining up the jet nozzle straight and adjusting the steering linkage so that the wheel is straight. (variable one gone)

Then I use the most common driver (myself) and take a test run on glassy water and note if it pulls (variable two gone)

Then either adjust the steering or ride plate from there. My weight, should pull the boat to the right. Or I load the boat with an average number of guests and test. Note how it pulls. I will drop the ride plate on the opposite side that it pulls, or pull up on the side that it pulls.

Either way, the boat will run true in average conditions. All other variables are things I have no control over and cannot adjust on the fly. That is where the variable trim tabs come in. They allow you to adjust for the ever-changing conditions.

Good luck,

 

[beergut]

hi guys- I'm gonna break in here and ask a few questions- my 2000 challenger 1800 is porpoising badly at 30 mph. the guy I bought the boat from appears to have installed this extended stainless ride-plate. I'm assuming this is my problem. I had a 2000 20' challenger and an 18' sugarsand mirage with the same merc 240 M2 and never had this issue, now this 1800 is all over the place. would removing the plate or cutting it shorter reduce the porpoising? would raising the plate up closer to the jet or lowering the plate so it's pressing more in the water resolve the issue? I'm ready to take my .308 and sink it! :facepalm:

 

[henryb]

My guess is that there is no extended ride plate installed. Take a look at the pictures that are posted early in this thread. With the extended ride plate installed, even at its lowest setting it should resolve the porpoising!

 

[henryb]

The extended ride plate is designed to eliminate porpoising, not introduce it.

 

[biffdotorg]

hi guys- I'm gonna break in here and ask a few questions- my 2000 challenger 1800 is porpoising badly at 30 mph. the guy I bought the boat from appears to have installed this extended stainless ride-plate. I'm assuming this is my problem. I had a 2000 20' challenger and an 18' sugarsand mirage with the same merc 240 M2 and never had this issue, now this 1800 is all over the place. would removing the plate or cutting it shorter reduce the porpoising? would raising the plate up closer to the jet or lowering the plate so it's pressing more in the water resolve the issue? I'm ready to take my .308 and sink it! :facepalm:

Those pictures are the extended ride plate. But it looks like it is flat to the bottom of the boat. The rear screws towards the jet nozzle should be adjustable. The more you lower that plate, the less bouncing. Give it a shot, as without any plate, or going back to stock is worse.

If those are your pictures above, you will note that there is no gap between the black cast piece of the pump, and the nut on the bolt through the ride plate. I have to look at mine, but I think I have nearly a half inch of exposed bolt! Adjust that sucker out and enjoy!

Good luck

 

[beergut]

Those pictures are the extended ride plate. But it looks like it is flat to the bottom of the boat. The rear screws towards the jet nozzle should be adjustable. The more you lower that plate, the less bouncing. Give it a shot, as without any plate, or going back to stock is worse.

If those are your pictures above, you will note that there is no gap between the black cast piece of the pump, and the nut on the bolt through the ride plate. I have to look at mine, but I think I have nearly a half inch of exposed bolt! Adjust that sucker out and enjoy!

Good luck

Awesome- I'll try what you said and let you know. Yes- those are pics of my plate... Thanks for the advice!

 

[biffdotorg]

Dude, you are going to be amazed. I just edited my post with a pic of mine. When you compare it to yours, you will see the half inch I am talking about.

You are running in near stock condition, other then it's longer.