Sea doo Challenger 230 Wake edition with wake tower

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

I initially posted this question in an alternative seadoo forum and recieved little / no feedback. I'm assuming it's just a shortage of 230 wake owners or challenger owners that added a tower. Also, it appears I was on a less popular forum.

I just purchased a brand new 230 wake.

My issue is with the wake tower shaking from side to side. So far, I've already hauled the boat 60 miles back to the dealer and they told me a bolt was loose. I then went back to the lake and it still shook violently from side to side (1-2 inches of shake / wobble). even at lower speeds of 20 - 25 mph people are afraid to sit behind the tower.

After attending the boat show here in Dallas over the weekend I talked to all of the wake boaters who said the same thing. These towers should not shake at all especially not 1-2 inches. There might be some minor vibrations but that's it. My friends also agree that the boats they've been on did not have this problem. I dropped the boat back off again yesterday in hopes they will be able to solve this problem. I'm afraid it's a poor design by Sea Doo but I'm hopeful it was just intalled poorly. Can anybody give me some feedback on this? Does anyone have this problem with their Challenger or 230 Wake?

I hate that I paid 40K on a new boat and everytime someone new gets on they immediately notify me of the problem and are afraid to sit in the back of the boat.

Thanks,

-Matt

 

[ncarbon]

Shakes.....

I have heard of the 230 shake. My Speedster 200 shook as well. Fortunatley there was a recall and the replacement tower has 2-1/4 diameter rear legs now. No Noise or shake....I think it is bad design/tube size that caused this.

 

[Thunderkat13]

The tower setup is not poorly designed it sounds like you may of had a quality check issue....
On our yamaha 212x tower we have to tighten and check bolts every time out, its just a good rule of thumb..
Have you checked all of you mounting points, and applied lock tight to all possible areas.. Sounds like if your tower is swaying 2-3 inches from side to side, that your cross bars mounting points are loose... Im not sure how many mounting points the seadoo tower has but hopefully after you get her back from the shop she will be perfect..

 

[Craigmri]

Tony has that same boat and he never mentioned any shake or shimmy. Somethings wrong with your installation I think. Take the service manager out on the water and show him. Tell him you feel its a SAFETY issue. Using the right words makes people want to cover their butts. No one wants to be sued.

Craig

 

[CypherAZ]

Tony has that same boat and he never mentioned any shake or shimmy. Somethings wrong with your installation I think. Take the service manager out on the water and show him. Tell him you feel its a SAFETY issue. Using the right words makes people want to cover their butts. No one wants to be sued.

Craig

Agreed, the 230 wake we tested had no shaking or noise at all. Safety is a great word to get your issues fixed =)

 

[rexsteiner]

Ima have to agree with thunderkat. Sounds like there is a bolt loosening up somewhere or even a hole that's whomped out (lol). I had a quick connect on my monster that would loosen while going down the road and as soon as we would get on the water it would be wobbleing all over heck. Installed some locknutz and problem solved. Even an 1/8 turn can make the biggest difference on these things. Ther should even be torque specs for them. I would look into that. Then maybe you can track it down that way.

 

[Craigmri]

Lol

Rex, are "whomped" and "Locknutz" new technical terms? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Dude you got me busting out laughing here! I'm assuming you mean "Wallowed" and "Lock-tite".

Just busting your balls my friend! :cheers:

Craig

Ima have to agree with thunderkat. Sounds like there is a bolt loosening up somewhere or even a hole that's whomped out (lol). I had a quick connect on my monster that would loosen while going down the road and as soon as we would get on the water it would be wobbleing all over heck. Installed some locknutz and problem solved. Even an 1/8 turn can make the biggest difference on these things. Ther should even be torque specs for them. I would look into that. Then maybe you can track it down that way.

 

[rexsteiner]

Nah craig. i meant what i said. there in the great norther thesauras. look it up. perhaps you would perfer "streched" out holes and "nylock nuts".? :boxing_smiley:
good fun.

 

[Craigmri]

Ahhh Nylock! I understand now....I live in Flori-DAH I hope you appreciate that ;-)

Craig

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

Thanks for the quick replies

haha.. you guys are crackin me up. And wow ... I checked for a reply on the other site every day for a couple of weeks and got nothing. Glad I joined this forum.

All good advice guys. I'll be sure to notify the service department of my "safety" concerns. I do appreciate the feedback.

FYI.. (i'll post this in the proper section shortly) I will be selling my factory stereo out of this boat if anyone is interested. I have 4 interior Jenson speakers as well as the 2008 Jenson head unit that came with the boat. I'm upgrading the stereo a bit so if anyone's interested I'll be letting this stuff go pretty cheap as I have no use for it. I just paid $30 for the ipod cable that charges your phone and allows the driver to change songs from the helm remote.

Jensen Marine lists the following prices...
4 speakers ($45 / pair)
Jenson CD / Mp3 player ($160 new)
wired helm remote ($70 new)
ipod cable ($30)

$350 retail
I'd probably sell this stuff for around $150

 

[Craigmri]

Matt,

You'll like it around here....You gotta watch out for guys like Jim and Aaron. They're just not right :rofl:

Craig

 

[SilverSurfer]

Hey Everyone.
New to these forums as I too have recenty just purchased a 230 wake.
I just wanted to comment here about in regards to your tower Matt.
I have done alot of wakeboarding and been in alot of wakeboard boats, and most of the towers all had some flex to them it is a natural thing all things considered.
But flex is definetly different than shaking.
As for the tower I have I have some flex, but no shaking or any noise. So I would have to agree with everyone else to check and double check all your connection points.
Hope it works out for you

 

[robertm]

What dealer are you taking it to? Jerry Wittle off 35 has always taken pretty good care of me. They have a 230 in the showroom with a tower you could compare to as well. Good luck sorry for your troubles man

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

What dealer are you taking it to? Jerry Wittle off 35 has always taken pretty good care of me. They have a 230 in the showroom with a tower you could compare to as well. Good luck sorry for your troubles man

Thanks, I'm sure it will all work out and if not who cares ... it's not a bad problem to have in life (whaa my boat isn't perfect - big deal, get over it right?). Jerry Whittle has been awesome and I would def. recommend them so far. But I've only had the boat 4 weeks and 2 of those weeks it has been in their service dept. so we'll see what happens.

I've had several issues so far and I'm not super impressed by any means. But for those few hours everything has worked perfectly and we're just cruising around in the sun with the music up ... it makes everything worth it..every problem goes away..

 

[PhongRacing]

don't trust your dealer, took my boat in for the same concern they said this is normal and they checked all the tower bolts, my tower would shake so bad it started to crack the gel coat around the base. I checked the nuts myself and found most of them loose. Retorqued the nuts with lock-tite and it helped out alot only moves 1-2" now.
what kind of audio install are you doing? check out my audio set-up in gallery

 

[chriscorney]

My gelcoat is starting to crack as well. I think it was a design flaw and that's just how the tower is. Mine wobbles in large wake. I have a question... How do you engage the speedometer in the wake 230???

 

[RobertV]

haha.. you guys are crackin me up. And wow ... I checked for a reply on the other site every day for a couple of weeks and got nothing. Glad I joined this forum.

All good advice guys. I'll be sure to notify the service department of my "safety" concerns. I do appreciate the feedback.

FYI.. (i'll post this in the proper section shortly) I will be selling my factory stereo out of this boat if anyone is interested. I have 4 interior Jenson speakers as well as the 2008 Jenson head unit that came with the boat. I'm upgrading the stereo a bit so if anyone's interested I'll be letting this stuff go pretty cheap as I have no use for it. I just paid $30 for the ipod cable that charges your phone and allows the driver to change songs from the helm remote.

Jensen Marine lists the following prices...
4 speakers ($45 / pair)
Jenson CD / Mp3 player ($160 new)
wired helm remote ($70 new)
ipod cable ($30)

$350 retail
I'd probably sell this stuff for around $150

I just had my head unit die due to water ingestion
Please drop me a line revemt at juno dot com

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

don't trust your dealer, took my boat in for the same concern they said this is normal and they checked all the tower bolts, my tower would shake so bad it started to crack the gel coat around the base. I checked the nuts myself and found most of them loose. Retorqued the nuts with lock-tite and it helped out alot only moves 1-2" now.
what kind of audio install are you doing? check out my audio set-up in gallery

Very nice set up. I'm told that the alternators aren't big enough to push a setup this big though? I originally wanted to throw in some jl w7's but earmark wasn't having it. The best I can get away with is a 10" alpine free air in the location as your portside sub. Anything more puts too much strain on the alts?

I'm throwing in an alpine head unit with infinity 6.5" speakers inside the boat. Alpine amps. Infinity on the tower that came with it is staying but is a little
week for my style.

Question for you. I thought I was getting six interior speakers but I only have 4. Did your wake come with 4 or 6?

 

[PhongRacing]

mine only came with 4 interior speakers, the 2009 came with 6 speakers
2 additional tweeters by the rear cup holders.

 

[PhongRacing]

My gelcoat is starting to crack as well. I think it was a design flaw and that's just how the tower is. Mine wobbles in large wake. I have a question... How do you engage the speedometer in the wake 230???

speedometer turns on when the boat is started. if your perfect pass is on and reads 0.0 when moving i would check your speed sensor make sure the paddle wheel is moving and not stuck.

 

[MacDad22]

Can the original poster tell me how this turned out? I have a 2007 Challenger 230 SE w/ wakeboard tower that I bought this brand new this year form Whittle. I've noticed my wakeboard towers sways 1 to 2 inches, and I've noticed it even more because I just had WetSounds 485 speakers installed on the towers 2 weeks ago ( they add about 72 lbs to the load ). I personally have not been on a bunch of other boats with towers so I just assumed the swaying is normal, however I am a bit concerned.

For those of you are interested I did the following to the stereo system and power plant:

1. I added 3 Deep Cycle Marine Batteries type 72 from Costco: They power the amplifiers for the stereo. Also installed an onboard charger/rectifier to charge these batteries via AC when on land as the alternator is way to small to charge these batteries. ( they not hooked to the starter battery or alternator ).
2. Added two amplifiers Alpine PDX-5 and Alpine 4.150 ( 1200 watts of Class D ie.. efficient amps )
3. Added a high end Boston Acoustic 10 inch sub and box to the rear passenger side storage and they vented the compartment.
4. Added siruis satellite and IPOD cable to the Clarion radio.
5 Added Wetsounds 485 speakers to the tower
6. I kept the stock Clarion speakers as they actually sound pretty good with the crossover and good power sent to them.

Needless to say, I'm very happy with the stereo whether boarding or parked. It can get very loud if necessary from 75 yards away and the batteries ensure fun can be had for 6 hours.

I'm a very happy customer other than the ski pylon sucking ( dont use it as it will bend and get stuck ) and the tower swaying.

Chris

 

[RFoster130]

Can the original poster tell me how this turned out? I have a 2007 Challenger 230 SE w/ wakeboard tower that I bought this brand new this year form Whittle. I've noticed my wakeboard towers sways 1 to 2 inches, and I've noticed it even more because I just had WetSounds 485 speakers installed on the towers 2 weeks ago ( they add about 72 lbs to the load ). I personally have not been on a bunch of other boats with towers so I just assumed the swaying is normal, however I am a bit concerned.

For those of you are interested I did the following to the stereo system and power plant:

1. I added 3 Deep Cycle Marine Batteries type 72 from Costco: They power the amplifiers for the stereo. Also installed an onboard charger/rectifier to charge these batteries via AC when on land as the alternator is way to small to charge these batteries. ( they not hooked to the starter battery or alternator ).
2. Added two amplifiers Alpine PDX-5 and Alpine 4.150 ( 1200 watts of Class D ie.. efficient amps )
3. Added a high end Boston Acoustic 10 inch sub and box to the rear passenger side storage and they vented the compartment.
4. Added siruis satellite and IPOD cable to the Clarion radio.
5 Added Wetsounds 485 speakers to the tower
6. I kept the stock Clarion speakers as they actually sound pretty good with the crossover and good power sent to them.

Needless to say, I'm very happy with the stereo whether boarding or parked. It can get very loud if necessary from 75 yards away and the batteries ensure fun can be had for 6 hours.

I'm a very happy customer other than the ski pylon sucking ( dont use it as it will bend and get stuck ) and the tower swaying.

Chris

Sounds like an awesome setup. Wish you were closer, I'd like to hear this one.

 

[230WakeOwnerDallas]

Can the original poster tell me how this turned out? I have a 2007 Challenger 230 SE w/ wakeboard tower that I bought this brand new this year form Whittle. I've noticed my wakeboard towers sways 1 to 2 inches, and I've noticed it even more because I just had WetSounds 485 speakers installed on the towers 2 weeks ago ( they add about 72 lbs to the load ). I personally have not been on a bunch of other boats with towers so I just assumed the swaying is normal, however I am a bit concerned.

For those of you are interested I did the following to the stereo system and power plant:

1. I added 3 Deep Cycle Marine Batteries type 72 from Costco: They power the amplifiers for the stereo. Also installed an onboard charger/rectifier to charge these batteries via AC when on land as the alternator is way to small to charge these batteries. ( they not hooked to the starter battery or alternator ).
2. Added two amplifiers Alpine PDX-5 and Alpine 4.150 ( 1200 watts of Class D ie.. efficient amps )
3. Added a high end Boston Acoustic 10 inch sub and box to the rear passenger side storage and they vented the compartment.
4. Added siruis satellite and IPOD cable to the Clarion radio.
5 Added Wetsounds 485 speakers to the tower
6. I kept the stock Clarion speakers as they actually sound pretty good with the crossover and good power sent to them.

Needless to say, I'm very happy with the stereo whether boarding or parked. It can get very loud if necessary from 75 yards away and the batteries ensure fun can be had for 6 hours.

I'm a very happy customer other than the ski pylon sucking ( dont use it as it will bend and get stuck ) and the tower swaying.

Chris

Chris you are absolutely correct about the ski pylon. I bought a new 08' from whittle and it's been in the service dept twice already in the last month. I want to hear more about the charger that your using because I'm dropping my boat off next weekend where they're upgrading my stereo and adding a battery (i'm afraid they don't know what they're doing and will ruin my alternators). The current plan is to put a breaker between the stereo battery and the starter battery. Whey I need to charge the stereo battery it will be pulling from the alternators which is making me nervous.

On the tower issue I've taken it in twice for the shake and ive talked to Seadoo and Monster towers as well as everyone at the Dallas Boat Show a few weeks back. From what I've gathered - the 1-2 inches of shake is not going to get any better. "That's just how that tower is" or "it's gonna have some shake" are pretty common phrases being thrown around.

Most of the other towers do not shake as bad (or at all) and are a lot more stable. Most towers are going to have some flex but they shouldn't be shaking side to side scaring passangers sitting in the stern. I just got my boat back yesterday and will be going to the lake Saturday to see if they've resolved any of the shake (all they did was re-tighten all of the bolts).

very nice stereo set-up, I bet those tower speakers scream. I will have more info for you next week...if it's still bad I'm going to have to talk with the guys at Jerry Whittle. there's nothing fun about hauling a 24ft boat back and forth for a problem like this.

 

[PhongRacing]

1. I added 3 Deep Cycle Marine Batteries type 72 from Costco: They power the amplifiers for the stereo. Also installed an onboard charger/rectifier to charge these batteries via AC when on land as the alternator is way to small to charge these batteries. ( they not hooked to the starter battery or alternator ).

Chris

Any pictures of your set-up? would like to see where you mounted the batteries and amp.
thanks

 

[rexsteiner]

Your tower should not shake!! Somthing is loose, stretched, or its designed improper. Yes a tower should flex, but only with load on it. How much it flexes depends on construction grades and diamiter of the tubing. With all that weight on your tower you better make dam sure everything is tight and has no give. Nobody wants a 25 pound speaker on their head. I'd also make sure those speakers arnt voiding the warrenty on the tower. Good choice in tower speakers btw.