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View Full Version : Trim Tabs?? Placement??



SilverBack
05-06-2009, 05:25 PM
Here we go again.....I talked to Dana and I ordered my new HP-1100 trim tabs a couple of days ago.

My question is ....... has anyone here had any experience or have an opinion on tail whip tabs? Has anyone placed there tabs parallel with the water and very close in to the drive? Dana wants for me to mount the the tabs all the way in on the lifting strake. Where it basically continues the surface of the strake and extends inward toward the drive. They say for top end it gives you more stability and less drag.

OK...lets hear it...what do you think about this idea? I am told that Dki Racers run this way? Does anything know about that?

gcarter
05-06-2009, 05:29 PM
Mr. Supercharged Crew Cab can give you a lot of info on them.
If you haven't pi$$ed him off or anything, maybe he'll comment.

SilverBack
05-06-2009, 05:40 PM
Mr. Supercharged Crew Cab can give you a lot of info on them.
If you haven't pi$$ed him off or anything, maybe he'll comment.

Michael is one of the people that I have managed not to piss off. He is a really good guy and he does know his stuff. If he was closer ...he would be at the top of my list to do a lot of this work!!! If I go to AOTH or any other event in the future....He will be in my boat for sure if he is able to go at the time. He has the best stories!!

MOP
05-06-2009, 06:25 PM
Years back I had a customer that insisted on having tabs mounted 12" from the drive, when they were full up there was no problem. But at any planing speeds even the slightest down blew out the drive, first we cut them off at about 45 degrees which helped a little. Next we pulled them off filled the holes and mounted them 24" away from the drive. I have seen several boats with the tabs set up parallel to the water, they seem to still do the job and will not hook in a turn.

Phil

BlownCrewCab
05-06-2009, 08:42 PM
Wow, I feel special:yes:... Now, Where you mount your tabs Has everything to do with what you are trying to achive. If you have Very large friends and they insist on all sitting on the same side of the boat then you need the standard out by the chine-parallel to the bottom (running surface). since this IS where the tabs are most effective, they have more leverage the further outboard you mount them and can easily compensate for weight. If your trying to control chine walk mount them where they have deflection of the spray coming off the bottom of the boat (parallel to the running surface can't do this). this would be the tabs mounted out by the chine, but Level to the horizon. the faster your boat then the more you need to move them in towards the drive, but never closer than 20". I'd say mid way for your boat, not neccesarily where the strake is since it varies on different boats.....I have never used the specific tabs your thinking of so they surely know more than I do about how they work. But if you want results from regular flat plate tabs mount them level, the benefits go beyond just correcting chine walk, It also helps the way your boat flies when launching off wave/wakes, but since you boat mostly on lakes and rivers I concentrated on chine walk. Congrats on the century mark, it seems worth the trouble now, I bet your smilin like a mofo everytime you hit the throttle, I would:yes:

SilverBack
05-06-2009, 09:00 PM
Wow, I feel special:yes:... Now, Where you mount your tabs Has everything to do with what you are trying to achieve. If you have Very large friends and they insist on all sitting on the same side of the boat then you need the standard out by the chine-parallel to the bottom (running surface). since this IS where the tabs are most effective, they have more leverage the further outboard you mount them and can easily compensate for weight. If your trying to control chine walk mount them where they have deflection of the spray coming off the bottom of the boat (parallel to the running surface can't do this). this would be the tabs mounted out by the chine, but Level to the horizon. the faster your boat then the more you need to move them in towards the drive, but never closer than 20". I'd say mid way for your boat, not necessarily where the strake is since it varies on different boats.....I have never used the specific tabs your thinking of so they surely know more than I do about how they work. But if you want results from regular flat plate tabs mount them level, the benefits go beyond just correcting chine walk, It also helps the way your boat flies when launching off wave/wakes, but since you boat mostly on lakes and rivers I concentrated on chine walk. Congrats on the century mark, it seems worth the trouble now, I bet your smilin like a mofo everytime you hit the throttle, I would:yes:


That makes perfect sense!! Rick at IMCO wanted me to take the last 3 feet of strake off the back to settle the back but things are so close to being perfect that I am kind of scared of doing that. Brett has done wonders with the props that I have tried and I even sent him my 6 blade because I am so impressed. Brett thinks that after the next mods that I should hit 106 to 109 mph just as things are. The trim tab thing is my idea just for safety. I have been told that having the tabs level with the horizon and having the tail whips at 30 degrees will lower the chance of spinning out a lot. I guess that I am just not used to going that fast on the water yet but it seems there is no margin for error above the mid 90s in my boat. I had the tabs down pretty far when I crossed the wakes that were quartering to me and I got off on counteracting the chine walk and I just knew that I was going to get wet!! On all of the other wakes that I crossed at high speed the boat just flew over them and you never even felt them.

The smile.....YES.....I could not be happier about the boat...It HAS all been worth it!!! I guess that is what has me back working and spending money on the thing!! My wife even loves it for that matter.....My mother even loves it....I knew that the girls were going to love it....The boat just has this really deep rumble and is super quiet in the cockpit. It is a real sleeper. You should see the looks on the bass boaters that think they have found another 65 to 70 mph I/O to victimize.....They are really surprised to say the least!!!

Germandonzi26
05-07-2009, 05:52 AM
The picture has Bob Teague at the Miami Boat Show as an answer to this question made.


:rlol:

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 06:10 AM
That is where Dana wants them also. I guess that is where they will have to go.

BlownCrewCab
05-07-2009, 07:47 AM
I think your Tabs being down helped you get out of shape crossing the wakes, each one trying to correct and being so far outboard was just compounding the problem.

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 08:12 AM
I think your Tabs being down helped you get out of shape crossing the wakes, each one trying to correct and being so far outboard was just compounding the problem.

I think so too!! It was great to getting the boat to run so good but I was really kind of nervous about having the tabs down so far to get it there. The problem with having them so far out is that at speed they are up out of the water but when you cross a wake they dig in and things go south from there pretty quick. Bob at Dana says that with the tail whips they don't dig in because they curve up at the ends. and also it helps to have them closer to the center of the boat and also it helps having them even with the horizon.

I am going to have to get some glass work done because the new tabs will not even touch where the Bennett tabs are now. Maybe I should just keep both sets on the boat.:wink:

The Hedgehog
05-07-2009, 08:48 AM
I am going to have to get some glass work done because the new tabs will not even touch where the Bennett tabs are now. Maybe I should just keep both sets on the boat.:wink:[/QUOTE]

I still think that you should mount some of those tabs with the trolling motors in place of the Bennetts.

I got mine back from Eddie yesterday. The new planes look WAY more important than the Bennetts. Those Dana's should look even better.

Where are you thinking about doing the indicators?

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 08:55 AM
I am going to have to get some glass work done because the new tabs will not even touch where the Bennett tabs are now. Maybe I should just keep both sets on the boat.:wink:

I still think that you should mount some of those tabs with the trolling motors in place of the Bennetts.

I got mine back from Eddie yesterday. The new planes look WAY more important than the Bennetts. Those Dana's should look even better.

Where are you thinking about doing the indicators?[/quote]


Indicators??? I don't need any stinking indicators!!!


I asked Mark about that when I first took the boat down to him and after he drove it the first time...he said that a small boat like this did not really need them and that it is so "seat of the pants" that they would not do much good. After doing a little driving myself...I tend to agree....Things happen so quick that I am not sure you have time to look at them too much. I keep one hand on the throttle and the trim switch on the throttle at all times when running fast. My hat is really off to Mark because he ran over 90 with no trim on the throttle.....I know that I could not do that!!!

BigGrizzly
05-07-2009, 10:07 AM
You need ro remember that these tabs were designed for 30 plus feet of stepped bottomed boats, at least that is what they told us. You have a pad bottom so it is slightly different. as for the Teague drawing it is appropriate. I saw a boat with them on but the owner did not know anything about them he just had them put on. for him it was a bling thing

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 10:19 AM
You need ro remember that these tabs were designed for 30 plus feet of stepped bottomed boats, at least that is what they told us. You have a pad bottom so it is slightly different. as for the Teague drawing it is appropriate. I saw a boat with them on but the owner did not know anything about them he just had them put on. for him it was a bling thing


Randy....The tabs that I am getting are used most of the time on 21 foot boats +/-....They are used most of the time on V bottom boats that run 110 plus. The placement and the design is made to work best to be stable at top speeds. These are not the best for other things that is for sure.

These are supposed to be safer and not hook so bad. I do think that they are going to look good though!!

BigGrizzly
05-07-2009, 10:42 AM
This was a big single and that is what he told me they were really long and mounted like the way you described. It wouldn't be the first time that two sales or tech guys had different stories. Heck they told me I could not close cooling a 500 plus motor or put an air cleaner on more then 5 psi of boost either. Who new, but it works. I would go for it, it sure won't hurt. Besides you could them as a swim platform. Actually I like this idea, not the swim plat form thing.

BlownCrewCab
05-07-2009, 11:04 AM
Bob's picture is pretty much just as I described it. Just don't mount them in too close to the drive. about 1/3 from the chine is pretty safe. you'll still be able to correct for uneven loads and knock out some chine walking. I like having indicators, that way theres no guessing where your tabs are.

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 11:15 AM
Bob's picture is pretty much just as I described it. Just don't mount them in too close to the drive. about 1/3 from the chine is pretty safe. you'll still be able to correct for uneven loads and knock out some chine walking. I like having indicators, that way theres no guessing where your tabs are.

I guess that I will have to make another run at Mark about using them. He just really knows his stuff and I don't usually argue with him. He single handedly saved my boating career!! He is a sharp guy!!! I would like to know where I am starting from between runs and make sure that I have everything even and how far I am trimmed down.

The Hedgehog
05-07-2009, 12:13 PM
I used tabs without indicators and like Micheal said, I like to know where they are. You can always add them later. In a boat that accelerates likes yours it is good to make sure that they are in a good place as you bring the power up.

Basically there are two types of boaters: 1. Those that have good tab indicators and 2. Those that don't. I have recently joined the tab indicator club. I am going to try mine out this afternoon. I will report back to you. That is unless I am feeling to important about joining the indicator club:wink:

Oh well, I need some sort of consolation for not being in the 100 mph club yet!

roadtrip se
05-07-2009, 02:35 PM
I used tabs without indicators and like Micheal said, I like to know where they are. You can always add them later. In a boat that accelerates likes yours it is good to make sure that they are in a good place as you bring the power up.
Basically there are two types of boaters: 1. Those that have good tab indicators and 2. Those that don't. I have recently joined the tab indicator club. I am going to try mine out this afternoon. I will report back to you. That is unless I am feeling to important about joining the indicator club:wink:
Oh well, I need some sort of consolation for not being in the 100 mph club yet!

I love it. I not only believe in tab indicators, but I use them as well. Perfect. Can't recommend them enough from my experience at 100+ in a twin V. Not much time for guesswork at those speeds and your seat of the pants could get a bit messy if one of those things hooks at the wrong time...

I am interested in seeing how these things turn out for you SB, as my next round of upgrades are probably going to include a set of decent tabs for the beast for use at supersonic moments...

SilverBack
05-07-2009, 02:57 PM
I love it. I not only believe in tab indicators, but I use them as well. Perfect. Can't recommend them enough from my experience at 100+ in a twin V. Not much time for guesswork at those speeds and your seat of the pants could get a bit messy if one of those things hooks at the wrong time...

I am interested in seeing how these things turn out for you SB, as my next round of upgrades are probably going to include a set of decent tabs for the beast for use at supersonic moments...


I will keep you informed for sure. Big Green ZX got me envious of his indicators so I called Jim B at Top Notch Performance Marine and ordered a set of Stainless Marine Heads Up indicators.