2+3 Chine Walking, what can I do to remedy this?

[pipnit]

Hey guys,

I splashed the Orange Whip last week and ran her quite a bit over the weekend. Man, we had some great outings despite quite a bit of boat traffic.
When I open her up and start to trim her out, I often get in to a chine walking condition. Most of the time but not all of the time but nearly invariably it will start to walk if I stay in it long enough. My solution is to simply back her down gently and then drop the drive a small tad and it goes away. The problem is, I'm going FASTER when she starts to walk.
So... what can I do to remedy this, get rid of the walking but still keep my top end or get even more? I'm running a hydromotive quad IV, 23p tied to a healthy 383 and a TRS drive on a 1976 2+3. I'll get her up to 75 but she's usually bouncing around a little at that speed and can get her to 5400 but she usually starts walking around 5100.

[justleft]

What type of steering are you running ? Cable, hydraulic assist (int or ext), full hydraulic.....

Most would say at that speed you could really use full hydraulic.

[pipnit]

sorry, I forgot to mention, it is a full hydraulic dual ram setup and there is little to no play in the drive. Everything is nice and tight. I'm just wondering if changing the pitch or diameter (pretty sure mine is 14.250 but not positive) would remedy this.

[roadtrip se]

First place to look is the prop. The Hydro Q4 is 15.5 inches in diameter, so it has been modified if it is 14.25. A tweak on a blade, which may or may not be visible could set up a chine walk at top end. I would send it in for a tune-up. And try something else, too, like a stock Q4 to start.

Second is the tabs. Are they coming up all the way? Even if they are, there is a mod that can be done, documented here, that will draw the tabs up further from the bottom, by shortening the rams. Bennett sanctions this, and has a tool to do it. I had this issue with my 18 Scorpion, where it would hook a tab at top end, and start a chine walk.

Third, check your skeg. If it is crooked, you could start a chine.

You say everything is tight, but checking the gimbal is not a bad idea either. And do you have full hydraulic or cable assist hydraulic steering? A little movement in a cable driven system, can set up some movement in the hydraulics, which could set up a chine. At 75+, in an 18, I would look at a full hydraulic set-up, if you don't already have it. Thats hooking it in that small of a boat!

Good luck.

[pipnit]

Thanks, that's all really good advice. The skeg is on there straight, we welded a new one on last year and we were very, very careful about making sure that sucker was on there true.
It is a used prop which I bought from someone and although it looks good, I think I'm going to take your advice and try sending it in for a tune up. I'm also very interested in the the trim tab mod. Hmmmm... I guess I'll try one thing at a time.

The gimbal ring is tight, all recently replaced and serviced. The steering is a full hydraulic, dual ram setup, no cables, just juice.

Thanks for the thoughtful information.

[Stevo440]

The prop has more control over more characteristics of boats like ours than any thing else. I have tried many different props on my 22 and each one gave quite different results. One would chine walk, one was solid as a rock or like being on rails, one made the boat torque to the left, etc... I know props cost $$$ but try to find props to try out on your boat and see for yourself the big changes that come with each one. Search on here to find which props are recommended by guys that have the same boat/setup you do and go from there, all the other things are extras/pluses. The tab mod helps top end if they are dragging, tight steering helps with chine walk, etc. Give it a try...