ZXR spider web cracks

[SHM64]

Purchased my ZXR in August... love everything about the boat. Noticed a few spider web cracks in top cap, both inside and outside the boat, in what I would call non-stress point areas. Took it to the dealer who during the 20 hour service had their glassman repair the cracks. In the boat over the weekend and found another new one... on a day that wasn't particularly rough. I towel dry the boat after each use so I would have noticed the crack during my previous outing. Wondering if anyone else has had this issue... and more importantly can I assume that the frequency of these cracks might decline as the boat becomes broken in? Fortunately the dealer is fully standing behind the issue.

[Mcb196]

Not a ZXR but had the exact issue with my 17 ZX. I took it to Skeeter and they fixed it. I haven't anything close to a crack since.

[OK_BassBum]

SHM,
As someone that has been down this road. I suggest you document everything and take pictures!

[JCV73]

I have been looking seriously at the new ZXR and am concerned over this. I love the boat and the design but I had a friend with a similar issue. I wonder if Skeeter will acknowledge that this is an issue and attempt to remedy. On a different note, did you look at other boats before buying this one? If so, what was the determining factor?

[densik]

1 year on cosmetics, so make sure you bring it to your dealer's attention right away

[pflat]

Purchased my ZXR in August... love everything about the boat. Noticed a few spider web cracks in top cap, both inside and outside the boat, in what I would call non-stress point areas. Took it to the dealer who during the 20 hour service had their glassman repair the cracks. In the boat over the weekend and found another new one... on a day that wasn't particularly rough. I towel dry the boat after each use so I would have noticed the crack during my previous outing. Wondering if anyone else has had this issue... and more importantly can I assume that the frequency of these cracks might decline as the boat becomes broken in? Fortunately the dealer is fully standing behind the issue.

Any chance you can share a photo of this?

[SHM64]

pflat- boat has been repaired and I had ZERO issues with the dealer. I had it back inside a week with apologies and a nice wax job. The original 3 cracks looked like seams in the fiberglass running at different angles and none were more than 3 inches long. This last one looked more like an impact site with a dime sized center with some jagged seams extending up to 2 inches from the center. Was only visible when sun or light hit it. All cracks were in different places on the boat so no regularity to their positioning.

JCV- I left Triton (19TRX) due to a terrible riding boat (it seems I may have bought a lemon-with the dealer not helping the situation which is why I didn't look back) and looked only at Skeeter and Phoenix. Having friends with both brands, riding, driving and fishing in them multiple times, I chose the ZXR20 primarily due to the $10K+ in price difference as I found very little meaningful differences in performance/ride/fit/fishability between the two 20' + boats. I looked at the Phoenix 919 Pro XP as well and what a great 19'8 boat that was... but the ride on a Saturday full of wakeboard boat traffic didn't compare well to either of the 20'+ boats and it was basically the same price as the 20'4 ZXR with the 250 SHO.

I will also say that I chose option 6, and really like it, but it probably shows blemishes more so than the other color options. Even with the small cracks, that have all been fixed, I consider the boat a significant upgrade to my previous boat and can't say enough about the ride, speed (76+ with no changes to the dealer setup), storage, and fishability. This is my fifth boat in 35 years (Nitro, Stratos, Triton (2)) and am enjoying it more than any of the others.

[pflat]

pflat- boat has been repaired and I had ZERO issues with the dealer. I had it back inside a week with apologies and a nice wax job. The original 3 cracks looked like seams in the fiberglass running at different angles and none were more than 3 inches long. This last one looked more like an impact site with a dime sized center with some jagged seams extending up to 2 inches from the center. Was only visible when sun or light hit it. All cracks were in different places on the boat so no regularity to their positioning.

JCV- I left Triton (19TRX) due to a terrible riding boat (it seems I may have bought a lemon-with the dealer not helping the situation which is why I didn't look back) and looked only at Skeeter and Phoenix. Having friends with both brands, riding, driving and fishing in them multiple times, I chose the ZXR20 primarily due to the $10K+ in price difference as I found very little meaningful differences in performance/ride/fit/fishability between the two 20' + boats. I looked at the Phoenix 919 Pro XP as well and what a great 19'8 boat that was... but the ride on a Saturday full of wakeboard boat traffic didn't compare well to either of the 20'+ boats and it was basically the same price as the 20'4 ZXR with the 250 SHO.

I will also say that I chose option 6, and really like it, but it probably shows blemishes more so than the other color options. Even with the small cracks, that have all been fixed, I consider the boat a significant upgrade to my previous boat and can't say enough about the ride, speed (76+ with no changes to the dealer setup), storage, and fishability. This is my fifth boat in 35 years (Nitro, Stratos, Triton (2)) and am enjoying it more than any of the others.

Thank you for the explanation.. I have a ZXR20 on order (color option 6 also lol) this will be my first bass boat.. 76mph thats awesome

[JCV73]

SHM - thank you for the run down. I'm looking at the Phoenix as well but keep going back to the Skeeter because of the width, design, layout, and features. I currently run an 05 Ranger. Looking forward to getting in one. Good luck with everything.

[Big bass Kelly]

Wow I’ve been A Skeeter owner all the way through my boats and this is the worst one I’ve ever had I am lucky to hit 70 and it’s chin walking all over the place. I am four months into the boat and still switching loads all over the place per Skeeter they even have the balls enough to tell me to get some corn and put it in compartments I would go with Phoenix if I was you this is a brand new boat and I’m dealing with other issues. And that’s a true review.

[dreese]

Wow I’ve been A Skeeter owner all the way through my boats and this is the worst one I’ve ever had I am lucky to hit 70 and it’s chin walking all over the place. I am four months into the boat and still switching loads all over the place per Skeeter they even have the balls enough to tell me to get some corn and put it in compartments I would go with Phoenix if I was you this is a brand new boat and I’m dealing with other issues. And that’s a true review.

which model?

[Big bass Kelly]

ZXR20

[bugmaniac52]

Wow I’ve been A Skeeter owner all the way through my boats and this is the worst one I’ve ever had I am lucky to hit 70 and it’s chin walking all over the place. I am four months into the boat and still switching loads all over the place per Skeeter they even have the balls enough to tell me to get some corn and put it in compartments I would go with Phoenix if I was you this is a brand new boat and I’m dealing with other issues. And that’s a true review.

These hulls were designed to be more aggressive on the top end. You should be able to drive through the slight walk at lower to mid 70mph speeds.

[Burt]

try adjusting motor height.

[04Skeeter]

Raise it a 1/4” at a time until you find the sweet spot. These new hulls like the motor high and trimmed to 75-80%. Over trim it and it will walk. 73-75mph boat all day stable as a tank.

[SHM64]

Couldn't agree more with "stable as a tank". My ZXR20 walks only slightly over 70 and that needs very little steering wheel, rather I just bump the trim down a notch. Even at my best speed of 76 chine wasn't an issue. My previous two Tritons were much more work at high speed, which by the way was less than 76. My boat walks no more or less than my bud's 920 Proxp, although his is a bit faster.

[TODDXDC]

So the old saying of owning a Skeeter was I can drive it one handed due to no chine walk. Now the new hull design folks are complaining of chine walking. I own a 2019 fx21 with no chine walk and run same speeds as the new hull designs if not a little faster. So what is the sales pitch now when comparing to the competitors that are faster? I do believe it's a balance issue, but read a lot of guys having the same issue with the new hull. Now reading about the stress cracks will steer me completely away from them until Skeeter fixes the issues. Also you can get on the Phoenix boat sites, especially Facebook and read about the nightmares some of their owners are having with stress cracks. Guys these bass boats are not cheap and stress cracks are a real eye sore and could be exposing excessive flexing in different areas of the boat.

[OK_BassBum]

I heard from a individual, he owns 19 FX21 and experiencing fiberglass problems with his hull.
Keel sounds out problem and this one leaks, currently at Kilgore for a fix. He has experienced some of
the favorites from Mr. Young. Whats the odds of 2 guys having the same boat, bought from the same
dealer and having close to the same problems with the same response from Manufactures Customer Service.

[BASStex1988]

Just a note. If you are having stress crack problems and they just sand and re spray chances are they are going to come back. Seen it too many times. Skeeter is trying to take the easy road and when it happens again they will just say they already fixed the issue.