Craig’s wife and Craig so there you go!Guys can keep getting beat to hell but some know the difference.
Craig’s wife and Craig so there you go!Guys can keep getting beat to hell but some know the difference.
I never got beat to death in an Elite. You are the Charger version of what the Ranger people were to the Champions when Ranger owned Champion.
Just stating a fact !
No, a bias option not fact. I driven both.Originally Posted by TOUCH OF CLASS
1 to 3 you lose !
They owned a Charger before and you were the one that restored it. You go over to the Champion board and ask the question and you lose. By the way, what year was it that Charger put cardboard in the deck and stringers? I know they only did it for a year or two. But what years were they?
If you driven both then you know that a Charger has a better rough water ride. The Charger hull will cut deeper through a wave Champions hull will rise higher on the wave which leaves it further to fall on the other side.
Card board ?They use to put a steel plate back in the 80 in the transom.The 495 was solid 1-3/4 deck don’t remember seeing any card board in ANY boat I have worked on.The R brand lids are paper thin and almost like card board but the boat is thick.I guess if a company used card board with glass it would really be composite built!
Back to the statement I made the 495 is a beautiful ride slices waves you don’t get air borne like other brands just does what it was designed to do ...ride!
Man y’all splitting hairs here. In fairly recent years, I’ve owned a Champ 202, 210 and Charger 195 and 496. With the exception of the 195 for obvious reasons (which was amazing for a 19’ but not same class as boats 18” longer) they all had water conditions that they performed better than the others. My opinion is the 202 was the most nimble because of shorter length and narrower, but not quite as good of ride by a slim margin. It’s weakest link was length compared to these two and fishing with the narrow beam. The 210 handled the bad chop better. It lifts better and that allows it to get up and run on top plus it’s a few inches longer. If I ever had a complaint, it was what seemed to be the potential hard hit when quartering. I think the 496 rides better when the waves are bigger than heavy chop. IMO, it’s weakest link is it’s compared ability to lift and run on top of the medium-heavy chop. But they are all great performance hull designs. Though they look similar with the deep V, they are quite different. I don’t think I’d give any of them less than an 8 in any conditions.
Maybe none that you worked on but my boat mechanic was putting in a trolling motor foot pedal tray on a charger and as he was cutting the area in the deck for the tray saw the cardboard. Also, the guy most people in the area use for boat fiberglass repair said that he had to redo a Charger’s stringer system because it had cardboard in it and had went bad. He said apparently it was maybe just a few years that Charger did it and changed over back to non cardboard.
Last edited by Sports1; 06-10-2018 at 11:42 AM.
Don't know about anything about cardboard. I have never heard of a Charger having stringer or transom issues but I'm sure they have hell all manufacturers have had one issues or another. You would be hard pressed to find a Champion that hasn't been repaired between the transoms rotting out and the poor sealant from the factory. I'd bet a paycheck my first Champion if it is still on the water has had massive reconstruction. With holes drilled in the stringers I'm sure they didn't last much past my ownership. I do know the first Charger I owned is still on the water saw it being pulled through my home town earlier this year.
He had to redo the entire stringer system. As far as the deck goes I don’t know if there was anything wrong with the deck, just that cardboard was there when he was cutting through the deck to put the foot tray in the boat. Just sayin’.
Last edited by Sports1; 06-10-2018 at 12:52 PM.
Charger must have taken notes since every Champion ever produced has had the transom replace along with a poor sealant job done at the factory...I'll bet he cut into paper mache putting that recessed pan in... Dan
3 different years different models and all charger no card board .Maybe the card board model was the ultra light version
Now they do use half round card board tubes to pick the deck out of the mold there a couple up front and few in the back but they are nothing structural if that’s what he is talking about
The pictures may not be from a model that was made in the year or years they used the cardboard in the deck. And as far as the stringers go the fiberglass perseon said that Charger had glassed over the cardboard in the stringer system. I guess they thought it would be okay. Again, he said that they did it for a year or two. Not sure of the year or years they did that is why I was asking.
Last edited by Sports1; 06-10-2018 at 04:27 PM.
Cardboard stringers and decks must be some good cardboard.
Cardboard was in the decking and stringers not that it was entirely made out of it. The stringer system was not good in this boat because they had to redo it but again it was not done for 1 or 2 years not 10 or 15.
Toilet paper instead of woven roving??? Definitely would qualify for light lay-up... If the used single ply found in today's port-a-lets... Dan
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