171DC w/ 135 carb merc chine walk

[champtech171]

i have a champion 171DC with a 135 merc carbed (no jackplate yet) jumps out of the hole and runs 5900-6000 but chine walks like a bastard... i only get to 56mph until i get scared(and im gutsy). just curious if a jackplate will help and if so what setup would be good.

[champtech171]

btw lots of bow lift. and not a huge rooster tail.

[pmgoffjr]

It's just a boat, doing what boats do....

Before you spend any money, recruit someone with a clue to teach you to drive, once you understand you have to drive to prevent it from wobbling, just like riding a bike, you'll have it for life.

Why say that? Because there's nothing that will completely cure it, so until you learn to pilot, you'll be cussing your poor boat, while it's cussing your lack of ability.

[champtech171]

well obviously i have come to the wrong place for advice... so glad i asked for some help just to be told basically im a retard... im a marine tech, while a young one, i still drive 300-400 boats a year and have been driving boats since i was about 8. i know how to drive through chine walk, but this is out of control.

so i guess that your just a guy, doing what guys do

so before you reply, recruit someone to teach you how to give advice, once you understand how to do that its just like riding a bike, you'll have it for life

why say that? because there is nothing that will make you give me the info that i need, because, instead of helping you would rather insult my intelligence and say i simply "just cant drive it"

so i guess ill be cussing my boat while also cussing YOUR lack of ability.

i must have just caught you on a bad day, because it seems you have a decent answer for everyone on here but me, im sorry for being so stupid and asking my setup question

[Wis Bass]

I think this gentleman just wanted a answer for his question and not a bash on how he should drive his boat.

[BigStickFishing]

Well before you go cussing pat on his response I think we need a little more info like the post at the top of the page says. Year, make, model, prop info, prop to pad measurments, and all characteristics. Then it is followed by saying "If You do not Give This Than You Will Not Get Good Advice." So this being said before you start bashing a guy that has probably forgotten more about boats than we will ever know. You might try filling out your post with every thing he ask for and then see what you response might be. He is right there is no way to completely get rid of it. you can drop the prop down loose the bow lift and start topping out at 45mph and then the walk will go away. But if you are set up to go fast it will always be there. Haven't you seen Days of Thunder? Loose is fast and on the edge of out of control!

[champtech171]

my point was i am not set up at all, no jack plate, the boat and motor are 98's and the prop is a tempest + 25p, and the motor is mounted in the top hole. i just got the new powerhead late September and up here in wi that doesnt give you much seat time. also if he had needed more info wouldnt he have just asked like every other post i have seen? i am eager to learn, not be told i cant drive a boat. and im not worried about "walk" but more or less the "death wobble" that starts pushing the nose of the boat around that has almost rodeo'd me out twice

so pat what else do you need to know about the boat?

[ssbassman]

Not pat here but you may never figure it out since you are such a skilled driver. I can guarranty you pat would drive that boat with 2 fingers without any wobble. I have a 181 with a 150 witch is the big brother of your boat and you need to prevent the chine before it starts.

[champtech171]

and im trying to tell you i know how to drive a boat. trimmed down it will run 53 all day and never walk one bit. but i know that this boat will do more thats why i was trying to ask pat for advice to get the correct setup and the rest of the performance out of the boat. so you are saying that i will have to deal with a 53 mph boat for as long as i own it? there is nothing i can do to help except learn to drive?

[ssbassman]

You still need to learn to drive it. A jack plate may help some and make it faster but you need to learn to drive it to go faster. Also if that is gps speed you are doing good dont think you will see more than that. I get 60 average and have seen 64 a few times by myself half tank of gas and live wells empty with a 181 150xr6

[pmgoffjr]

Youth and enthusiasm....

Ok, break out your checkbook..here's what I'd do to setup a 171 w/V6, and it would drive like a cupcake for me.

8" rapid jack plate, 25 tempest, set at 3" shaft under pad, keep it light so it'll pack some air, and I'll find 65 mph out of it without a lot of trouble.

You'd still be fighting 56 cussing me for being an old smart a$$.

To be a marine *tech* you'd already know...
Raising your motor will decrease prop torque to the hull (chine walk) but you'll also start to lose lift, and increase wheel torque. You'd also know you can put a four blade prop on it, which also would tame the walk, but it's still just bandaids, it's still gonna happen regardless, and until you get your clue ticket punched by someone who can easily show you how to drive a high performance hull (brand regardless) it's going to limit you for the rest of your life.

I didn't call you stupid, I called you ignorant, we're all born that way. Rather than waste money and time and still be frustrated, take the easy way.

[champtech171]

hey pat thanks for the info! sorry for being a stuuborn little know it all who knows nothing but before i did bust out that check book i wanted to double check it with the expert! im glad to know that i was right about it having more. im also replacing the steering system because i think that was part of the problem of me not being able to prevent the chine walk in the first place. again thank you for giving out this invaluable information. btw wish i had someone close who knew alot about performance hulls but not too many speed freaks around, so im trying to learn any way i can, which means you will probably hear from me again again thanks!

[BILLY]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by champtech171 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">i know how to drive through chine walk,</td></tr></table>
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[champtech171]

Hey pat I have one more question for you lets say I'm willing to kill some speed for some better handling would going to a trophy be beneficial? Also my partner and I are not small guys. I'm about 230 and my partner goes 275...

[champtech171]

And yes billy bad choice of words I know...

[pmgoffjr]

This is like watching a pachinco machine...

What do you mean the steering is "bad"??? It won't steer or it's sloppy? You can easily take the slop out, if it's stiff you can wash the cable(s) down in penetrating lube.

Everything said was straight up advice, but still you (or someone) need to know what you've got. I've rigged more than a few 171's with 200's. They were all creampuffs to drive, but they all still needed to be driven. Just like every other high performance hull.

So...really and truly don't do diddle until you or someone else can hold the throttle full wide open with full trim and look at a gps and *KNOW* what you've got. Find an Allison driver, they can teach you faster than anyone.

It's not the arrow, it's the indian.....

And don't take all this personal, I was in your same shoes, I really thought I knew how to drive until I parked my carcass in a hull that had to be driven. I *knew* that boat was wrong, I *knew* it couldn't be my fault, something was just off and needed to be fixed. Until Bill Pace spent a half hour teaching a dumb texican how to drive a real boat. It really is like riding a bike, once you get it, you'll get it. And once that day happens, you'll be able to jump in someone elses "uncontrollable death wobble" and drive it like granny's cadillac. You can't imagine how mad it makes people to realize they might possibly be the cause. I get it, because I've been there more than a few times.

I sold a lot of boats, and after a few hundred, you'll see the ones...don't want to water test, know how to drive, it's all good, just hook it up and go. The phone rings on Monday morning "this thing is broken, you rigged it wrong, it's undrivable"

I promise I can take you in ten minutes just putting your hand on the wheel and have you driving like a pro. But it's something you really can't instruct on the internet, it's got to be felt.

We should feel some responsibility here to dispense advice carefully. Because for every one that actually comes up and asks, there's three hundred that just read and never are seen. THAT guy can really hurt himself with his new found "knowledge".

That's why I'll never tell you how to do the champ demo ride here again. Or some other driving technique that if read wrong can hurt someone.