CR1

Nice fab work! I understand everything except the swim platform. A) Why would you want to get ride of beautiful teak for industrial looking metal B) Why is is so far off the water? That's got to pose an unnecessary challenge to get back into the boat.

To me, these two boats aren't even a comparison. If you're a slalom skier, 1000% go with the response. You'll quickly forget that it's not as good in rough water when you're ripping at 32-off!

That seems very odd that you're noticing more of a bump at 28/32 off than 15 off. Are you sure you're on edge and not flattening your ski at the wakes? What speed?

Why does the engine box appear so tall and narrow? Is that just the perspective of the pic, or does it really look that way? Love those colors. Did you opt for the no flooring option?

Holy crap, that is literally my boat's twin (even down to the cover). Mine also has a Titan II tower and is an 03 with a bit of a different gauge set

@Mtea Where are you at on DCL? Grandparents used to have a cabin there 20 years ago (from the time the lake was created until about 1997). It was such a cool spot back then. Unfortunately I-68 and almighty dollar bill took a little of it's soul away. It looks like you can still find some good water if you're there during the week. Nice pics!

I know this forum is full of a bunch of MC homers, but don't overlook a Response LXi/TXi/etc. You can find a nice 2008-12 boat in that price range. I have an 03' LXi with a tower and it's great all around boat.

@swc5150 Starting price means very little. We're still talking north of $70k!! You put a few options in like SeaDek or Deckedance, a bimini, etc and you're likely over $90K....right where everyone else is.

@ozski What makes you think the new MC is going to put downward pressure on the ski boat market?

@oldjeep Yes you are correct, lifter supplier was changed due to so many issues. HEMIs have always tapped to some degree at start up (until the lifters fill with oil). In certain lucky engines, that tap doesn't go away and gets progressively worse. That's the only sign a lifter is going bad. If you catch it soon enough, pretty much the only needed repair is to replace the lifter, but if it goes on too long (or multiple lifters fail at the same time), you risk damage to the camshaft. After the second repair (which happened in 2017, I've not had any issues....fingers crossed.

@oldjeep I am glad I bought the warranty. HEMIs are notorious for hydraulic lifter failure. It seems to be random but prevalent enough that I want the piece of mind. Unfortunately the HEMI in my GC was one of the lucky ones to have the lifter issue. The first time it was just two lifter replacements. The second time it happened, it took the camshaft with it too. I shelled out a total of $200 total for both issues. Had I not had MaxCare, I would have been into it for over $5000. Spent $2100 on the lifetime maxcare, so I'm up $2900 so far.....

I have two FCA vehicles that I tow my boat with. The first is 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.7 HEMI. It tows a ski boat (Response LX and now an LXi) pretty effortlessly. I now have a 2019 RAM 1500 (also with a slightly different 5.7 HEMI) and it also makes light work of the ski boat. Mopar offers factory extended warranties that are better than anyone in the industry (which was my selling point). My Grand Cherokee has a MaxCare (essentially bumper to bumper (with exception of wearable components)) extended warranty for the LIFE of the vehicle for UNLIMITED miles. MOPAR has slowly phased out the lifetime/unlimited warranties, so on my 19' RAM I had to settle for a 150,000 mile 6 year duration. Still pretty good. The best part is, it's a factory program and the vehicle can be taken to any dealer. Oh, by the way, the Grand Cherokee just turned over 205,000 miles and still runs like new.....