ProStah_Skiah

@Jody_Seal where did you find the angled material that you used to make your wedge?

For Star Brite, they have two different options. Instant Hull Cleaner and Boat Bottom Cleaner/EZ-ON EZ-OFF . The Instant Hull Cleaner is more gentle, containing 8% oxalic acid. The Boat Bottom Cleaner is more potent, containing 5-10% HCl and 1-5% Oxalic acid. I have both, but have never needed to resort to the Boat Bottom Cleaner.

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@skispray @DaveD I recently upgraded from iPhone 8 to 12 and ran into the mirroring issue. Here is how to reverse the video on the phone. 1) open the video; 2) tap "Edit" in the upper right corner; 3) tap the cropping icon in the lower right; 4) tap the mirror icon in the upper left; 5) tap "Done" in the lower right.

@2Valve @moski 1. Grind the port side of the rudder? Assuming your boats are either MC or Malibu, then yes, grind the port trailing edge to reduce pull to the right. SN has opposite factory prop rotation, rudder grind and torque steer. 2. Would I grind the total height of the blade? You would mirror the length and angle of the factory grind on the other trailing edge. Like what @Dacon62 shows above. 3. Is there a certain angle that I would want to start with? Approximately 45 degree angle. It doesn't take a lot of material removal to make a big difference in handling. Go slow with the material removal and test drive. Its a lot easier to take more material off and test drive again than it is to put material back on :) !

The previous owner of my ProStar did not like the right hand torque steer either. This picture is looking down on the trailing edge of the rudder. For reference, the factory grind is on the starboard (right in this picture) trailing edge. They had the port trailing edge ground as shown. The profile, length and angle of the aftermarket grind basically mirrored that of the factory, but with less material removed. This produced neutral steering that would track straight in open water with no steering input required and no right hand torque steer. HOWEVER, it was VERY difficult to drive in the course. With no pre-load on the rudder, the tracking feel was very wishy washy and required constant correction back and forth with large inputs to the steering wheel. I did not like the handling at all, and ended up having a local machine shop fill and grind the port trailing edge back to square. My recommendation is not to dial out the pre-load with mechanical filing/grinding of the port trailing edge. If you do, definitely do not go all the way to neutral. You want some pre-load on the rudder to maintain tight handling.

Boat is in storage so no picture. Here is my process from front-to-back: * Two front loops over the pickle-fork; I do not use the front (bow seating area) pole since I have a bow lid * Over the windshield * Straps from middle pole (in front of pylon) are attached to left/right tower release knobs * Straps from rear pole (behind motor box) are attached to left/right rear pop-up cleats; you can also go to the rear seating grab handles, but the water sheds better with the straps going to the cleats This is for a 2014, the cover/pole design has changed over the years, so yours may be slightly different. Hope this helps!

@S1Pitts similar for me. My ankle-foot alignment is such that I have a hard time pressuring the inside ball of foot without also rotating my knee to the inside.

@DW thanks! I am going to try some canting with washers next summer. Why don’t you also cant the rear toe plate?

@DW what method do you use to cant the front boot? Spacers under one side of plate, wedge plate, insert in the boot, other?

@Pretzel nice work! I’m planning to do the same thing. Would you mind sharing the parts list/prices for all the parts required?

Great article! How about some more thoughts on raising one's driving game from "1) driving a straight boat path through the center of the course [to]; 2) driving it straight and in tolerance, however having a priority on making it feel good for the skier"?

@MichaelWiebe you can reach up along the steering cable and feel the zerk fitting from the rudder access port. It’s a difficult reach. The zerk is partially surrounded by a mounting bracket and four bolts. I was unable to get the grease fitting engaged from that direction. I ended up removing the two rear screws from the center floorboard and lifting it a few inches. Just enough to see the zerk and to reach in with a flexible hose and 90 degree fitting. Per MC, I used white lithium grease and also coated the exposed end of the cable at the tiller end.

@Jaypro have you also lubed the steering cable? There is a zerk fitting under the center floorboard in front of the rudder access port.

@MichaelWiebe I have a 2014 with a 5.7 and the 1.22 transmission. I have skied my boat and a newer 5.7 ProStar with the 1.26 transmission. I would say there is a small, but noticeable difference in the hole shots. However, nobody has ever asked for more power than I can give on the pullout with the 1.22. As for the transmission noise that you mention, I do notice a rattle in reverse-only, and only after it is warmed up. The first reverse out from the dock is smooth and quiet, but after warming up it rattles when in reverse. No noise in forward. The shifting action itself into both forward and reverse is smooth and quiet. It is a sustained rattle while reversing. I inquired with ZF about running Rotella 15-40 as some have said that this helps quiet the gear noise. ZF advised that Dextron III ATF is the only approved fluid for my transmission.

@ISP6ball yes, Rossi drew on the screen for one of my sessions. I have done a few sessions with different coaches and every one of them has been on-point and as good as Trent’s above. The feedback is fast too...usually within 15 minutes or so, but not always. Highly recommended!

Interesting that there doesn't appear to be a grind on the Starboard trailing edge of the rudder any more. Just the tab to create the torque. @FWinter can you take a couple pictures of the new rudder tiller connection?

Could someone post a picture of the new rudder tiller connection? I'm curious if the '14-'20s can be easily upgraded to the new parts or not.

Yeah, a combination of that and a requirement for something with high water washout resistance. The grease lubricates the rudder shaft & bushing and resists water pressure from below through that interface in the rudder port.

Looking in to this some more, the Kynetx grease available in the cartridges is MD, not HD and has slightly worse water washout resistance (5% vs. 2.5%). However, I was able to find another alternate at the link that @BraceMaker provided. This one has all technical specs and product description exactly identical to the Kynetx HD, which crosses back to the original Alpha FG2-100. I'm guessing this is the same stuff under a private label. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C3M6N1S/?coliid=IXL61A28XGFDY&colid=2MHA1F0J0YRRH&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

@BraceMaker Thanks, I had found the Kynetx cross-reference, but it is not available in cartridges, only 35lb pails and 400lb drums!

I'm curious what grease you used? MC specifies "Alpha FG2-100" grease for the rudder port. I have not been able to find it or any info on why this specific grease.

No permit required for a slalom course in Maine if installed outside of the 200' water safety zone.