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Joe_Black
10/23/2006, 06:09 PM
Just thought I'd share a pic of the IronMan bringing home my latest eBay acquisition, an O'Day 25...
ZEUS
10/23/2006, 08:08 PM
You have to have the largest open property on this forum! How does the VX do with such a mammoth behind it?
Joe_Black
10/23/2006, 08:34 PM
LOL! The boat isn't quite set up right on the trailer but it did pretty well and only got squirrelly once at around 55MPH, which straightened right out with a little throttle. I didn't get much over 60MPH as I didn't get to do much more than a cursory inspection of the trailer. That pic was snapped at the half-way point of a 40-mile haul to check the wheel bearing and generally inspect everything. The trailer is pretty beefy, all 6" steel channel. Hopefully I can fab up a lighter one from aluminum that's a little better suited to ramp-launching. This one has a tongue that extends about 8 feet, so I should be able to float it off without getting the VX too wet. ;)
Jonnie
10/24/2006, 04:11 PM
The million dollar question is who's hitch did you use?

Jonnie
Ldub
10/24/2006, 04:17 PM
The forty dolla Q is, how much does that trailer/ boat combo weigh?
Joe_Black
10/24/2006, 04:46 PM
The trailer/boat combo is just a little over 5000 pounds total, which is why I'd like to eventually go to an aluminum version not to mention corrosion resistance as it will see a lot of saltwater use.

I originally had the hitch from Tone which worked pretty good for a while, but began cracking at the welds. Rather than re-work a suspect piece I basically duplicated the design, which works well, with a little heavier material all plasma-cut and triple-passed all the welds using a Miller 251 and Steelmix gas.
Ruflyf
10/25/2006, 06:17 AM
I originally had the hitch from Tone which worked pretty good for a while, but began cracking at the welds. Rather than re-work a suspect piece I basically duplicated the design, which works well, with a little heavier material all plasma-cut and triple-passed all the welds using a Miller 251 and Steelmix gas.


Soo, is there a Joe's hitch to hit the market in the near future?
Joe_Black
10/25/2006, 06:33 AM
Soo, is there a Joe's hitch to hit the market in the near future?
LOL, no, I won't be offering anything other than the window-fix kit until my new shop is completed. We start laying out the foundation of the small shop Saturday, so after a several-year delay we're finally getting started.

Once the big shop is done we'll see what I can throw together. ;)
etlsport
10/25/2006, 07:09 AM
how is the window fix kit coming? im holding off on breaking the windows out of the vx completely until i try your kit :p
Joe_Black
10/25/2006, 08:39 AM
how is the window fix kit coming? im holding off on breaking the windows out of the vx completely until i try your kit :p
Much better now that I figured out a better way to fab the prototypes and purchased some new tooling this past weekend. I'm doing a little bit on the project during a couple free evenings during the week, so hopefully it'll get "field trials" by next week. After that I'll try a couple different materials (delrin, nylon, hdpe) to see what will work best and be easy to fab.
pbkid
10/25/2006, 02:38 PM
hey joe, i just wanted to let ya know that i got the muffler and it sounds great....been turning heads left and right...
oh and apparently my 4 wheeling isnt too good for the VX because when the guy got my old muffler off he just "had to show me" how much i had bent it up and restricted my air fllow...
i think i gained about 20 hp from the "bent shut" old exhaust...
thanks again..