Wild

Went down to LOTO today to check on some boats, and ran across a black thunder GT that my buddy is looking at, it a nice boat with only 180 hrs

Does anyone know how these ride and what their degree of V is. It looks sharp along the front but by the time you get to the back is gets really flat, we measured over 9 inches with only 2inches of rise.

Please give him some insight into the pros and cons of these boats

Thanks for your help

Wild

SteveDavid

Wild,
The 43 GT has an excellent ride. Same bottom as the tall deck perf cruiser (non stepped before 97) I believe the bottom is 23 degrees. Low CG, very little roll side to side, more than 5 feet of head rm. in the cabin.

My personal Black Thunder is a 2000 43' tall deck. Primary difference between the two is cabin head room, shower, etc. Bottoms are different in that the 43 GT of which you speak has a notch, while the newer ones have steps, notch and standoff. I've driven quite a few Black Thunders, including the GT's and have found the GT's actually the more stable in bigger water, particularily in beam seas. That said, both are outstanding boats, in build quality and performance.

Steve

later

Randy years ago before we bought our first fountian we looked at several black thunders and came with'in $3000 dollars of owning one. They are a huge boat looking out over the deck was like looking down a runway of a aircraft carrier. I drove 2 of them one had 502/415hp it was a low 60mph boat but crushed the waves at LOTO we then looked at another that had 454magnum motors in it and it was way under powered. there are some good deals out there on Black Thunders i dont think i would consider any thing less than 500hps, with 500's and a striaght bottom you probably see upper 60's and with stepped bottom lower to mid 70's,
the tall decks or a floating condo but if you watch them go down the lake on a saturday afternoon they pitch back and forth from side to side.

later

Scuba Steve

This one at LOTO has 502's w/ intercooled whipples. I wonder how much HP is is getting and what kind of reliability do those motors have?

later

what is the name of the boat speed racer? 93 is the first year for those boats the boat i was refering to was called chopper and was the first 43 made it sat at raymonds for years, then sold 2-3 years ago maybe 4 and the guy changed the stripes and renamed speed racer and the last i saw the boat had whipples on it. i would thank intercooled whipples on 502 is good for the 625-650hp range. in 95 i tried to by chopper raymonds was asking 96,000 i offered 90,000 then went up to
93,000 charlene at raymonds told me the good lord told here she would get
96,000 iasked if the good lord told her who it was because it wasnt me. the boat sat until 2000 or 2001 before it sold in the mid 80's

later

Scuba Steve

It's called 'Bucknecked Kid' or something real close. The guy said he bought it from some big shot four boat owner in St Louis two years ago for $95k w/ trailer. He wants $75k w/o trialer. It's super clean inside. Need a dash update but interior is in great shape. Has one new Bravo 1 and one rebuilt. Looking over the bow the thing is massive. Oh yeah...it only has 180 hrs on it (or so it reads). The guy is awaiting arrival of his 3600 Nortech Cat. Says he just got #6's from John T (TNT) and is putting in (2) 1000 HP Cobras inthe Nortech.

Scuba Steve

He did say that the first owner bought it new in 1997.

SinkorSwim

You might call Jeff at CMC in St. Charles.. they did some rerig on some of the early BT's that have lived at the LOTO...

Love those big BT's..

Scuba Steve

Advance Marine put the whipples on...it's got aero scoops and a sun pad. They did a nice job on it.

vagrant

My wife and I went to Black Thunder labor day 2002. They gave us a 1993 flat deck gt to drivefor the weekend. The boat had 502's and ran a honest 70. The only thing the boat needed was external steering. Mr. Jenkins builds a great boat and I believe he stands by his product. Good Luck.

David