06 35 lightning w/525's handling
 

Looking for some input on the ride of my 06 lightning....Just went out on a speed run this evening by myself. Boat hit 91 mph but was way out of shape over 86 mph, boat would start to dance side to side. I had drives at 4 on indicator and tabs all the way up. I even tried bringing the tabs down to about 2 to see if it would take any of the walk out of it, some, but not much. Boat has 32p bravo's spinning out. Any thoughts on this???

This isn't my first 35..I had an 01 with 500 efi's, 30p bravo's spinning in, that you could drive with one hand all day at 86mph.

I was shocked to see boat handle like this...any thoughts? change prop rotation?

thanks in advance for help....

I'm not sure here, but I think based on how I've seen most Fountains setup, 2 on the tabs is still above parallel with running surface. At least try and get them level with the running surface and see if it settles down. I know mine WOT with the tabs ALL the way up feels a bit loose. Not at all unsafe or undriveable, but tabs neutral it's solid as a rock.

Solid as a rock. Run tabs about 3, on mine that is about dead even with the bottom, and run drives out to 4.5 to 5. Never a problem.

I have run a bunch of different props on mine and the handling did not change much. The exception was a set of 15 5/8 X 30 non labbed Maximus 5 blades, they wanted to pick the tail too much and made it real loose, even then I did not see any chine walking. I would try spinning the props in, most leave the factory that way, works fine on mine, though I have never tried spinning them out. I have run a best of 94 and hang right around 90'ish most days and the boat never gets out of shape.

Get the performance report from Fountain on your boat and it will tell you exactly how to set the drive/tabs for best results.

I agree that your tabs are doing nothing at 2. I would say at least neutral (whatever that is on your boat) should help extend the running surface and settle the boat at top speed.

Find neutral position for the tabs/drives on your boat and mark it on the dash.

Thanks for the help..I do have the speed report and they have drives at 4 and tabs at 3 with a top speed of 93....suprising to see the x dim at 19''.....

I 'll try that set up and see what happens, if that doesn't work then I'll spin the props in

Brent

My friends 04 35 Lightning with 525's never chine walked with B1 props. That boat ran 89-92 mph. I believe the 04 and 06 are the same bottom, not exactly sure about X dim, though. Are your tabs mounted horizontal or at the angle of the hull? If they are mounted horizontal, you get less "effect" from the tabs at higher tab settings. His tabs were mounted horizontal and one time he did have his Herring props nicked from the props hitting the tabs. That can't happen when they are mounted at the angle of the hull. Just something to watch out, for, nothing more meant by that. There were a couple of 35 twin steps that did had chine walk problems that I know about, and those had "out of shape" hull bottom issues. Was the boat possibly kept on a lift or trailer that was not fitted to the boat (steps)?

Your props should be spinning in for best top speed. Get them spinning in and run the boat at the settings on the test sheet and I bet your issues will be solved.

Sounds like the previous owner wanted better manners at the docks and spun them out.

My "X" is at 19" also, The '06 was the last of the side by side configuration and also have the highest "X" dimensions that I have seen. Most earlier were around 18.5 at most. My test sheet showed about the same settings as yours but only 90 mph. Best I've seen with the 4b Bravos was 91.5 lite on fuel with 3 in the boat.

How is your boat getting on plane?

Am I correct that my props would be spinning out?

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yes...your props are spinning out.

Boat is ok getting on plane. I have to feather the throttles once it bust loose but that's typical with fountains.

As for the speed report, I was shocked to see 93mph