Experts: Where to Mount Trim Tabs?
 

I am looking at purchasing a Baja Outlaw 20. This model does not have trim tabs, and it is not a factory option either. The question is, where are the trim tabs suppose to be mounted?

I don't want to drill holes, and then find out they were installed in the wrong place. I assume if they are placed too far apart, then they would be out of the water on each side, and too close together, they wouldn't provide roll stability and could even hit the drive. There must be some optimum position.

Thank you for enlightening me.:)

Michael

Why do you think it needs tabs?
Gary

Every review I've read for the Outlaw 20 in magazines and even here on OSO says the front end is light, and bounces a lot in rough water. They finish by saying, "Have your dealer install trim tabs before delivery." I wanted to do it myself, and didn't know where to put them.

Mark, thanks for the pics. I'm surprised they are so far to the outside.

Michael

they go on the back, one on each side of that shiny thing:D

Micheal, If you are buying and installing new tabs then it will tell you exactly where to install them. Tabs are to be set 1" to 4" in from the chines. They will also recommend the edge of the tab not be inline with a strake. They must run out at least 1" past a strake. There are other specs but as I said it will tell you all the paticulars in the instructions. Good Luck on the tab install.

having driven several 20 outlaws i would recomend you drive the boat first without them and then make the decision. The front of the boat is light but i guarentee you will use it for storage becuse its one of the only places to properly store equipment in that particular boat. you may find you might not need them, i feel i boat fruns fine w/o them.....my .02 - Andrew

Slippery, thanks for the info. I didn't realize they came with location instructions. Good to know!

Juked, I'll try it out, and see how it does without them. I'll be running in the ocean, so based on some of the reports, it seemed like I might need them.

Thanks!

Michael

Now the angle debate...............Match the bottom or flatter? The high end Fountains mount them dead flat.

Flat Vs. Angled - We get this question quite often with our trim tabs. From my expirience, the answer to that question depends on the boat and what you're looking to accomplish by adding tabs.

In general terms, mounting trim tabs on an angle will create a small amount of drag, but it will give you the most benefit out of the tab. Angle mounted tabs are great for someone who wants tabs for wakeboarding, or to be able to correct a boat lean, or just basic stability with general boating. Another reason for mounting them angled is that some boats need alot of help to get on plane. By having more tab touching the water, it will help the boat get on plane more effectively compared to flat mounted tabs.

Mounting them flat is mostly found on high performance fast running boats. Mounting them flat will create less drag. With trim tabs mounted flat, roughly only 25 percent of the tab surface is touching water in high speed running. This provides great stability and helps prevent high speed chine walking or hopping without sacrificing speed.

Mounting trim tabs flat doesn't offer as much bottom end benefit compared to mounting the tabs angled. Although flat mounting doesn't react as well as angled mounted tabs on the bottom end, it's still better than not having tabs at all.

The amount of drag that is caused by angle mounted tabs can vary from boat to boat depending on the hull design. Angle mounted tabs are used on alot of high performance boats, and alot of boats run really fast with the tabs set up that way. It's hard to gauge the exact difference without having specific data on the hull in question.

For maximum performance, from a physics standpoint, it would seem you would want the trim tabs flat, rather than angled to the V of the boat. I say that, because if angled, then some of the force is going to be to the outside of the boat, as well as, down. If flat, the force would just be down. Since the angled tabs would have equal and opposite side forces, those forces would just result in more drag (plowing water to the sides of the boat).

Granted, all this is speculation, and what happens in real life may be different.

Michael