Ok, so I have been reading up on the differences, I pulled this out of a post by performancemary:

If you go through the posts on this you will learn about the Viper hull changes. The most significant was the change in 2000 where they cut the hull depth towards the rear of the boat. The easy way to tell if you have the old or new design is by looking at the tie down u bolts on the transon. If there is only an inch or so between the bottom of the u bolt and the hull bottom you have the new one. If the distance is closer to two inches you have the old hull. The diff is worth 3 to 5 MPH.

My question is the u-bolt distance only apply to the 2000 models. The reason I ask is I am looking at a pic of a 2002, and the U-bolt looks to be higher than 1" from the bottom.

Then along the same lines was the good hull a running change in 2000? Meaning early 2000's are the slow hull, and later 2000's are the 3 to 5 MPH faster hulls, and then they just keep getting better as we go into the 200x's?

Thanks,
Dave

D2 As it was explained to me the change came early in the 2000 year but was not there from the beginning.
Your really want to get the newer hull

Thanks, I probably sould have just PM'd you!

Southeastern rep(Mark Boniface) at the time told me that during the 99/2000 production runs that they had made multiple changes, was told by the time mid 2000's were out that they had pretty well sorted it out,,and my 99 sucked/loved the boat/hated the planing and handling.

I had a 99 viper and it was a great boat but mine was an early one that did not have the newer hull. It had significent bow rise on take off but with tabs down that could be controlled. Mine had HP 500'S and had a top speed of 76 / 77 However the guy I sold it to got 80 out of her, perhaps a better driver.

D2HP
I ran into the same thing when we were looking to buy. I don't know about the 2000 in particular, but Here is a pic of our 2002 and I agree the U-Bolt is definately higher than an inch or two. It has the 496 HO's and does 78 mph any day.
Shawn

Mine had the mid-year hull,,it planed like a pig, even with tabs, it had 500hp's and 28 pitch 4blades and we tried rotating the props inward, outward and not much helped, the boat would run anywhere from 74 to 77 on gps depending on load, weather etc. I was holding out for the 30' Revenge, but they put off production on it so I took what I could have right now, I have ridden in a late 2000 Vyper and it was 10 times the boat as mine as far as planing and handling. Also, turning the props inward ruined the low speed manuvering around docks etc.

Thanks for all the helpful posts.

Shawn D, thanks for the info on your boat. Looks like the 02 I was looking at is like yours. How many hours did you get on the boat last summer? I have read through quite a few of your posts, and the have definitely been helpful.

Thanks also Slick02 looks like my search keeps narrowing.

Dave

D2HP

All I can say is the hooks on my 99 viper were not as high as those shown on that boat but still higher than I have seen on vipers with newer hulls. They must have done alot of changes on the vipers befor they got it right.

My 2001 avenger has very little bow rise, runs flat and the hooks are very close to the bottom. See picture

Here is a pic of my '02 340. 76 - 78 normal conditions with stock 28 B's. Hit 80 with labbed 30's. 496 HO's. And mine was the slowest of the three we had in our club.

Oh chit! I guess I can't post a pic because I have not renewed.

Oh well, my U bolt is easily 2 inches up...if not more.