Any thought on the advantages/disadvantages of moving the motors forward 12 inches in a 31 AO? Any speed advantage? Getting on plane issues? Mid range issues? My questions are relative to no boxes installed.

Installing boxes is mostly done for higher X-dim. Not because of weight.

If you go ahead and figure out the weight diffr. ,just put that much in the front of the boat and see what it does.

Moving the engines forward is alot of change to ask without testing !

From what I understand adding weight to the front of the boat is not the same thing as moving the motors forward. i think all the faster AO/Awesomes have their motors moved forward.

it will help to move the cg forward on these boats... I know on the newer and lighter boats it makes more of a difference in cg therefor it helps more. I think you would be easier to add boxes and change the x would do more for added speed than moving the engines forward. at least in the amount of money spent. the kits to add drive shafts are not cheap.

Don

I agree with Chromecat

Moving the engines is OK, but yo need to find out what it does !
If you ad weight in the front of the boat to figure that out you know what it will do.
Why should it not be the same ?
What ever you add in the front is equall with moving the weight of the engines forward ,once u figured out how much weight you need to make it run better and faster. Then you know where the CG needs to be and thats how far you need to move your engines !!!!!!!!!!

And dont think you need to add more the 300 pounds.
Also dont think that 300 or even 500 pounds slow a boat down ,if thats what it takes to place the CG right then it will run better actually straighter over the water and air so it will gain speed and handling.
Alot of people dont reliase that ! they all think ballast slows you down but if properly added it makes you faster !!!!!

You can also figure out where your CG needs to be on the trailer.
Call me i tell you how,if you really whant performance with no stress.

941 592 5815

If not ,ok with me to.
Just thought i help.

mine are not forward but i have boxes and shortened drives and mine flys good and runs fast its a older ao so its heavy anyway but 130 with the hp i have is good its all in the setup

Yea, hear you . But yours is an X-raceboat if i am not mistacen, so its dialed in correctly.

No factory boat is dialed in perfect and every boat even the same hull and weight is a little diffrent.

You have to get it right on the money and then you realy see the diffrents .

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. It was just a thought that a couple of us were talking about as a potential spot to add some speed without adding power. The boat runs very well now with the setup I have with slip that is excellent and easy to plane. Charlie I will call you later today.

How much does your boat weigh?