Here are some pics of my 28' next to Jim's 28 in the keys. Look at the pic from the front and you can clearly see the difference. Note that this was with 70 gallons of fuel on board no ballast.
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Here is shot from the back. Look at the waterline and lifting rings.
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Side of same day
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108mph pass same day. 80 gallons on board summertime FL Keys.

https://youtu.be/JVIRehSkK50

Look at the rear shot and the lifting rings - there is probably a 4 inch difference. Interesting picture.

So does Jim's ride a lot different then? Nose in the air?

Yeah, rear shot really gives you the difference. Nice rides guys!

Good thread. Should start one for the 32's.

Great example, Ron. Do you have ballast in those pics?

No ballast.
Yes Jim's boat rides high in nose same as all of yours do! :D He even has a helium filled fender back there to add some lift in the transom! :lolhit:

If you don't have ballast in that pic what did you do to get weight forward? I'm assuming you did something to sit flatter...

Mounted Batteries all the way forward. Way forward. Trim pumps forward as well.
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This is looking forward in the tunnel. It is very first bulkhead at the front. Batteries are on other side of the wall. Those are electric battery switches.

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Second bulkhead back looking aft.

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Same bulkhead looking forward. Pumps on other side.

wow sexy rigging

I gotta look at see where my batteries are - all I know is they're "up front".

MDS

I always wondered how far trim pumps could go. Guess this answers that. Second the clean rigging job!

Awesome job!!

Yep, the windshield is a heavy piece. Really sinks that bow down:)

More like 3 to 3.5 miles per gallon at 100- 110 mph with opti's the 2 mpg would be X motas

3.5 miles per gallon x 160 gallons = 560 mile range. Is that for real?

We find the 6.6 #'s per gallon is pretty accurate on average.

If you have ever played with weight in the font of a 28 you will notice a big difference with a little weight. We put a 10 gal fresh water plastic tank in one of my 28 with electric 24v seliniods, and 10 gal was crazy it would go threw anything. I also put a set of Dana trim tabs in the notch, with the rams on the transom. The water pickup for the tank was in the tab. Level tabs and full water tank you could go really go thew big water. Dump water and pick up tabs and it ran amazing.

Sounds well thought out. Any pics of your mods?

Also, has anyone done much before and after testing after the rear seats have been pulled off the stern and moved forward. I know they look a lot better and offer some nice storage once moved forward, but is there a huge CG/handling difference when this mod is done on the earlier models? I would think so, but I'm hoping someone that has done the mods could chime in.

Sorry no pictures, that was one of many boats I have owned. I love to tinker and have a lots of ideas most cost me alot of money.Usually they arent worth all the work and money.

It's amazing how heavy the rear seat is. Removing it and just running the race hatch must make quite a difference.

the race hatch is better than half the weight I think, it sure felt lite . You could bust a nut folding the rear seat up LOL.

I'm sure you're right about this, but I'm not sure how many people would want to remove the rear seat (which would drastically limit pleasure usage). Maybe installing two light weight racing seats in the back might be a better option?

I did just that, a while back, the outboard 28 likes less weight in the back and its a lot more fun with 4 peeps. The 5th person makes the boat a little sluggish feeling.

I'll bet all four seats don't weigh what the back seat alone weighed.

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^ Looks great too. I'm sure you must have shaved a lot of weight, all those Skater seats are heavy. Did you use solid seats or did you go with suspension seats? The front factory seats have a decent amount of "give" to them. How are those seats (on your spine) in the rough?

Damn you

I want to do that now!!

When does it ever stop?

Do those seats come in any other colors?

These are lighter, BUT if you are going to be running in choppy water (LOTO, Miami/ocean) i wouldn't do that. They do not have no where near the same support/ padding as the factory Skater seats. If you really want to cut weight on the back seat, you can re-do them in Carbon Fiber and still have all the padding.

Calm down BAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Any body weigh the back seat? I bet it is 100#. Wonder how much lighter it could be made if using carbon fiber? I like that idea!

It really does take "all that you got" to rotate that thing forward, at least on the pre 1997 boats without the rear 2 foot hatch.

They actually support you pretty well, the key deal is decent lumbar support, there is webbing in the bottom that has a little give.
If you are in the rough, the back seats beat you ... this usually indicates a bad driver, I've rode in the back of mine and I didn't like it.
When I'm running hard and it's rough, it's a 2) person boat. ;-)

It's not the frame or shell that is so heavy. It's the foam.

Okay, so the fronts are what I believe they call suspension seats. They make a world of difference compared to typical hard shell racing seats with no padding underneath.

Yes, mine are tube framed suspension seats.

http://www.sparcousa.com/catalog/vehicle/seats

The good news ......................... it never stops. ;-)

I'm not sure where to ask this, but this is probably as good a place as any - would a 28 handle twin 400R's ???

MDS

There are 28s with triples out there so I would guess it was doable.

Can anybody comment on how the handling changed on the 28's when people switched from 260/280's to the 300's? Was there a big difference in handling? Pro's and con's of each set up?

MDS

I think the 400r would ruin the handling of the 28'. The boat is not big enough in the transom. If there was a 28 that could have the best chance was my old boat. It had plenty of weight in the front to offset the weight of them
I would use the 300x if you want to go faster.

Already have a pair - lol - and finally gonna pick it up next weekend !!!