2005 Dominator SS
 

Good evening:

I just bought an 05 Dominator SS and have a couple of questions

1. Boat came with no ladder and I called Sunsation and Joe was not available. The lady I spoke with said this hull was not designed to have one installed. Not too happy about that response. What are you guys doing?

2. The boat has the 496 Mag's 375hp and at about 70 the boat is chime walking really bad. Where do you guys run the trim and tabs when running wide open?

3. This isn't a question just an issue. Taking the boat out of the water for the first time I didn't have the drives straight while trimming it up and the port drive caught the tab and broke a piece off of the upper case. About a 1 inch by 3 inch piece. My mechanic has pulled the drive and is having the piece welded back on. He also pulled my tabs and had them machined down so this will never happen again. He ended up machine about 1 inch by 3 inch section off of both of the tabs in a tapered angle. Now there is about a 1/2 inch clearance. Anyone ever had this issue?

Thanks new Sunny owner
Greg

I'm not a 32 owner but,

1. Have your drives straight before you put them in the "up or trailer position" That is your fault.

2. Sometimes owners are not always at the factory.

3. I have never ran a 32 so I hope the 32 guys will help you with trim and tab positions.

4. Welcome to OSO!!

I totally agree it was my fault I was just wondering if anyone had ever had the same thing happen with reference to the drives. It's my first boat with twins and hydrolic steering. The young lady I talked to at the factory was very nice and explained that the guys were preparing for LOTO and wouldn't be available but she asked me to call back.

What boat is it? Twin step? Couple ticks above level on the trim. Shouldn't chime walk.

The boat is a 2005 32 Dominator SS with a windshield. Has the vent but no true step.

Never seen a Sunsation without a ladder so that's odd. If that's the case, it's perfectly easy to grab the handle while stepping on the steering tie rod and pop yourself up on to the boat.

Mine is a straight V but I've driven an 06 SS and it was smooth to 70 and past it. The owner said he rarely messes with the tabs and keeps it neutral. I'm sure someone with more experience than my one time will chime in though.

Edit: Ohhh that sounds just like my boat hull then. I can't imagine how you are getting any chine walk. Usually when I'm pushing it I find I need a couple ticks of tab to keep the bow from bouncing and haven't experienced any chine walk.

I guess moral of the story...none to little tab should be fine.

I just talked to my mechanic and he said my tab indicators were not registering correctly, he has fixed the issue. This most likely was the issue with the chine walk. Where would you consider neutral?

You absolutely can add a ladder to that boat. Joe can set you up with everything you need including detailed instructions. Many have added the ladder on after the fact if one was not installed at the factory.

If the boat is chine walking badly at WOT you are over-trimming the boat.

On his boat neutral is just a tick down from all the way up. I believe the method to make sure is to use a straight edge on the tabs versus the hull. If it's flat you are neutral.

On my boat with the same hull, I find it is best mannered like this: All the way up when you are running on glass. If there's some chop, a couple ticks down on the trim keeps you from bouncing and still keeps her pretty fast.

So its not an SS. Put a 2x4 on the hull and mark on your indicators where neutral is. Trim it like any other V hull. Shouldn't need much if any tab.

Thats not an ss then

This hull likes to ride level. I have a ton of seat time on mine in various sea conditions. Trim is not your friend! !! Trust me!!!! Get the nose down and it rides so much better through rough water. If trimmed correctly tab input is not really needed. I use my tabs to keep the boat level and in big water. As far as adding a ladder it c an be done easily. If u have any other questions pm me your number and I will give you a buzz so we can chat live

Really?
you should not trim up while your tabs are down???that does not sound right..

It's called bad placement Tom. I have seen it happen on a couple. Also have seen the K planes notched so it doesn't happen.

On the chine walk issue: are your props three or four blade? If you are running three blade props then this could cause chine walk up near top speed, four blade props feel much more planted at the same speeds. I would think you could run 26 or even 28 pitch bravos with that setup

Depends on the tabs and the drives as far as interference.

If they are 380 tabs, yes, they can hit a lot of drives. Many boats with 380 tabs have them notched.
280 tabs are less of an issue and I think every set I have seen has a factory taper on the inside edge.

Stand-off boxes/ITS changes things as well.

And last, do NOT rely on "dry clearance" as in when you are checking things out on the trailer. With the force applied to drives and tabs while at speed on the water and especially when turning, they will "flex" past where they normally reach with static measuring/checking on the trailer.

I don't think the OP was talking about the drives hitting the K-planes in the water. I think he had the drives to the right or left and then he put them in the full up or trailer position when he put it back on the trailer. I think that is how they hit??

Sunrocket is right. I had the drive hard over to port while trimming up on the trailer with the tabs full up...wham loud ass noise. Thought to myself....that's not going to be good. I am running 28 4 blades.

heres what i did on the ol' a/t.

ran both drives up till i had 21" center to center on the ram bolts. I was told you dont want to run high speeds with the drives over that angle. i then makred my indicators with sharpie dots.

ran both tabs till they were flat with the hull according to a straight edge. marked the indicators again with said sharpie.


now you have a good basis for trial and error and figuring out how your boat likes to run.

nothing you read on oso can beat time on the sticks.

I understand,,,,but they should not hit if the tabs are placed correctly...

boatnt is correct....that's what my mechanic told me also. They shouldn't ever hit regardless of position of the tabs or drives. The boat has 175 hours on it and doesn't look like it has ever happened before. My mechanic has a 312 Fastec and his hull is about 6 inch wider than my sunny. He has the same drives and tabs on his boat and has about 3 inches of clearance regardless of the position.

Greg,

I have a lot of experience with Sunsations and I have put ladders on aftermarket (even on the boats that weren't prepped for it from the factory) Being it is an 2005 my guess is that it was set up for it. Like the guys have mentioned here if the boat isn't a fully stepped hull and just the "Vortex" step then it is not an SS. 2005 was the first model year for the SS although in 2005 Sunny built both hulls. Once you do install a ladder make sure you always put it up when you are done because there isn't any clearance between the drives and as soon as you turn you will be replacing the ladder.

Post some pictures of your boat we'd all like to see them. I'm curious as to which boat you have.

Yup, Wayne can't mount a K plane to save his a$$. Run away from Sunny!!! Head straight to PQ or AT or PP!! :lolhit:

The third one is way too exclusive for the average folk. :grinser010::evilb::lolhit:


They can't be mounted any further out because of the molded platform. Bad placement was a lil harsh so I guess I could've worded it differently. I will send Wayne a pic so he knows where they should be mounted. :drink::drink::drink:

Alright, not true, but still very funny. :D

Did you just pick this 32 up out of MI?

Well even if the tab position is not optimal I will still be looking at 32 sunny's if I can't find a nice AT or PP when I am ready to move up. ;)

why not notch the tab at the factory like this guys mechanic did?,,,,I have done it in the past and so have other boat builders,,,
not trying to take anything away from Joe or the sunny group,,,just saying

That or a pic of a bandsaw. :stooges:

I will post pictures of the boat, damage to the drive and the after on the tabs tonight when I get home from work. My mechanic took them to a machine shop and had them cut down then re-powder coated the tabs. It looks factory fresh.

PowerplayJ

I know the boat you are talking about with the windshield and purples lightning graphics. The one I bought was purchased from a repo auction in Greenville South Carolina. I did some research and it was a one owner boat out of Georgia. I am in sub-prime lending and have some awesome skip-tracing software. The guy who it was repo'd from out of Georgia never would return my calls. My mechanic went through the boat for me. There are some cosmetic issue's but mechanically very sound. Little things like a broken speaker grill, missing a couple cup holders, stereo is pieced together, but overall a great deal. The boat was only about an hour from my house. Living in South Carolina most Sunny's are in the north. I had a horrible experience flying to a very well known boat dealer in the northern part of the country, so the boat being so close I had to jump on it.

Looks like Reggie needs to notch his swim ladders! I can hear Chevy as I'm backing down the ladder. "Using the whole fist, Doc?" :cartman:

Cool! Hope ya got a good deal. Not many windshield boats out there. Give Joe a ring at the factory and give him your HIN, get info and on the mailer. They are good folks to deal with.

http://www.ggschmitt.com/

Look at the third ladder down. this is what came from the factory on my SSR.

I hear you on that but who puts their drives in trailer position when they are hard port or starboard? I have a single but make sure my drive is center before I put it in the trailer position.

Tom puts his boat in trailer mode to get that little extra trim he needs to reach top speed!!

Hey we ALL know Reggie does not know anything about boats,,,,I mean look at the guys failed attempts at all the speed records.lol

by the way what do you think Chevy is saying while he is backing down the ladder of a F4? using both fist Doc?lol

if you look closely you can see the tabs notched on the F4,,,so why not on the 32??

Thanks AJ,,,you and the sunny guys still go out for drinks??

yep same as mine...everthing else on our boats seem to be just about the same too:cartman::lolhit:

Trailer mode? Mine are centered and all the way down when I pull out of the water. :drink: