2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

[sweetmarie]

From what I've read, Stingray boats are famous for porpoising. Was wondering what the average Joe has done to rectify/remedy somewhat this problem (trim tabs vs fin). Besides putting 2 people in the bow all the time, lol. At least if they paid for some of the fuel......
Thanks in advance.

 

[mpdive]

Re: 2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

From what I've read, Stingray boats are famous for porpoising. Was wondering what the average Joe has done to rectify/remedy somewhat this problem (trim tabs vs fin). Besides putting 2 people in the bow all the time, lol. At least if they paid for some of the fuel......
Thanks in advance.

I have the same boat. Mine is an 03. Same problem with mine if I try to trim it out. I have learned to run with it trimmed full in if there is any kind of chop. If the water is like glass I can get away with trimming it up a bit. I'm not a speed demon so it's not a big problem for me. If I planned on keeping mine for a few more years I would invest in trim tabs and may do it anyhow. Eventually I want a bigger Stingray.

 

[sweetmarie]

Re: 2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

Thanks mpdive for your input. I should have specified that I didn't want to start another thread on porpoising, just wanted those with the Stingray boats to share some knowledge. So trim tabs are what most people suggested to you? Do you know of anyone with a similar size Stingray that has them, and are they efficient?

 

[mpdive]

Re: 2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

Can't really say and I am no expert. I have a hydrofoil and took it off. Many comments were made that they mask other problems. In our case though, I feel that it is just the design of the Z hull and is characteristic of the boat. For that reason either would probably help somewhat, but I would lean towards the tabs because the design principle makes more sense. That's just my take on it and again I'm no expert on tabs. Damn I wish those Stingrays didn't go so fast and pass all those other boats! LoL

 

[oops!]

Re: 2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

get a set of trim tabs......one of the best investments for a bot you can get

 

[pwpns]

Re: 2004 Stingray LX 185 porpoising

I have a 99 192RX cuddy cabin with a 4.3L in it. When the lake is choppy mine will porpose. I just run the trim in until it stops. I also added a set of Nauticus smart tabs to mine, dont know if it helps with the porposing but it sure made the boat plane alot faster and stays on plane easier at lower speeds. Another nice feature of the smart tabs is no more low speed wander in the no wake zones. I had a hydrofoil on mine before the tabs but the tabs are 100% improvement over the foil.