Can anyone explain the concept of a ride plate, is it suposed to lift the rear of the boat or lift the front or the whole boat or what???
Lowering the ride plate will lower the bow making the boat have more wetted area (slows you down). Raising it will raise the bow giving you less wetted area (more speed).
I was told the ideal place for the boat to break water is about 18 to 24 inches in front of the intake.
Waht kind of boat do you have...the cocept is differnt on tunnelthan on V bottoms etc.... Let me know what kind of boat you have....I have an Eliminator daytona and I just lowered the plate pushing the rear up and using more the tunnel. It pick the boat up alot in speed. Every Boat is different!
Never Enough PGJ... thanks, I have a 21 daytona, If you want to take a look click on the link below. I also have some pics of the ride plate setup, if you want to see them let me know.
http://www.geocities.com/hot_rod2060...boat_Page.html
http://www.bearshobbies.com/hotrods_signature.gif
[This message has been edited by hot_rod (edited September 22, 2001).]
the concept is the same no matter what boat you have, although the results may vary.
Lower the plate and the bow goes down, transom goes up. Raise the plate and the transom goes down and the bow goes up.
Sounds like it kinda works like trim tabs, is that correct??
exactly
The basic concept of the rideplate is the same for both tunnel and V-bottom boats. i.e. make the hull act like it is longer, and with the boat planing further back, you have less wetted surface dragging in the water. Benefits are better ride and more speed. By adjusting the rideplate up or down you are more concerned with keeping the pump intake in the water to prevent cavitation while at the same time a side benefit is keeping the boat on a hoizontal attitude. Keep in mind that if you make your rideplate too long you will be giving up a whole lot of control in your steering and the boat can get real "loose".( which can get really scarey-like my X-wife in the middle of the night with a look of lust in her eyes).
With not enough rideplate, you're not getting anymore than you are with the basic hull, i.e. more hull in the water.
By adjusting the rideplate, you're really not adjusting the transom up or down (even though it feels that way), but adjusting the pivot point fore or aft. If your boat is equipted with a Place Diverter, that will force the transom up or down with the pressure of the water.
Trim tabs are used to adjust bow up or down and you do see them on jetboats now and then.
Any more input??
This is pretty brute force logic, but the way it was explained to me, and happened to work best on my boat (19 Daytona)(Verified by major trial and error with GPS and notes) is to take a picture of your boat running at top speed. Then, note on the picture where it is wet, both under the boat, and up the transom. Then, stretch a piece of tape between those two points. This is your visually wetted area for lack of better words. Then, stretch another piece of tape to where you wish it rode vs. where it currently rides. Use your trailer jack to then make this line level with the ground. (Check with level or measure front and back until they are the same height). Then, adjust your ride plate until it too is level with this line. I guess 9 times out of ten this puts you in the ballpark, and only minor adjustment needs to be made to fine tune the plate.
Worked for me. BTW Riodog's assessment was dead on. Mike, just out of curiosity, could you see if this theory is close on your boat, as I know it is set up right, and runs big numbers.
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