Proboat miss geico sponson seam are spliting open

[JIM MARCUM]

Just got back from the Legg Lake, CA SAWs running my MISS GEICO with a Leopard 4074 2200 KkV 4S20 config. It was on it's maiden run when on the return pass it hit a turtle 35" short of the SAW finish line, went airborne & crashed 10" from the finish lights . Impact ripped the rudder mounts off the sponson & the crash at 52+ (we'll never really know) impact split a 6" long section out of the Port sponson. See attached pics. I should have reinforced the starboard transon. But, they REALLY NEED to add more fiberglass on the hulls at the joint seams because a lot of guys have had their Miss GEICOs split open after minor impact crashes. ARE YOU LISTENING PRO BOAT!!! JIM

[stadiumyamaha]

I've had two split and have seen several others do the same on the seem. Best thing to do is fix it and reinforce the seem as far up to the front as possible.

[stadiumyamaha]

Can't really blame proboat. They where designed to be 40 mph boat. Al my damage has been done over the 50 mark.

[JIM MARCUM]

Yes, you can add a 1" strip of fiberglass tape & glass it to the inside of both sponsons. BUT - ProBoat needs to fix the hull BEFORE they sell the boat in the first place. A "ready to run" boat shouldn't require additional fiberglass work. If they don't - then don't buy their boats. LISTEN UP PROBOAT!!! JIM

[JIM MARCUM]

stadiumyamaha, the hull was designed by Darin Jordan for ProBoat and is an excellent hull. It looks & runs great. It's not the design it's the poor production that needs to be fixed. Even stock RTR MISS GEICOs are splitting at the seams. With a couple of additional layers of fiberglass in the sponsons this would be a great boat. Cuz most hulls are made in China these days, ProBoat should have that 10 year old kid building them add the extra glass for a couple of bucks. JIM

[Diegoboy]

Thread moved

[Rumdog]

Not stock. There's no gripe. Can't blame them when you're running a SAW setup. It's like putting a v8 in a Prius then comPlaining about Toyotas QC when you start breaking stuff.

[JIM MARCUM]

Thats funny. My Prius does great with my GM 327 in it!!! JIM

[Diesel6401]

Not stock. There's no gripe. Can't blame them when you're running a SAW setup. It's like putting a v8 in a Prius then comPlaining about Toyotas QC when you start breaking stuff.

+1 on that. Running out of stock form is a users risk!

[JackBlack26]

I hear you! I blew a rod out the valve cover of my stock Honda civic after installing a GT35 turbo running 20 pounds of boost. Honda sucks!!

[Diegoboy]

You modded it, You voided any warranty claim. sorry
If you're going to mod the thing, Do it right and mod the hull seams and transom. You thought out your power plant, but overlooked everything else.

[CHIEFY_44]

Well I have had a few fast flip overs with my MG well into the 50's last one would have been very close to 60 never had a problem except for ripping the battery trays out, but there again I have put exanding foam in the front of the sponsons which helps with the seams splitting, I was at the same meeting and talked extensively with darin and told him what I had done and he told me that the foam thing is a must as it stops the top deck from flexing in a crash, and its the top deck flexing when it hits the water that's causing the seams to split.
Jim I did tell you down at joe's that there is a lot of preping to the done to the MG if you are going to run it modified, this boat is designed to run around 40 and sticking a big motor and prop to match is looking for trouble, YOU have to do the prep work and then you can still have problems like you had, hitting a turtle is like hitting a brick wall, and really in the end they are toys that we push to there limits and beyond!!!. Yours was not the only cat to split open at that meeting and that one had had been prepped corectly but it flipped doing nearly 80mph, these are the reason's I don't do saws it to dame expensive if something goes wrong

[Darin Jordan]

As I showed in my race-prep thread... it's a good idea to foam along the seams of this boat to keep it from flexing on impact, and popping the seams. Even the Delta Force hulls need this reinforcement. Sorry guys... it's just the realities of cheap RTR fiberglass. Not a lot I can do about it... I don't have that much influence over the manufacturing or materials used, though I've tried to. A little prep work up-front will prevent this type of thing from happening, which is why I always try to do a prep thread for you guys...

[Pyrex98]

Thanks darin. Can you provide a link for the race prep?

[Darin Jordan]

Thanks darin. Can you provide a link for the race prep?

I can't seem to find it. I can't recall if I dedicated a thread to this, or if I responded to it in another post, but I thought I showed the process of foaming in the sponsons... Either way, if you do about a 30oz pour of 2-part 2lb foam down the seam on each side, pouring it in just in front of the trays and rolling it forward to the tips, then leaving the boat on it's side while the foam expands, then repeat on the other side, you'll about have it. With the foam contacting the sides, bottom and just under the deck, the front of this boat becomes much more solid. I made a final pour of about 20oz up under the deck with the boat upside down to firm up this area. Keeping the deck from compressing in takes the pressure off the seems in a crash. So far, my MG and my Mystic are both holding up find to some pretty wicked crashes...

Did the same treatment to my P-Mono equipped Impulse 31...