Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

dhof55 · Feb 14, 2011

I have a 2004 Stingray 190LS. I love this boat except for the porposing. I've read that Smart Tabs will cure this. My question is this...with properly installed and adjusted smart tabs on the boat, will it always run bow down? Or will I still be able to trim my outdrive up and raise the bow while running. The only way to run the boat now is with the trim all the way down. I have a 4 blade SS prop on now. It helps a bit but the minute I get into higher speeds the thing starts to bounce...even in super flat water.
Thanks for the help.
Soggy in Seattle.

superpop · Feb 14, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

Soggy, I had the same problems on my boat. put Smart Tabs on and it is awesome, night and day difference. I would go with the 60ls actuators rather than the 80s. My porpoising is gone and boat is much more stable. Only downside is that there is a slight spray out the back from the tabs. I am going to sand the fins off mine this year and hopefully that will go away. I can still raise my bow up high with trim but the trim is much more useful now.

dhof55 · Feb 14, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

Thanks SuperPop...what I wanted to hear.

dellsboater · Feb 15, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

Why do you suggest the 60lbs over the 80lbs? I have a 21 foot 3000lb Four Winn's, looking at putting on smart tabs just curious. Also do you have the SX Composite tabs? I heard they had problems with them falling off, but like the price of them much better.
Thanks

nlain · Feb 15, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I have Smart Tabs, SS version, on my boat, they are great, you can trim up and down to raise and lower the bow. In answer to the why 60 lb and not 80 lb question, my boat with the 80 lb actuators I could not get the bow up. It has to do with the weight of the boat and the engine, your boat with the V8 may take the 80 lb actuators, more weight in the stern. The composite tabs have had many improvements since they came out, there were some problems early on but Nauticus looked at the failures and made the necessary improvements. I will advise anyone that is wanting to get a set to call Nauticus and talk to them, tell them what boat/engine/drive system you have and your use, they will put you on what you need for your situation. They are good people and they stand behind their product.

BRG25 · Feb 15, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I also have a 19' Stingray that used to porpose badly. Installing smart tabs was the best thing I ever did. Highly recomended.

Shabah 182 · Feb 15, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I have an 18 foot Mariah that is probably about he same weight as your Stingray. I installed the 60lb plastic Smart Tabs and also love them. Porpoising is totally gone along with most of the low speed wander. The tabs have 5 different setting holes which seem to control the actuator strength. The hole closest to the boat is the strongest setting and the one farthest from the boat is the weakest. I prefer the middle setting which allows me to trim bow high if I run into rougher water, but she still jumps on plane with very little bow rise and no porpoising. I have tried the stronger settings and felt the bow trim was less effective. I use those only for watersports. Get em...you will not regret it!

JimS123 · Feb 15, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I put a DoelFin on my 19' Stingray and it solved the porposing too. The only problem was that it only cost a fraction of the price and I didn't even have to drill one single hole in the boat. I can trim out full as well.

tschmidty · Feb 16, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

The whale tail is about half the price and is easier to install, but it doesn't help as much with the porposing and bow rise, and doesn't do anything about the low speed wander which I found exceedingly annoying. Some people say the whale tail can make a boat less stable when turning (which I only recall seeing on a 28' or so cabin cruiser which isn't the right place for a whale tail anyway) and some people will say they put more stress on the transom and outdrive, but I don't agree on that one. It is a tiny bit of the force than the stress the prop itself puts on those bits and it seems to be the tail actually works against the prop force to actually lower the stress on the transom.

dellsboater · Feb 16, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

How close or far from the outdrive should they be mounted?

nlain · Feb 16, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

You want them mounted as far outboard as possible, due to the configuration on the transom of some boats they have to be mounted a little more inboard. They will work well either way, just a little better when outboard. If you go to Nauticus website they have pictures of different configurations and how the tabs are mounted to each.

This link should take you straight to the install section which has instructions and the pictures.

http://www.nauticusinc.com/installation.htm

makinc80 · Jun 9, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

i just installed the smart tabs sx (composite) on my 96 556zp-18ft. had a hydrofoil on it prior and always had the porpoising problem. no more problem with the trim tabs. boat handles great. mine are mounted as far outboard as possible (9" from corners of transom i think) the angle has to be straight for the composite tabs and no problems yet. i only have logged about 5hrs since i put it in 3 days ago though. i totally recommend them! happy boating!

viperbluelx · Jul 1, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I just installed the Smart Tabs SX on my Stingray 185LX. It jumps up on plane quicker for sure, but the bow still bounces pretty good with it trimmed up even a little. I set them on the middle setting, should I set them on #5 to see if that works better?

krazykatz911 · Jul 9, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

I have a 2005 Stingray 195LS and installed the Smart tabs. They make a huge difference on straight runs, and work nice.

But, I am hoping others that have installed them can let me know if you experience this:

When going slow, boat tends to wander from the rear, I have to keep steering left and right to keep going straight. Its like the tabs disrupt the steering, and I have them on the lowest setting!
Making sharp high speed turns = Cavitation really bad, where the RPMS go really high and no Thrust at all, I have to drop throttle back all the way and straighten out to regain thrust

Any Ideas?

blifsey · Jul 9, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

Lots of I/O's wander when idling. Did it wander any at all before installing?

On high speed turns, are you trimming down drive before turning? Would it be possible the tabs allow you to trim higher than before and now it is to high for turns?

krazykatz911 · Jul 9, 2011

Re: Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

blifsey said:
Lots of I/O's wander when idling. Did it wander any at all before installing?

On high speed turns, are you trimming down drive before turning? Would it be possible the tabs allow you to trim higher than before and now it is to high for turns?

hmmmm, It may of wandered, I can't remember if it did before I installed them...

I believe I do have the motor trimmed up when it happens, should I keep the motor trimmed down on high speed turns?

Smart Tabs on 19' Stingray

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