Ranger Z520R Chine Walk

[CaymasRodney]

Chec out this jam nut make sure it’s tight, this would cause loss steering if it’s not tight! 11F2601A-33D7-4EFF-91A8-0CBE8746492C.jpeg

[z520brewer]

Hard to tell what you are pointing at?

[CaymasRodney]

Hard to tell what you are pointing at?

There is a jam nut just to the left of that grease alimite, it has an Allen wrench jam screw to tighten when you get the nut up tight to take the play out of the steering, this play can make chine walk worst. Its located on the starboard side of your engine in your steering system.

[CaymasRodney]

I have been all over the trim and jack plate. Would start raising the jp a bump at a time then trim up and down. I have not found a combination that works. When the fuel is down about 20 gal it runs great. I mean hands off. You fill it with fuel and its back. I have 39 hours on it. I have quite a bit of experience in a bass boat. Not saying I am the best by no means but I should have been able to find the sweet spot by now. I have tried a bravo 24p too but didn't make much difference.

If you are ever going to be up at Paris Landing i would be happy to meet you there some calm day to see what i can do. I am 100% sure i can help you out on this, fooled with boat set up all my life.

[schinkr1]

My last two C boats walked once you got over 70 mph. Weight distribution can be a factor i.e. try to balance your boat out with where you store things so it's not too heavy on one side or the other. Maybe this came into play when you added your rep as he balanced out the boat? Motor height as well, but since you had the rep in the boat, I assume that was checked. I'm only pointing that out because I went from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke and tried to run the 4S at the higher height and the walk was totally unmanageable. This might go without saying, but I feel like every boat is different and it may just be a matter of figuring out the unique settings of balance, motor height and trim to get it to run straight. At least that was my experience with my current boat. I honestly thought it was defective the first few times I took it out, but I have it figured out and dialed in now and it's very stable at higher speeds.

[Marky1]

I there really a need to go 65 MPH ?

[Ranger482V]

I there really a need to go 65 MPH ?

YES

[dean c]

I there really a need to go 65 MPH ?

Irrelevant comments don’t help the OP.

[CaymasRodney]

Irrelevant comments don’t help the OP.

[Finlander]

What is your trim a angle?

[TXDonkeyHunter]

Mine walks at 69. It’s not too bad. It’s not like trying to drive a Bass Cat or Phoenix.

[ksubasser24]

One thought as you said the rep is coming back out for a ride is have the rep take a run in it without you in the boat. Having the passenger may be helping to balance something that is causing it. I say this assuming that when you couldn't get it to walk with the rep and then it came back that you were solo when it came back.

[ksubasser24]

One thought as you said the rep is coming back out for a ride is have the rep take a run in it without you in the boat. Having the passenger may be helping to balance something that is causing it. I say this assuming that when you couldn't get it to walk with the rep and then it came back that you were solo when it came back.

Thought of this after I posted above. When I first got my 2015 z119c that boat was undriveable above 68 mph as the walk was really bad. After alot of trying different balancing, props, JP Settings (manual plate) ect I was about to sell it. One random day while cleaning it up in the garage I noticed something that painted the picture to why it was walking so bad. The motor was mounted just ever so slightly a little crooked. I had 1/2 a mounting hole showing on the port side above the top edge of the JP and about 2/3 of a mounting hole showing on the starboard side.

I immediately lowered my motor all the way down and had a straight 1/4" dowel in the garage. I tapped it to the bottom of the pad and measured from center of the LU nose cone to the dowl. It was about a 3 1/2" difference. I took to dealer and showed them this and had a new JP on the boat in a week. Never had a issue after that and something that I would have never caught. I just happened to be trying to get some hardwater build up off the mounting bracket and noticed it.

[BassinLA13]

my '22 520R with just the manual Slidemaster JP seems to perform differently based on passengers / fuel on board. Two guys + 1/2 tank = 69/71 ... just me + 3/4+ tank begins to walk @ 66/67. Trim @ 20-22 is the 'sweet' spot. My uneducated guess, this is only my 2nd Ranger, is it may have something to do with the deeper hull and more weight up front ... heavier bow struggling to lift ? Bottom line: this R boat is definitely looser @ 65+ vs. my 2011 Z519, w/ manual JP as well, which did 72 with one hand of the wheel.

[Staveman]

my '22 520R with just the manual Slidemaster JP seems to perform differently based on passengers / fuel on board. Two guys + 1/2 tank = 69/71 ... just me + 3/4+ tank begins to walk @ 66/67. Trim @ 20-22 is the 'sweet' spot. My uneducated guess, this is only my 2nd Ranger, is it may have something to do with the deeper hull and more weight up front ... heavier bow struggling to lift ? Bottom line: this R boat is definitely looser @ 65+ vs. my 2011 Z519, w/ manual JP as well, which did 72 with one hand of the wheel.

The day the Ranger rep was with me he trimmed the boat for the best performance the jack plate going by the manual gauge was at 3.25" and he had the trim at 36. Like I said in the beginning I was low of fuel. We could not make it walk. After he got out of the boat I went back out to run it. The boat was perfect. It ran up to 73, 74. I had never trimmed it that high. I had raised the jackplate that high even higher. Now when I filled it with fuel ran the next time out with the same settings it was back. I tried to adjust the trim and JP from the rep's settings for the extra weight with no luck. I have balanced the boat several different ways and even taken all my gear out, No change there either. CaymasRodney Mentioned meeting me at Paris. If the rep doesn't call me back soon I will sure take you up on that. Especially if you would bring your Caymas. If I cant figure it out I will be looking at one of them Caymas.

[Staveman]

If you are ever going to be up at Paris Landing i would be happy to meet you there some calm day to see what i can do. I am 100% sure i can help you out on this, fooled with boat set up all my life.

May take you up on that if the rep doesn't come soon. Thank you!

[crank68]

Save yourself along of time and try to find someone near you that really understands boat set ups and can drive a pad boat. Most guys that owns high performance style hulls could help.

I will insert this again …. Someone with more experience can help you

[Cmart334]

This is my first ranger with 18 hours on it but I don’t think I could make mine chine walk if I tried. That being said I think there is just something about yours that needs to be corrected. I don’t know what to tell you to do except don’t give up , this hull is way too nice to be unhappy with it Good luck

[DoctorJJ]

With every Ranger I’ve had, the only way I could make it walk significantly was if I had the jackplate too low. Too much prop in the water tends to left the stern too much and get too much of the boat out of the water and it can walk. There is obviously a balance of all these things. You want more boat out of the water to go faster, but you don’t want to waste HP just lifting the bow by trimming too much and you don’t want too much motor in the water, slowing you down and trying to lift the stern too much and making you unstable.

[Marky1]

Sorry about the "irrelevant comment "