Disappointed with DBot5; looking for rack alternatives

[Tyger]

I bought a DBot5 Robot Axl wakesurf rack. My intention was to store one wakesurf board and one knee board in this dual slot rack (the only dual slot wakesurf rack I know of). Due to my own lack of research I found out after I bought it that it is woefully narrow for my kneeboard. :(

However, after I received my wakesurf board, I decided to leave it on simply to clear up some space in the boat. I was incredibly disappointed in the design and quality of the rack. I've heard some good things about DBot5 products here and there, but I would not pay any amount for this rack, let alone the good money you pay for any tower rack. The placement of the bungee cord encourages the board to flop up and down in chop and when moving over 10 MPH. This is a problem in and of itself, but the 'quick-release' mechanism isn't able to stay tight, so the whole rack flops up and down with just one wakesurf board in it. I've tightened the quick release pin so tight that I can barely flip it closed and it still moves up and down when the boat is going. Also, the included shims for mounting on various tower sizes are metal, which means I've got a metal-metal connection to my tower; hopefully it hasn't dug into the tower metal or I will be buffing for hours.

So here are my questions for my fellow Moomba owners:

I have two "Nice Rack" wakeboard racks on my '05 Mobius LSV mounted to the horizontal bars. Are these 'factory' racks or were they added by the dealer or the former owner?

Can anyone recommend a single slot rack that holds a 2 1/2"+ kneeboard?

Nice Racks makes a single slot wakesurf or kneeboard rack, but according to the company it's just under 2 3/8 so I'm not sure it will hold my kneeboard. Also, I don't think it's available with the same clamps for horizontal mounting that are on my boat now and I'm scared to go with another round clamp.

Thanks for any input!

[RPE_LSV]

There are a few sites online you could check out.

http://www.wakeside.com is one of my favs.

DIY Wake is also a good place. I'm thinking about buying another pair of wakeboard racks from these guys. They're not fancy fancy, but they do a good job.

http://www.diywake.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=73&cat=Board+Racks

Hope this helps. I'm sure others will pipe in as well.

[cab13367]

Tyger,

Monster.com makes a single slot wakesurf rack. I had their tower and wakeboard rack on a previous boat and they are well designed and well executed.

Al

[tlatoani]

Damn, I just installed the dbot5 rack. Haven't even been on the water yet. I hope it doesn't suck. It wasnt cheap.

[gsi09907]

to each there own, I have a Dbot5 for wakesurf and hold 2 wakeboards love it it is awesome and gets three things up and out of the way

[VBBoats]

I am a dealer for their racks. No problems here. Actually, love the universal mount. The real problem is that you kneeboard.

Dennis:confused::confused:

[04OUTBACK]

I have a Dbot5 Robot AXL on my mobius and it is fine, except I broke it this weekend. I can say that I emailed them last night at 9:30 and got a response at 11:30 with 3 phone numbers to call and he answered when I called. He emailed my 3 times this afternoon with a solution to repair MY screw up. GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'd do business with them again. So Far, I have only put 1 board in the rack, but it works great....

If you have some problems, call them and let them help fix... great folks.

BW

[Razzman]

I just ordered two new board racks yesterday for my '07 LSV. I cannot stand the factory racks for one, I also have to remove my racks to store the boat. After much research i found the Airboom Quick Disconnect racks. Not only are they well made, they disconnect in two seconds, they have a clamp that works on the Moomba crossbrace and they are made in the USA all for $219 each!.

Airboom has a good rep and makes quality gear. I purchased these through Ian at http://www.onlyinboards.com. Some of you may know Ian, he's a standup guy and offers good prices on gear. Check out his racks page and see if anything fits the bill for your surfracks. I should get them today or Monday but here's a pic to hold you over.

[cab13367]

Hey Razzman,

Those racks look pretty good. Did you also consider monstertower.com's racks? They have a quick realease "skewer" like you see on bikes (on the seat post for example). I had a set on my previous boat and loved them. Plus, the new design allows you to adjust the width of the forks which comes in handy if you have a kid's board (with narrow binding placement).

I'd be interested in possibly buying your stock racks if you are getting rid of them. Please PM me a price if they are/will be for sale.

Thanks,

Al

[Razzman]

Hey Cab i considered evryone's racks! What a pain because nobody makes a clamp for the ellipse crossbar on the Moomba tower but Airboom! Skylon did make one and their racks are quick release as well but they quite making the clamps! I was going to buy racks for the 2 3/8" tower and bolt them to the rear leags but the boards would have totally blocks the sides and prevented easy entry/exit of the boat at the dock. Let me think about the stock racks here and i'll let you know soon.

[RPE_LSV]

does anyone have more than one rack on each side? this past weekend we ran out of board space on our boat and i'd like to buy another set of stock racks...

i've seen people use the very top of the tower cross bars, but i don't have that as an option cause of our bimini. so i'd have to use the two cross bars on the side of the tower. i'm just not sure if there is enough room for the boards. sorry for the hijack.

[Razzman]

does anyone have more than one rack on each side? this past weekend we ran out of board space on our boat and i'd like to buy another set of stock racks...

i've seen people use the very top of the tower cross bars, but i don't have that as an option cause of our bimini. so i'd have to use the two cross bars on the side of the tower. i'm just not sure if there is enough room for the boards. sorry for the hijack.

I may have a set for sale. Another member asked first for them but if he doesn't take them i'll let you know.

[RPE_LSV]

Razz, thanks. I saw the previous post from Cab, but I don't want him (a fellow Oregonian) to think I was stepping on his request. :)

My main question incase I confused people was...does anyone have 4 board racks on their boat? If so, how are they mounted?

[Razzman]

CAB you have a PM in your inbox.

[04OUTBACK]

I have the Dbot5 Robot Axl Surf rack as one extra...not the best for wakeboards, BUT, it IS a surf rack. I bent mine due to OPERATOR error and got great customer service from them.

I have a friend with an X-30 and he has 2 these racks: http://shop.monstertower.com/p-27-monster-wakeboard-rack.aspx and they work great. He has them mounted on the front legs of the tower. They are adjustable width and have quick releases that work great..
I would consider the Monster and the Dbot5 if I add another. Usually we each carry a reg board and a roam and any riding partner brings at least 1 board and sometimes a skate so it is prob evident that we'll get one of these 2 racks to go with these racks.

BW

[cab13367]

CAB you have a PM in your inbox.

Razz,

I checked and it's not there. You sure you sent me one??

Please try to resend.

Thanks,

Al

[Razzman]

Razz,

I checked and it's not there. You sure you sent me one??

Please try to resend.

Thanks,

Al

Al, resent.

[cab13367]

Got it. PM'd you back.

[Razzman]

Foe those interested i have sold my stock racks, thanks again Al! :D

[cab13367]

Razzman,

The racks arrived today and they look brand new just like you said.

Thanks again.

Al

[moombadaze]

rpe lsv, i received some racks from diywake.com as a raffle givaway--give him a look, product looks good and price is not to high

stacy

[RPE_LSV]

yeah i've been to diywake.com many many times pondering ordering the racks...it's a very good price.

however i heard from a little birdy that my fiance ordered me some dbot5 racks for my soon to be birthday. i hope it's true! haha

Cab - you should post up some pics of your new racks. I would love to see them.

[cab13367]

Cab - you should post up some pics of your new racks. I would love to see them.
I'm taking the boat out tomorrow so I will take some pics and post them tomorrow night. I did install them and you can definitely not use all the slots (i.e., put 4 wakeboards in on one side, for example) as there isn't enough vertical spacing between them.

Al

[cab13367]

Here are the pics with 4 sets of factory racks on an LSV. As you can see, you can't use all 4 slots on one side at once, unless maybe you but wakeboards on the top and bottom slots and surfboards in the middle ones.

Al

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg276/cab13367/IMG_0433.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg276/cab13367/IMG_0434.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg276/cab13367/IMG_0438.jpg
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg276/cab13367/IMG_0439.jpg

[moombadaze]

at the florida jamboree last year or the year before there was a xlv that also had racks on the top of the tower, each rack was v shaped and would hold 4 boards, he had the racks on the side like Al does plus the ones on top--if i remeber correctly he could hold 16 boards. i took picture of this and will look for it and post it

stacy

[moombadaze]

this is the xlv was talking about

[RPE_LSV]

Thanks for the pics Cab.

I love the XLV pic. I don't think I need that many board racks, but love the setup. Thanks everyone!

[adsman]

Tyger: are you interested in selling the POS Dbot5 surf rack?
PM'd you....

[gsi09907]

I also have a Dbot5 rack and love it, no problems and works great they did make the bungee straps a little to long but no one is perfect and I am sure there are all kinds of shapes and sizes in boards so maybe it's just my board is to small anyways I like my rack and it really helped clean the clutter out of my boat... I bought the wakeboard rack and the optional robot arm attachment now I can hold 6 boards and a surf board


just my thoughts to each there own

[Tyger]

Firstly I want to say that it's not my intention to bash DBot. I had a bad experience and wanted to share. Other people have posted good experiences and that's fine, too. When I'm researching a product I read all the reviews and take everything with a grain of Internet salt.


Ian at onlyinboards.com is fabulous to work with. When I told him about my troubles, he mentioned that he wasn't surprised I had a less than perfect experience with DBot. He allowed me to return my DBot and order the Nice Rack single-slot surf rack. However, by the time my order was processed Nice Rack had switched to only making a dual-slot rack, so that's what they gave me. I had to wait a bit, but I love the rack. It uses the same mounting system as my Nice Rack, so it's stable as a rock. Also, since it uses a rear mounted bungee, I can wrap my thin Broadcast surf board over/under and keep it snug as a bug.

I'm still curious if Nice Rack was the factory wakeboard rack on an 05 Mobius LSV or if it was added by the boat's original owner...

Sadly, however, my fat but loveable kneeboard (lol at Dennis) still does not fit in the rack. I'm now determined to return the kneeboard to Academy and get one that's not nearly so thick (but still has the awesome rope slot at the front).

I've attached some pics of the new Nice Rack surf rack. These were taken at night, so the finish looks bad, but it's really nice (even with bugs on it :D).

[mbutton]

Can anyone tell me if the Airboom Quick Disconnect rack will hold a wider surf board? And it mounts to the oval crossbar on the mobius?

Thanks for any input!

Mike

[Razzman]

I have the Air Boom racks for the quick disconnect feature as with the tower down and racks on it won't clear the boat house. They have a nice clamp that does fit the oval tube, in fact I think they are the only ones that do. At least that was the case two years ago.

But i doubt they'll fit anything much wider than a thin surfboard. They do make a rack for surfboards if i remember right.

[mbutton]

Thanks for your input. I have a thin surf board and a thicker one. Ideally i'd like to find one that could fit both. Appreciate it:!: