www.iFourWinns.com

New FW owner and new forum member here. I just sold my Mastercraft and bought a 2005 Horizon 230 with 91 hours. It has the Volvo 5.7 GXI with the duoprop outdrive. I just took it out for the first time last weekend and put another six hours on the clock. No big issues but I did notice a slight vibration while turning under power. When I say slight, I mean no one else in the boat noticed it except me but I was trying to listen out for anything out of the ordinary being that it is a new-to-me boat. The vibration seemed to be the worst (but still minimal) at slow speeds when feathering the throttle while turning as done when docking. So my question: is this just a Volvo/Duoprop thing or do I need to start investigating the cause? No vibrations at all while underway. I'm thinking 91 hours is not even enough run time to consider a gimbal bearing or U-joints but who knows. Honestly, all of my I/O experience is with my second to last boat which was a Merc Alpha 1 so I don't know enough about this drive setup to know what is normal. Any help would be appreciated!

Also, I can already predict some upgrades in the near future. I immediately noticed the starboard list and am planning on moving both batteries to port. I am also seriously considering adding some trim tabs. Also going to be replacing the shift cable as mine is so tight that it is challenging to dock the boat.

This site is a great resource for research! Thanks for all the great info.

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Jim
Richmond, Virginia
2005 Horizon 230 w/ Volvo 5.7GXI Duoprop
Towed by: 2007 Chevy Tahoe 4x4 LTZ

Dang - another '05 with as few hours as mine! You'd better put some hours on that thing, or the regulars here will brutalize you with incessant jokes about how you never get out. DAMHIKT.

Welcome Jim! Sounds like you've already done a lot of good reading here.

As to the vibration - I have a very slight vibration at idle speed too. I'm the original owner and know I've never hit anything, and I've had my props balanced. Since it goes away at any speed higher than idle (rather than worsening as would be the case with a damaged prop, bent prop shaft, etc.), my theory is that it isn't drive vibration at all, but rather the drive reacting to the less than perfectly smooth flow of water coming off the props at that slow speed (bad description, but the best I can do). Again, that's just my own theory. On mine, I feel it in the wheel but it's nearly imperceptible otherwise.

Keep us posted on progress as you become more familiar with this boat and have questions.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

1st: Welcome!

Mine's got a little over 100 hrs. I don't remember for sure, but I think it's in the 115 range now, it had 100 when I bought it, so I'm not too far ahead. My last boat had 180 hours after 5 summers of weekly use so I'm not expecting too many on this one either, it's just not the type of boating we do.

Anyway, I did just replace the gimbal bearing and u-joints but that was due the clamp on the bellows being lose and allowing some water intrusion. I'd agree that barring that sort of issue it's unlikely to be those, but it's also proof that it could be.

However, after changing them I took the boat out for a quick 10 minute shakedown two weeks ago and while it was silky smooth for the most part, there was the very slightest bit of vibration when turning hard either direction. I had noticed it last year (after getting hyper-sensitive after finding the leaking bellows) but thought it might go away after the new gimbal and u-joints.

I'm going to chalk it up to "normal". I was already planning to, but after reading this I feel much better about it.

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GXi/DP "Nauti Addiction"
Towed with a 2003 Suburban Z71

Oh - and the U-joints on the '05's are "permanently lubed" (which just means you can't maintain them), so unless they've failed prematurely (water intrusion would do it!) they should certainly still be fine at 90 hours. Unless you're getting unusual noise, I wouldn't suspect anything wrong with the gimbal bearing either.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Welcome Jim! As you can see there are a few 2005 H230 guys on here. Mine was new to me last year. I don't remember any vibration in mine--but I was always more focused on the balance issues with the batteries. I made it worse by adding an amp and sub on the starboard side as well and it was VERY noticeable all season. I am going to move the batteries in a few weeks. I also have considered trim tabs, but I might try moving the batteries first and see if that makes a difference for this season and then make the trim tab decision based on those results. Welcome again--and congrats on the new boat.

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Norris Lake, Stardust Marina, Andersonville, TN
2005 Four Winns 230 Horizon 5.7L Volvo Gi/DP
2001 Maxum 1900SR 5.0L V8 (Sold)
2011 Nissan Armada Platnum

Thanks for the replies. Wow, 2005 must have been a good year for the H230 because it seems to be a very common boat on this forum.

I am going to chalk the minor vibration up as 'normal' for now and keep a close eye on it to see if it gets worse.

As for the listing, I am going to be interested to see if just moving the batteries will level the boat out. I know they are in the ideal location to affect the angle of the hull but it does not seem to me like they would weigh enough to make that much difference. Interestingly, my boat has the upgraded audio system with the 10" Clarion sub beside the helm seat but the amp is in the head. From reading on the forum, it seems like the factory location for the amp was the helm storage compartment. Maybe someone added it after the fact but it sure looks factory to me. It is a Clarion APX480M which I believe was the same as used by the factory?

Sorry for hijacking my own thread.

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Jim
Richmond, Virginia
2005 Horizon 230 w/ Volvo 5.7GXI Duoprop
Towed by: 2007 Chevy Tahoe 4x4 LTZ

Hmm, I've never heard of the amp being located in the head. With all the Horizons with factory amp locations in the helm storage, it seems odd that they changed the location just on yours, but I guess stranger things have happened. Did you get the build paperwork with the boat? If not you might call FW and see if they can tell whether the amp was original. The APX480M was indeed the factory amp, but it's a fairly common amp; quite a few have been bought and sold on eBay.

Moving the batteries will make a bigger difference than you think. Assume the two batteries weigh a combined 140#. By moving them to the other side, the net difference is 280#, right over the part of the boat where any weight change makes the most difference. Even if your fresh water tank is full, it only weighs about 100#, so it's still a significant weight shift. When the problem first surfaced back in '05, it was FW who told all their dealers to move the batteries to correct it. The odd thing was, they didn't change the factory install location until 2008, IIRC.

I'll continue the hijack by suggesting that if you do much evening/night boating, one of your next upgrades should be to swap out all the bulbs in your helm for LED's.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I think moving the batts would make a big difference. I put in a dual batt system and since the OE batt was on the starboard side, I put the other one on the port side so as to keep it balanced. I used Deka gp 27 dual purpose batts and they weigh about 49 lbs each. Glad I don't have to haul them out of the boat each fall!

If you need longer batt cables, make sure to increase the wire gauge to allow for the longer cable. On my port side batt, I used 1/0 cable because that cable is 9 feet long. I used 2 gauge for the shorter runs. Also run a separate ground cable to each batt, one on each side of the engine bellhousing (those are the grounds the factory uses). The OE cables on my boat were a joke, cheap automotive 4 gauge cables. I wouldn't put those on a riding lawnmower.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Go with the tabs. Huge difference and worth it. Put 4 people in the bow section and 4 in the bask, and see what happens when you turn. It will make it way safer.

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2003 248 Vista on Lake Champlain