Need input from Thunder Jet owners

[roughwater]

I will likely be purchasing a 20' Thunder Jet Luxor outboard in the near future, and would like some input to help shape my buying decision. Mainly I have two questions:
1) Suzuki 115 or 140? Mainly for fishing, but some skiing and tubing.
2) Painted gunwales or not? Is the paint pretty durable or do you find it gets easily scratched and scraped?

Plus, any other tips on which options to get or not to get from TJ.

Current or former TJ owners only please!

[oldfart]

Decisions, decisions. I just got a 20' Luxor extended transom. Wife and I both love it. Picked it up pretty much as is from Sigler's. 140 HP. Never too much power. Ours has the painted gunwales. Seems to hold up so far,and looks great. It had suspension seats installed. Don't know if we could have swallowed the upgrade, but they're some of the best/most comfortable boat seats my butt's sat in. Dual wipers nice too. Had Sigler's install a Miller Marine anchor rest, hour meter for the 140, Lowrance sonar/GPS, and Suzuki 9.9 kicker. Have the rear step seat (instead of the large fish box). Makes for a comfy spot to sit while running the kicker (tiller handle). Splurged on electric start for kicker. Handy and charges battery while running. Dual batteries and Perko switch when this battery gets tired. Had the hull polished and all aluminum coated in Sharkhide. Time will tell if that was smart, but for now it looks great and am happy with the results. A towable cover from Bentley is in the future. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll love it.

[Old MAn River]

:dance: I have a 20' Luxor, 140 and 9.9 with foward controls for the kicker,
no power trim for the kicker:hoboy:;won't do that again. No paint on gunnells,
but shark hide on the bottom. suspension seats are the only way to go
and dual wipers. You have to get the rear fish box in the transom, if you fish at all.I dealt with Maxxum Marine in Eugene,Or., awesome,$5,000 cheaper for the same boat. 4 piece top , drop curtain and a stern cover. :dance: good Luck:dance: Also daul axle trailer with surge brakes.

[tysdad]

http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/Web_Jet.jpg

2007 20' Luxor. 175 Zuki w/9.9 kicker
Nice upgrade from the old 17 footer!
Service after the sale.......:frown:

Jessie Ristau

[Twoshottom]

I have a 2004 Luxor with the 140 and the 9.9 Suzuki's.:dance: Love the boat and motors!

I'd stick with the 140 especially if you want to ski behind it. The 140 has good fuel economy and it is very little if any extra weight over the 115.

I bought the boat used 2 years ago. The boat has the suspension seats which I wouldn't have got on a new boat but they are very nice.

I went from a bayliner capri to this boat and the dual windshield wipers is something I really like and appreciate every time it rains.:bowdown:

I don't have painted gunwales so I can't say how they hold up.

I have the transom fish box which is nice but it's not insulated and really heats up. It is still nice to have for bleeding fish and keeping the smelt bucket from spilling on the floor when sturgeon fishing.

My favorite option is the half hard top but be careful. The anchor light is above the hard top and barely fits in the 10' door on my garage.

Have fun with your purchase.

[roughwater]

Thanks for all the great input so far, please keep the comments coming!:nerd:

[bluebackbil]

We have an '03. It came with a 90 4stk, sometimes I wish we would have gone a little bigger, but with the price of fuel, I can survive. Never had any problems with the boat, it basically still looks brand new. after market service, they're not that helpful at the factory.

[River Bum]

I am on my third year with my '05 Luxor OB. I have the 115 and 9.9 Suzi motors, I have no complaints at all about the boat or power plants. This was my first ever brand new boat and what a great experience it was dealing with Siglers Marine in this venture. The only disadvantage I see to a TJ hull compared to some others I have been in, is the bow design seems to allow alot more splash over the top than others, but that is it. Engineering and craftsmanship is outstanding IMO. The 9.9 is a bit hard to start when cold and takes a bit to warm up. Now that I have had the boat for a while, I have come up with a few things I would do differently the next time around.

1. Bigger main motor 175-200 hp, I can run about 40mph (plenty fast) with four adults in the boat at WOT. Would like to have that ability at 80% throttle with a bit more if needed.

2. Suspension seats, I have crippled many a passenger, NOT COOL!!!

3. Hard top, freeway speeds are very hard an the soft top.

4. Dual wipers, When the weather gets bad it is nice to have a co-pilot and another set of eyes. (Like I said earlier, in big rough water, you'll take alot of water over the bow.)


Hope this helps. I love my boat, and if I had to replace it, I would buy another TJ.

RB