Parts Update

[krejciman]

Good news for anyone that has any worries about the availability of Toyota-specific parts. 

I was in Kentucky last week and spent a few days at the warehouse that stores the Toyota Marine products.  It also stores all the Toyota parts (supplied west of the Miss. rvr).  All the boat stuff is on the third floor.  THere were ALOT of parts there.  I mean everything you could think of.  For example(s) I saw:  about 10 towers, 6 engine covers(plastic paice), 8 guide pole pads....  just to name a few.  Not to say they don't have more towers and stuff somewhere else, but this is just what they have there....ready to ship.  I am confident that they have enough parts to last a long time.

I don't know about you guys, but I haven't had much need for too many parts... but it's nice to know they're there!

[cyclone]

It is nice to know that the stuff is there. I have been poking around at former Toyota Marine Sports dealers, there are a lot of good used and take off parts to be harvested there. Tony at ATL Marine called me yesterday, he is gathering up parts from the back room to blow out at discount prices.

I saw two trunk lids for S22's, surf interior. They have some cracking around the hinge mounting but could be fixed, and there were no rips or tears in the vinyl.

Several fuel pumps, new. Other odds and ends, small parts. He had the fabric part of a trampoline top, blue, new in box.

He has lots of accessories like Wakedesign Tubby speakers that are used, lots of after market ballast bags and other parts.

I'm gonna wait until he's got everything organized, then go take some pics and post the parts up here.

Ski Masters had TONS of stuff, probably 10 platforms, teak and composite. Lots of platform mounts, a windshield, several towers, interior parts. If you are looking for something specific, I'd call them.

[toyotafreak]

Pete, PLEASE do list that stuff when you can.

Krejci, GREAT job - nice to have a man on the inside. What did you see in terms of engine parts?

[krejciman]

Derek - They had a ton of parts.  Some I recognized, some looked like any other automotive part, even though I knew they were slightly different in some way.  I didn't go down every aisle(I was pressed for time) but it just gave me the feeling that Toyota was really serious about supporting us with a consistent parts supply...... not one shelf was empty.

[festivus]

just curious, but what does krejciman stand for or mean.  It' sbeen bothering me, sort of like when you see a vanity plate on a car and can't figure it out. 

[krejciman]

My last name is Krejci, but don't tell anyone, it's secret!

My buddy from hawaii dubbed it.

[ScarabEpic22]

cyclone, are you in the seattle area since you deal with ski masters???  That s where I bought my 99 E22, Charcoal exterior, with surf (I think) interior.  Love the boat!!  Owned it since Jan 2000, got it cheaper b/c the 2000s were out and they wanted to get rid of the 99s.  Just started my own maintainance this year with summerization and will follow up with winterization over Labor day.

What fluids do you guys run??  I am going to switch over the Epic to full synthetic, Amsoil 5W-30 and Amsoil ATF.

This is the best site for Epics, and I am glad to hear about all of the parts!!

Erik
Seattle, WA & Coeur D' Alene,ID

[cyclone]

Erik,
I'm in Atlanta, but I travel a lot for work. I was working on the island, Vancouver island, and cruised down to Kirkland, Wa. to meet HiFlyin for a ride on Lake Washington.

You will soon find that Epic owners are usually in specific geographic areas because Toyota made a very limited amount of boats, they are all basically test pieces, before they opened up the BIG factory to start crankin them out. They closed it 2 mos. later after 911, before really starting production on the 2002 boats. They are rare. 

The areas seem to be Seattle, (Ski masters) Salt Lake City (Marine Products) Atlanta (Atlanta marine) Raleigh Durham (Johnson Marine) Indianapolis (not sure of the dealer name), Michigan (not sure of dealer), Northern Ca. (Santa Rosa dealer) One in Texas, (Phill Dill) etc. They're on the dealer page. There are some crazy people that realize how cool these boats are that buy them where they find them and tow them to wherever they happen to live (uhhh..heh..Derek)

ANYWAY, look around, there's a lot of good stuff here. I have been accused of being a whinebag about Toyota not being around anymore, and I guess that's true. I was stoked when I bought mine new and believed their press about  Toyota being in it for the long haul. They bailed, wah!!!!!, but the support network is still there, parts are still around, and we receive more and more factory documentation every day. WAY better than documentation produced by other boat manufacturers, regardless how Correct they are. That is part of the reason that it didn't work, Toyota sunk gobs of bucks into the infrastructure, an online parts and service system in the late 90's, way ahead of it's time. It is still in place, and the lucky 470 or so of us that own these boats take advantage of that fact. I complain about part prices frequently, but they are for the most part not unreasonable when you consider that we are talking about custom obsolete boat parts. I'll still beotch about 1k for a swim platform, but thats just me. I'm going to keep mine, and replace parts as needed to keep the boat looking new.

Glad to have you on the site, hope we can meet up someday!

Pete

[festivus]

krejci- thanks for the explanation.  Your secret is safe with me...
Welcome Erik.  I never have anything productive to say, but still like to chime in often.

[lesman01]

krejci-man

I got dubbed les-man in highschool.

ScarabEpic22

welcome. Hopefully you'll find this site as valuable as we all have.


lesman

[phenom_1819]

Scarab, welcome to the site!? Gotta love having another Seattleite on here.

 I think you sent me an email earlier today about my airbags...I'll just respond here because there are at least a few members that have the air suspension bags you asked about.

I love my airbags. They are definitely the single most valuable accessory on my car, by a long shot.? And they really are not very expensive.? My entire setup cost me about $200, + $200 for the install.? I have the cheap AirLift 1000 with the cheap compressor (you can see all the info on my signature), but it is enough for the boats.? I run it at the maximum pressure every time I tow. With that cheap compressor, the bags take about 45 seconds to fill.? Empty in about 10 seconds.? No leaks whatsoever.

Highflyin has a set of heavy duty ones on his Tundra.? He loves them, but I haven't really played with them too much.? I just know that they cost a lot more than mine, and can inflate to like 65 psi or something like that.? Mine can only handle like 30-35 psi.? But 30 is enough for our boats.? Toyotafreak has almost the same bags as I do but they are the Firestone brand, I believe.? I think he uses an external compressor?

The reason this is the most valuable accessory for me is because the tongue weight on our boats is ridiculously heavy compared to any other comparable set-up.? I think that the tongue weight is even worse in the E22 and X22 than it is in the SX and S22 because of the added weight of having the engine forward.?

Ameritrail trailers seem to be built to the same weight distribution regardless of whether the boat on top is a d- or v-drive.? Highflyin and I put our empty trailers side by side, with the taillights dead even.? The axles lined up, the tongue-catch-thingies lined up.? The only difference is the configuration of the bunks.? So if the v-drive guys complain, we have even more reason to complain.? But nobody's stepped up to figure out what our tongue weight actually is.? I was one that volunteered to help Derek with that, still haven't done it.? Sorry.

And as to Seattle, I think at last count there are 6 guys or so on the site from Seattle.? Me (I've actually been spending a lot more time in yakima lately), Highflyin (SX, the guy never works, always wants to wakeboard ), JeffCPA (X22, lives in Wenatchee), 2000Epic (E22, wakeboards on Lake Samish in Bellingham), JasonLi1 (S22, another Bellingham guy), Epic_Toy (E21, Seattle-area...profile pic looks like Lake WA?), and I think actually there are even a couple others that I'm missing..?? You'll see lots of boats like yours now that you have one.? In Seattle, I see one at least every other time I'm on the water.

Anyway, welcome again to the site.? If you're ever over in the Palm Springs of Washington and want to go for a ride, shoot me an email and we'll hook up.

[epic_toy]

Cal,

Yeah I keep it on the north end of Lake washington in Kenmore. That pic was from the Kirkland dock. It's the background on my laptop! I keep telling my girlfriend it was a picture of her, but she just happened to be sitting there when I was taking a picture of my boat! 

[LookinForaV]

I have seen a few different numbers as to the total number of Epics produced 99-02.  I think I saw a thread from last year that indicated there were approx 500 per year produced, and Pete referenced above 470 total produced.  Were there really less than 500 Epics between all models and all years produced?!?!?

I thought the quantities referenced by Krej seemed very low, but if this is only one dealer and there were only 470 total boats produced, maybe there is hope far beyond the 10 yrs.   

[epic_toy]

That reminds me- I saw a 2002 E21 sitting on a lift in the Matthews Beach area on Lake Washington (Seattle). Pretty nice looking. Must have been one of the last made? Anyone know who's got it? Looked just like the brochure (maybe it is...?).

[phenom_1819]

I've seen that one there too, it's a nice boat.  Highflyin rides in Kenmore as well.  When I'm on Lake washington, I'm usually in Meydenbauer Bay.