shortened drives

[anotherdimension]

anyone tried short drives on a baja 342 ?thinking of imco or the like or is this a mad idea kind of wondering if anyone else ever tried it?

[JasonSmith]

Dock Holiday said he tried some 1" shorties on his 36 & was unimpressed. I have 3" shorties on boxes on my 29 & I like them, although I don't know if they are any faster than stock lengthers.
If you decide you want some. I know a guy woho sells them. My advice would be to get 2" shorties & if they are too short, space them down 1/2 inch at a time. There is only about $250 difference between a 1" & 2"

[yesrej]

has anyone tried putting a shortie on a 25 ol? i wonder if that would do anything. sorry no intention of hijacking.

[JasonSmith]

The guy from Germany has one I think???

[Dock Holiday]

They did not work for me at all.

02 model Baja 36 Outlaw. Bravo XR uppers and one inch IMCO shorties.

VERY hard to get on plane. I tried my standard Bravo 1 30 pitch four blades that worked great with standard lowers, I tried 28 pitch Bravo 1'a, and 28 pitch Hydromotive P5X five blades. They all blow out about 2000 RPM and the only way to get on plane is to keep adding throttle and it was around 3800 to 4000 RPM before it climbed out of the hole.

Overall I never saw the top end out of the boat that I did with the standard units. However it did run faster with extra people on board then before. That is a clear indication that the drives changed the center of gravity. Plus we had a good size rooster tail with all the props we tried and that means you are not efficient.

I did add one inch spacers to bring the prop shaft height (X dimension) back to stock, but it did not improve much. The problem with the shorties is you loose the cavitation plate on the lower unit. With that gone you just do not have the leverage you need to get the bow up on a big true deep vee hull boat.

I do not recommend them on Baja's unless you plan to add extensions boxes. Then when you do the math you can put the $$$'s into horsepower and gain more.

Just my personal experience.

Good Luck

[JasonSmith]

Dock, how far below the hull is the centerline of the propeller?
I have mine at 4" right now, but it blows out like a big dog. Always has. I rode with Customtouch Dave & his 29 blew out with stock length bravos on 3 blades.
Mine is a whole different animal, so we won't even get into that.

[socalstone]

Originally Posted by yesrej

has anyone tried putting a shortie on a 25 ol? i wonder if that would do anything. sorry no intention of hijacking.

Yes, WildCard did an extension box and a shorty on his 25. Hard to tell exactly what he gained because he also went from a 496ho to a 525efi?
But he did gain. 11-14 total, guesstimated 3-5 from the xtension box and shorty...

[yesrej]

Originally Posted by socalstone

Yes, WildCard did an extension box and a shorty on his 25. Hard to tell exactly what he gained because he also went from a 496ho to a 525efi?
But he did gain. 11-14 total, guesstimated 3-5 from the xtension box and shorty...

i just have an ho and was wondering what a shortie would do. what do you think a shortie and maybe some spacers would do. if i had to go with a box i would spend the money on mods for the motor.

[JasonSmith]

The spacers are used to bring the drive height back down. You can get them in 1/2 increments from 1/2 to 4" if I rember correctly.
The advice I give to everyone is to start with the shortest drive you can get your hands on, which is a 2" (although you can get a 3") & try it, then start spacing down. It gets expensive. Spacers are about $250 for a 1/2 & up from there!
The difference in cost between a 2" & 1" drive is about $200.
The bad thing is that unless you are willing to live with the quirks of a short drive on a Baja, which will be blowing out comming on plane, don't do it.
It bothers some people to have their boat blow out comming on plane.
I would be more likely in your shoes to mod the motor before I started on drives. It is tricky & expensive to jack with the x-dimension.
So, in closing, spend the $$ on exhaust first. If you are not happy with the gain there, then start on the x-dimension.

[yesrej]

thanks.