QWKRN U

Just picked up my boat this weekend from John and the Bravo shop crew. They did a amazing job custom fitting the drives to my boat. Steering was a lil different than a typical bravo boat. Initially contacted Imco to see what options were available but John was convinced he could make what I had work, John went to work and machined new rear caps to make the current steering work. Hard to find that sort of craftsmanship and willingness to find a solution in the marine industry.


several claims on here regarding major speed loss due to the larger gears and limited ratio options. I talked with John in depth about this and was presently informed they offer several more gear ratio options and could get the ratio very close to what I started out with.
As for speed loss Here is my results.
Took the boat out today.
Only put 1 1/2 to 2 hours on the boat last year and Best previous speed was 119 with 1/8 tank fuel and 2 people.

Today was the first outing with the boat this year.
Ran 117 today with 2 people and full tanks of fuel.
Air temp was cooler when I ran 119 before the Bmax drives. Air temp today was about 12 degrees warmer.
I've read claims of losing 5-6mph. I'm confident once I get down to a 1/2 tank ill gain more than 2mph much less once I get to the 1/8 mark.



If anyone is looking for a Bravo alternative I'd highly recommend contacting the Bravo shop and see what's available for your particular application. One other huge advantage I found with John is he goes out of his way to only recommend what you need. For my application the Bmaxs were a great fit, I was there while he was talking to another customer and explained he didn't need Bmax drives , he only needed to do a few upgrades to his bravo drives for his application. Guy was shocked they weren't just out to upsale at every oppurtunity.
A+ job guys thanks again.

knightmoves

John is the best, he did some work for me last year.
He will go above & beyond to build or fix your outdrive.

Back4More

Glad to hear the torch was passed off to a great team.
This drive is awesome.

johnnyboatman

iTrader: (5)

did they redesign the lower, when I got my cresent shaped lowers from dean I had to shave, sand , grind etc to smooth the flat skeg, it looked like it was almost a half inch thick, I knew it was going to be like dragginn a achor. I would love to see a new set, and own a new pair with 150ratio

Panther

Great story. I've had mine since 2006 and have been very happy with them.

Eliminatorshane

iTrader: (1)

Awesome I'm taking my bmax there next month. I spoke with him on phone and was super nice and answered all my questions! People who owned mine got carried away with silicone instead of buying the correct Orings . At least I know it will be right this time.

endeavor1

iTrader: (3)

John and Clint are a stand up father son team. You won't be disappointed.

ICDEDPPL

iTrader: (1)

Great to hear! No more broken drives for you :-)
Ive talked to John on the phone when I had bravo issues, seemed like a real stand up individual.