offshoredrillin

2 of the best things you can do is the drive showers and get the teague billet caps, its thicker and stops the flex the top caps that hurts xrs. I ran that on a much heaver 42 cig and never had problems, change drive oil every 30/35 hours, thne just runnit and enjoy it

Dkahnjob

Hi Articfriends,
Yes, I do have 5 Blade Max props, 32 pitch and I think they are too big or too much pitch. The boat feels like it is lugging when getting up on a plane (I don't use full throttle when pulling out). I am going to see my prop guy next week. Should I get 4 blades or see if he can reduce the pitch on the 5 blade props?
You spoke of spending $25K for new drives, what drive would these be? Impco?
Thanks,
David

offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

IMCO SCX upper and lower drives are GREAT. Gain strength but lose 2-3 mph. continue to run less expensive 5 blade.

Arneson ASD7 are a proven upgrade for your haul. Gain strength and gain speed! More work to install then a standard SCX and more expensive props, but a better value then a SCX-4.

Those are the only two cost effective options. I would not recommend any other upgraded drive that still utilizes XR gears. And if your going to swing offshore style props the Arneson is a much better option over the SCX-4.

Or buy a spare set of XR drives and swap out when your break if your worried about down time

I personally would not waste a dime upgrading any Bravo based drive because they will still break and prematurely wear out no matter what

Keith Atlanta

Thats kind of where I am. Sometimes they last and sometimes they dont. I just buy spares when I see them on craigslist. Now I am looking for X uppers. With a battery impact gun and a drive jack I can change out a drive by myself with Nascar pit crew efficiency in 20-30 minutes including getting all the tie bar stuff back on.

I dont know if I should be proud of this....

imagemaker7777

How do you feel about Mercury Speed 6s? I'm thinking old tech and hard to get parts. Is this correct?

I'm building a Donzi 22 that I'm shooting for a balance between speed/power and showy. Planning on putting 800 to 950HP BB in it. Only thing original at the end will be the fiberglass.

endeavor1

iTrader: (3)

A 22 donzi with 950hp and a SSM6... I doubt the boat is bouyant enough for that weight

Back4More

Save thousands of dollars and time...
Drive Guardians
4 Blade props

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-80007...ian-bravo.aspx

1MOSES1

38TG here with 500efi's currently have a little over 300 hrs on standard xr's. only had one lower failure in 4 years. Knock on wood. All in all not bad. Probably gonna rebuild them next year. Maintenance is key. Every 20 hours oil change. And don't beat the crap out of them.

Too Stroked

Oh I'd say a #6 drive will take 950 HP with no problem. I'm just wondering where you're going to sit in a 22 Donzi to drive it. By the time you add the transmission and new stringers/ cross members to mount the motor in its new (further forward) location, you'll be sitting on top of the bow light. A Donzi 22 can be one evil handling boat with much less power than you're talking about.

You may be correct in that "Only thing original at the end will be the fiberglass." It may end up being fiberglass shards though. Be careful.

ToMorrow44

100 hours might be all you get out of XRs behind 600s. Its a pretty heavy boat and the 600s are harder on the drives than say a 525 because of the blower, it makes a lot of torque down low and carries it through the rpm band more than a N/A motor. 4 blade props will help because they tend to slip more, but will be slower in the midrange. I would say just take care of the drives, change the fluid often, and check the magnets even more often.

Ultimately I would upgrade to SCXs, then that also leaves the door open for the Whipple upgrades on those 600s, you could easily make 850 per side and that still won't stress the SCXs. Sell the XRs to offset the cost a little bit. The Arnesons have had good results on Formulas and would be the ultimate solution, but the motors have to come out to install them and you would be running much more expensive (albeit efficient) props.