dkwestern

I read the article in hot boat, and the B-max was used on a 42 sonic with two big diesels and had no problems pushing that huge boat. It also said that the drive was tested by driving up against a seawall (with the American Offshore test boat I believe)and pushing the throttles all the way down for hours at a time. The drive never popped, and i don't remember exactly but I think there was a pretty large engine doing that test. A lot cheaper than a VI drive and mounts to stock holes in transom.

timucin

Dear Kaama ; and actually all readers of this thread;
I am not an expert; just an interested man in performance offshore.
I read all monthly magazines ,spend 6-7 hours on computer everyday for almost 4 years .

American engines are easy to maintain and built .Even if you use used-gaskets,used lifters etc ,they work,if you broke some of the spark plugs they still work.they loose hp but they never stop.

as I see there is only one serious problem exists in powerboating, and this is drive-problem for sure.

on every forum ,on every magazine this is an endless story.there is always a man like me who believed -bought and had lots of troubles with alternative drives.

Would you like to spend 10-12K for an experience ; instead of listening lots of people used that stuff and not satisfied?

So why waist time and money with alternative units,the solution according to my idea is ssm5 or 6 series.

rebuilt ssm 5 is at the same price with aftermarket drives and it is race proven for years.

no 6 is the exact solution but expensive.

My personal idea is to buy the right part for the right job....

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

timucin, the problem with the brovo to #5ssm swap isnt the cost of the drives. yes they are very close in price but to do a swap to the speedmaster series you have to change gimble ad a trans relocate motor and who knows waht else. some times it just isnt feasable in many boats. this is a VERY expensive task. just a guess but i think it would probably cost about to about double or triple from brovo to ssm than just going with the bmax or like. for know we have to hope that all these busted drives are giving theses companies info on the weak links i guess. maybe someday we will have bullet proof brovos. one other problem is that merc doesnt really have a intermideat drive between the brovo xr and the #6 maybe, thats what we need.

DYTMAGIC

I believe your freind is talking about Alco Marine in Lake havasu City. Their is a company there - Max Machine Worx - the makes all the shafts and stuff for the drive upgrades Doug at Alco is using. I would check out their website - here is the link. From what I've heard, their stuff is holding up very well.

http://www.mbrmaxmachineworx.com/

KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

My previous post didn't quite show it's entirety so I will attempt again here. What I was attempting to say was:

If it is the Bravo One "Xtreme" then it is when IMCO takes a customer's stock Bravo One outdrive and installs their heavy duty parts and mods into it. Besides, if it was two years ago IMCO had not yet had their "Xtreme Advantage SC" (which has newly designed and LARGER gearcase) out yet which actually became available late last year or at the begining of this year '02. I, like you and many others , have heard that the IMCO Xtreme (NOT the SC) kept breaking on numerous occassions. But that their NEW "Extreme Adavantage SC" drive is supposed to be superior in design, strength, size, and durability. The B-Max has larger uppers gears than the IMCO SC, but I think that is the only advantage that the B-Max has over the IMCO SC drive at this time. The bottom end of the B-Max gear case is still ONLY a Bravo One STOCK SIZED AND DESIGNED gear case. Yes, you can install heavier duty parts in it, but it is STILL the stock sized gear case and design! Where as the new IMCO Xtreme Advantage SC has been completely redesigned with a larger gear case from top to bottom and still be able to bolt it up to a STOCK designed Bravo One gear case with little or no modifications. And because it has just hit the market, I am extremely interested in knowing about any breakage or other problems with this new IMCO Xtreme Avantage SC drive. I am more interested in the new IMCO SC drive than the B-Max at this time. But the jury is still out and I am waiting to see how well this new IMCO SC is going to turn out within the real world of boating where it counts. However, I'm quite suprised to hear about this guy who owns an OL with a tripple B-Max drive set-up and has been breaking them repeatedly and that has me very concerned if it is in fact true.

Anyway, I am NOT trying to argue here but rather trying to clarify the differences between the IMCO "Xtreme" drive and the IMCO "Xtreme Advantage SC" which is a totally different animal. Also the differences between the Bravo Shop's B-Max and IMCO's "Xtreme Advantage SC". I just wanted to make sure we're ALL on the "same page" as were dicuss the differences between drives.

Waterfoul

Sorry KAAMA, it wasn't me that told you about any broken B-Max's from the poker run.

jdnca1

It seems the lowers are much tougher in a bravo than the uppers, I rarely hear of problems with the lowers other than broken prop shafts..which can be upgraded to "hard" shafts. I'm sure a lot has to do with use, installation height, etc...

Back4More

I just had a pair of -2/IMCO SC's installed on the back of our 93 42' Fountain.
We built 850HP blower motors for her.
As I type it is being dialed in NY and I will have it back home in Chicago in about a week or so.
I plan on running the $hit of it when I get it back home...I will let it all be known how they are holding up.

mltdwn12

The solution, $$$$$$$$$$

THEJOKER

I put a B- Max on the Solarized SVL # 33 last year. Me and a friend did conversion at my shop and it took about 8 hours. You have to drill the wing plates for your steering as far as modifications and that's about it. The first race we raced with was Ft Lauderdale. It took a pounding and we won the race by atrition. Pulling up to the crane to get weighed, I put the boat in gear and the small brass gear lever snapped in the drive. The boat would not go into gear. Thank goodness it was at the crane. I took the boat to Dean and he installed a new lever ( he acted like he didn't want to but we slept in the parking lot at his shop with B-Max stickers all over the boat) We left Dean's shop and attended the Nationals in St Pete. We smoked 'em with that drive and definitely did not loose any speed with the B- Max. Solarized went on to race two races in The Worlds and that drive never broke. It leaked a little water sometimes but that was about it. We were instrumental in getting the B-Max homoligated for APBA in SVL also. Dean was supposed to put us in his ads and other media publications but that never happened. Overall Dean and the B-Max was the right choice for our race team.