1HYPER1

I am eating up Bravo uppers on a regular basis,what is a better drive to go with.I am running between 600 & 650 HP and the engines are blown and the blades I am turning are 30 pitch Hydromotive 4 blades,what is your thoughts and opinions on these drives and what is the reliability of them.I have this package in a 32 foot Velocity with not a real radical X demension.I appreciate any input that anyone might have ,good or bad,thanks in advance.

Steet

The XR's are pretty tough drives and have a one year warranty. The IMCO is a great drive but I hear the warranty is not very good.
I believe with twin engines and hydromotives you could probably go with the XR's and take it easy out of the hole and they will live.

Semper Fi

Iv'e heard alot of good things about Teague custom marine drives. Also, check out Max Machine works in lake Havasu, AZ. I will have to make a decision on upgrading drives soon as well.

Teague custom marine
Valencia, CA.
Phone: 661.295.7000


Max Machine Worx
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Phone: (928) 505-7860

Fountain38SC

I went with the imco's. I've got over 100 hrs on them and no problem yet. My friend had to do a max machine worx upper shaft in his xr's to keep them together.

Jassman

Try giving Steve and Eddie a call at total Marine and Performance. 1-985-649-9888. They are building their own drives with modified uppers and lowers, they also come with a warranty.

KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

1Hyper1, Are you running any drive showers on your drives? I believe the XR's will serve you well enough with your boat and the power you have. I have a 32' A/T with 650+hp and everything seems to be fine although after about 50 hours on the drives I had them dis-assembled and inspected for any signs of trouble, and we found that the pinion gears were going away. Apparently, some of the first XR's from Merc had soft pinion gears. Since then so far so good. I run with "Halo" Simrek drive showers to keep the drives cool which is an extremely important thing with the Bravo drives so I am told. BTW, the IMCO Extrme SC drive still uses the same XR gears in their drives---probably the major difference between IMCO and the Merc XR is that IMCO utilizes a beefier gear case. I will be upgrading my drives with Max Machine Worx materials this winter. How the drive is assembled (tollerences, etc.) I've been told is very important as well. I have "Mr. Gadgets" do my drive stuff. I pay him a little extra to "blue print" (hand fit every part with a micrometer) my drives as he assembles them. Taking all the slop out of a mass produced part and making sure it all fits together nicely has got to help a little---if anything it makes me feel a little better when the throttles are at my finger tips as I tip toe accross the water.

Lofty

Funny to read this thread just now. I just got back from Arneson's. I'm definitely upgrading to his ASD6 drive. The thing is STOUT! Steering, stand off box's and all the plumbing is about $16k a side. Sounds like allot but if you think about the fact that it will be the LAST time you ever have to touch that end of the boat with a wrench it's a steal. He has a 3 year warranty if you run 750hp or less.

http://www.arneson-industries.com/br...conversion.htm

I've been watching Seaton and Adams flog the crap out the Formula they just converted. They're pretty mercyless on the equipment and the drives seem to be holding together well.

HyperBaja

have an xr with 20 hours, 6k$.

1HYPER1

Yes I have drive showers to keep them cool,after a while it will just blow the floors out of the upper housing and we all know what happens after that,this usually occors after about 30 hrs or so and I am not thrashing on them in and out of the water, and occasionally a couple mile 90 mph bursts, but not often because I do not want to break parts,also I am curious what gear oil you guys are running because I have tryed Amsoil and Mercury high performance and still had failures,it sounds like the Imcos are the way to go.

barry

i just got the max maachine drive and have about 30 hours on it. i have changed the oil a few time and every thing looks just great. i am running around 800 hp in a htm cat. i also run in the high 90's all the time. but i still take it easy out of the hole. teague , max, and imco all use merc gears. the difference is in the towers, bearings, topcaps, and cases.