homan

Was wondering, mine ripped apart, the bolts are still in the flywheel adapter and the saver is smoked. I had about 650hp twisting on it but was contemplating replacing it or saying F it.

KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

homan,

How many hours did you have on your Drive Savers when they came apart? Also, are you running 650hp natural aspirated or with a supercharger?

I also am using the Drive Savers as well with my Stellings extension boxes with about the same power (naturally aspirated 650-700hp). I currently only have about 15-20 hours on them so far though.

BenPerfected

Check the bearing carrier for wear. How about the drive shaft balance?

KAAMA

iTrader: (1)

Good point! This spring I was checking the bearing carrier within the extension box and found that the splines were badly worn on the Starboard side. Come to find out I was missing one of those 1/16" thick fiber washers that goes in between the bellows housing and the gimble ring which caused some vibration---I could especially feel the vibration during while planing off---but not so much while running along on plane. At least I think this may have had something to do with it. The thing is, is that Merc must have over looked installing this little $2 part at their factory. The drive would be fish tailing by ratcheting back and forth within that tiny gap. It was about to kill it, but I had caught it just in time while slowly inspecting everything one day on my drives----and it's a HARD and very small thing to find. For 4 years everyone else missed it---even me! It's an easy thing to miss!

homan

Kaama, mine was supercharged I had about 20 hrs. on it, it wasn't really used until Aug. this year and never really beat on until yesterday, it didn't break in rough water but calm about 4800 rpm going straight and halfway trimmed. I'm thinking maybe since my box was raised 1 inch maybe it put more of a strain on it, when it broke it got wedged between the transom plate and bell housing and bent the drive shaft on my Bravo slightly.

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

Please educate me,what is a drive saver? In your pics it appears to be a piece of plastic that your output shaft couples to instead of using a coupler? Is it supposed to take shock off outdrive or is it designed to fail under load to protect drive? Thanks,Smitty

BenPerfected

What angle is on your drive shaft? An adjustable extension box can get you in trouble, especially on a short shaft. What's an ideal drive shaft angle? About .5 degree, maybe 2.0 degree max ( some will debate the max ). How do you check the angle? Buy or borrow a digital angle finder (cost about $200). For whats its worth, I run 600 lbs. torque and 785 HP without any issues. My Drive Saver, purchased thru Teague, is rated at 1100 lbs. Something is suspect in your setup.

homan

I'll check the angle Stellings boxes can go up 2" I was only up one