the drive spacer helps keep the prop hooked up & helps the porpoise at certain speeds, keeping the prop in the water will help your drive live longer. A stock bravo will NOT last long with a decent HP in that boat, My brother destroyed several bravo's including xr's until finally switching to a BMAX

I'm getting confused and trying to figure out this spacer thing. I'm getting people on this website (from other threads not in here obviously) telling me a 3in down spacer would be like dragging around an anchor and is probably slowing down the boat big time. They think that with the 510-550 hp roller motor this boat should be a mid 80's boat, not the mid 70's it presently runs. Now for one, I know most if not all of these people have never owned an awesome 26. And with that said all boats are different.

I saw earlier in this thread that duffer said that he increased his performance? Is this a general consencus among awesome 26 owners or what? And Ram Dom, your brother has a spacer on that B Max no? Seems to me most awesome's I see on the web have em, and like no other cats really do. If anything they're moving them up and back.

I was thinking maybe a porpoise problem, but my boat has tabs, that should help help eliminate that I hope.

So why all the awesome's with drive spacers and everyone else with other cats knocking em? Is our drive to high from the factory? Does it increase or hurt performance our performance? Is the main purpse to simply add longevity?



Also, in order to put on the spacer were new shafts and whatnot put in the drive (that's what I'm thinking) to accept the longer down length? If I did want to try removing and running would it be easy to take off. I'm very mechanically inclined but if getting into that drive is likened to say changing the gears in a car it's one thing I will stay away from. Reason I ask is guys is the guys in the drive forum say just try running it without like it's easy to take it off.

There's so little info I can find out in the archives about this machine

The drive is way to high from the factory that`s why you need a 3 inch spacer. Don`t listen to people that have other brands of cats,I have spent more time,money,and R&D on the 26awesome then the factory or anyone else.Mine goes 115MPH very stable check it out on youtube.There is not a boat in existence under 30 that rides better.

Thank you for that response.

It's exactly what I wanted to know. Is that your boat with the bmax drive? I think I'm going to put a blower right away on my boat and just put a new max worx cap on the bravo drive and drive it easy and wait for it to pop,then upgrade. I've read some very faborable comments on that drive vs any of the imcos. Are they pricey? Can't find any price info....

Yep that`s mine.I tried imco and teague drives both junk the Bmax is pricey about $12000 but you get a warranty.You should use a 5blade prop much better for this boat than a 4blade.Put the blower on you will love it.

That's a really nice boat you have there. Actually that price is not as bad as what I was expecting. I was hoping to stay under 20 grand. The dealer I went to was showing me several drives all over that 20g mark. My jaw practically hit the deck

I think I will blow the boat,

grenade the drive, then B MAX

May I ask what blower set up you have roots I'm assuming with that scoop? What would you recommend?


I have been partial to procharger with cars and it's the first I've begun to look at for the boat. I was looking at an m-3...... Roots blowers are nice but I don't really want to lose the sundeck.

I'm runing a XR Drive with upgraded bearings. True that this is not the ideal outdriver for my set up but I have had pretty good luck(It is a Gamble). 150 Hours with routine maintenance.

The three inch spacer is spaced 3" down. From the pictures it looks like you already have it. The reason it works so well on the Awesome is because the "X" Demension of the 26 is really high - because there is no center pod. Without the spacer the prop blows out like crazy. You can not use the trim and the drive takes a beating. I tried a 1 1/2" spacer a
2" spacer and the 3" spacer and the performance kept getting better. Even with the three inch spacer the prop is still about 1 - 1 1/2" inces above the bottom of the boat. With the 3" spacer the boat runs through heavy chop and stays hooked up. It allows the tunnel to pack air and the prop stays in the water. The boat picks up spped the more chop I'm in. The spacer allows me to use the trim. My favorite cruise is a about 3000 R.P.M. the trim at #6 I'm running aboput 55 M.P.H. and the nose of the boat has a great poise to it.

The chicago area is great for boating. Fox lake is fun. There is a lot of bars and things to do. Fox lake is a little small and shallow - so you need to be careful or you will definatly run aground. Lake michigan is of course really nice but can get a little too rough for the 26' Awesome - So you need to pick your days. I really enjoy the Illinois river - Lots of beaches and boats and plenty of room to open up!! Good Luck!! - Let me know when your in town - We'll do some boating.

Awesome!!

Hey Duff,
Glad you are still having fun with the cat look me up if you make it to Loto, we sold the marina and bought a cat of our own to finally play instead of work work work. Your Cat still looks great.
Having sold the boats the X dimension is so high cause there is no where for the oil pan to go on the motor
Thumper / Jim

Boat looks great thumper..... Been out on the water this year or still too cold?

That mention of LOTO has me itching to go. It's been some time since I've been in the midwest. I'm surely going to make a trip down there this summer. Maybe table rock (branson) too.

I'm still intrigued by the illinois river, I never heard about any boating on that and quite frankly don't even know where it's at. Grew up in the near north burbs of chi, maybe that has something to do with it.