shorter X
 

has anyone had experience with shortening the lower in a 252 or 272? I am considering the imco lower.

we tried a 2" shortened drive on a 2001 25 outlaw and it didn't like it it lost 5 mph

khadley did you use a 4 blade prop? or use the same prop that you ran before you changed the drive?

khadley, I was wondering the same thing. Your results do sound atypical. I've heard exactly the opposite from others that have raised the x-dim on 25 and 24 outlaws. Could you elaborate on your set-up. Did you match props? I've been contemplating the same unit, bajaboss, a 2" shortie...
Thanks.

It was my boat Khadley and I put the shortie on. We used both a Rev 4 23P and a Mirage plus 23P and got about the same results. About 5mph slower but it was faster out of the hole. I thought it would be opposite also but there was a post a while back and someone else got the same results. 2001 Baja 25 Outlaw/ 496MagHO.

I am a bit confused by the improvement in hole shot, going from a 3 to a 4 blade I would expect it, but with the shorter lower I would think it would almost be a wash. I have run the 23 rev 4 and it does give a good hole shot and strong accelaration, I have found that the lab;d bravo I is the best all around prop. I ran a hydromotive and did not like the excess stern lift. I will keep hunting for experience with this set up.
Does the outlaw have a small keel pad like the 252?

Bajaboss,
Yes, the Outlaw does have a keel pad on the bottom of the hull. It also has a notched transom. I believe the improvement in holeshot when raising the x-dimension is twofold. 1)The moment arm where the thrust is being applied is shorter therefore the stern does not dig in as much...It is a more level take-off, second the drag is reduced.

My hole shot suffered form the raised-x dimension but again, i'm a little too high. If I had to do it over again I would probably only go 2" to 3" instaed of the 4" I went but the drive was way too deep. And I might space it down later on. Right now the "only" problem I have seen is getting on plane you have to use a lot of prop slip and if it's rough and you try to plane you kind of have to surf the wave. With the deep X and the 572 motor the boat was way out of control....I mean way out!!! With the Raised-X and a stock 365 Mag Steve M., Jay S., Gary D. and myself in the boat we ran 72 on GPS and you could walk away from the helm at that speed if you wanted to. I might add that I am running hydralic steering also which also helped the boat tremendlessly. Anyhow, all I can say it really worked on my boat and would I do it again, yes. Now with the shorter drives it's alot easier than patching the transom and re-cutting the hole.Dave Warden