Black Thunders with B Max
 

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on a 2000 43 with 700 hp twins running B Max drives? Not looking to be replacing drives on a regular basis.
I've heard mixed reviews on these drives and would really appreciate any feedback from you guys. Thanks

When John purchased the Bravo Shop he did so because they had Bmax's on his BT and there was issues. He had ideas how to improve the product and make it a world class drive. He purchased the company a couple of years ago, and as envisioned, there has been numerous changes made, all for the good.

Take the drives, add in the NEO oil and you have a drive that will handle the power substantially better than the competition and stock drives.

Then lets add, the customer service in case you need it. A couple of weeks ago, I helped JMS do maintenance on his drives after approx 100 hours of use. They were in great condition however a shift cable had failed and a simple phone call yielded the answerers to the problem that may have caused the problem and the part being hand delivered the next day (we met them at their shop being built @ LOTO.)

Bottom line, yes, it is a great combination!

X2 if John works on ur drives he will have them tough as nails and shifting smooth! My previous mechanic was a drive engineer w merc for 30 years. Let's just say they weren't rite. I sent them both to John and I can't believe the difference. I'm not saying you have to work w John if you buy this boatbut I don't know why you wouldn't. He is quick. Knows his drives inside and out and priced fair

Btw. I'm running 700 a side w bmax drives

Thanks for the replies. So I'm assuming that a 1999 or 2000 will not have some of the current upgrades. Are these major changes that I'll need to make to the drives?

I have a 1997 43 Bt it has 650hp and brovos and I didn't have steps and never had a promblem. I did blow one drive but that was after Kelly's port marina at loto forgot to hook the oil censer up and ran the drive dry.
Brett

Who knows. I would call John and see if he knows the boat. If he doesnt then I would plan to send drives to him and make sure the selling price is at least $4000 less in anticipation of some work needed to be done.

My Bmax drives are 2005's. I had John rebuild my drives shortly after I bought my PP as a preventative maintenance. He found some issues with them and performed all the upgrades possible to the drives at that time and we did a gear ratio change too. His new models have some additional upgrades/enhancements. I'm pushing 750hp through mine and so far no problems. I'm also running the NEO gear oil. Following John's advise I stopped changing my gear oil every 25 hours. After 75 hours I drained the oil to remove the drives to replace a broken shift cable caused by a broken Merc dent shift ball and the oil looked as clean as the day I put it in. With well over 100 hours on the drive, you would swear by the looks of the gears that the drive has less than 10 hours on it. Just plan on sending your drives to John @ the Bravo Shop, have him do his magic, use Neo gear oil and then boat pretty much drive worry free.

Thanks guys for all the support !
Splash which BT are you looking at?

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/19...-430-Xc-341074

I m guessing

John this John that...what is this guy a magician??

Well close, hard working, as honest as they come and all around great guy!!

As others have suggested if you buy that boat or any, John at the Bravo Shop is the guy to send the drives to for the inspection, upgrades and freshening. He has taken a quality product and developed into what it was suppose to be from the start - a great product.

Good luck with your purchase.