switching bravos from side to side ?
 

buddy of mine is a certified merc mech and well know mech on a race team and he said its done all the time to wear the gears evenly. switching the drives from L to R and vice versa...have heard of it a few times...good ? bad ? indiff ?

We do it every year for that reason.....

I'll have to remember to take pics of mine when/if they ever come apart. Be interesting to see how they look after over 1100hrs :D

OK except with torsional alloy shafts that take a "set" after turning in certain direction with torque applied. Max Machine recommended against switching rotations with their shafts.

Highly recommended!

Why........................?

When they switch a right-hand rotating drive to the left side are they running it in reverse? And vice versa with the left hand rotation? I don't think they're built to run in reverse at the same rpms as they would normally run in forward. :confused:

If not, the gears will still spin the same and your props will turn in instead of out, which will change the handling characteristics of your boat.

There is no such thing as RH or LH rotation Bravo drive. They are all the same and made to spin either direction.

The props stay on the same sides they started and do not follow the drive.

I would view switching drives from side to side kinda like rotating the tires on your car.

See this is where my outboard experience doesn't always coincide with the I/O's. The gearcases for an outboard are either LH or RH. ;)

at least you get to use both sides of the gears..sort of like twice the use before they go bang

Yes, and the OB's are very similiar in design to the lower unit on an Alpha drive. Apha's have std. and reverse units. :cool:

Hi all, new here. Great forum, really educational. Just took the boat up today for the winter, and we were talking about this. The boat is used alot, 2years old and allready 550hrs.

So If I summarize this thread there is nothing negative with switching sides on Bravo XR1, but rather I might lengthen their life a bit (double?) ? Am I Right or Wrong? (Incase it matters the boat is a 36ft RIB with 2*315hp Yanmar Diesels, top speed 55knts)

Nothing negative.
As you have run them one drive has been in forward working the upper gear for 2 years, the other drive has been working the lower gear. If you swap drives you will now be in forward working the gears (in both drives) that had previously only been used for reverse. The "new" reverse gears were the ones that have been your forward gears for the last 2 years.

Thank you t500hps! Live and learn! Didn't realize that the other drive is currently running "reverse" just thougt they rotated differently. So Both "gears" are equaly dimensioned and as tolerant for abuse I suppose then. That would explain that there can't be any negative technical issues.

One more question thou, when the drives are swapped does the rotation (inwards/outwards) between both still remain the same for them? If not does it affect the handling?

What do you know.....outboard boy!!!! :D

Rotation is determined by the cables running to the helm and how they are connected to the sticks. Just swapping the drives will not change the rotation. If you do change the rotation then turning the props in is typically a little faster at top end but harder to manuver the boat at the docks. Turning in could also cause the boat to be less stable at speed. (assuming your props are turning out at the moment.)

THAT'S RIGHT!!!! I'll hit her from the front OR the rear!!! :ernaehrung004:

Thank you! Will most likely do this during the winter. I´ll post back next summer after the swap is done and got some hours on the boat again. Will also check the rotation so that its inward, if it isn't allready. (the boat is really nimble in harbour and very stable at top speed) If you ever come to Finland you´ll have a boat ride in the archipelago waiting for you!