Just bravo ones. The top cap was a very big deal, as the cast one that came on them flexed easily, the billet ones from Teague were very solid and solved almost all my problems. Obviously it isn't the ideal setup and many people will disagree with me. But I had little problems running on the lake and running it hard, usually 100+.

How much time did you get out of them on average?

After I got the good top caps, usually only broke about once per season, maybe twice. But they were VERY used when I got them. They had been run with this same power on Texoma and really abused.:D

Thanks man. Thats good real world info, not just the peanut gallerys opinions!

Our boat had Max Machine Worx Bravo's They (Max Machine) said the drives will hold up to the hp and the weight of the boat.I spoke to them while the boat was being built. I had my first failure at about 18 hours (stripped splines on the clutch shaft)and the second failure(upper gear set,u joint,input shaft(snapped in the coupling),tore the lock nut that sets pinion shaft depth and preload out of the case,tore up the upper case....) was three hours later on the same drive that Max machine repaired. Since Doller Offshore rerigged for me with the Konrads I have had ZERO problems with the drives!! Both Bravo failures happened at 3000 rpm and while running in a 1 foot chop (Barnaget Bay for a sunset cruise).

I had similiar problems in the Apache when I had the IMCO Extreme SC drives. The only thing that seems to allow the bravo's to live for any lenght of time is RPMS....lots of them... :hitfan:

What? Are you saying the more RPMs the better the drive last????? confused here.

Lots of RPM normally means smaller pitched props, which means less load on the drive. Same as the 4 vs 5 blade deal, the 4 blades are normally easier on the drive as well.

I agree with the four to five blade props! My boat runs well with a five blade prop, but faster with a four blade. Easier on the drive too.

I installed a drive temp gage last fall. I will be monitoring that alot this summer. I feel the hotter the drive gets, the more wear and tear it is under. heat is a direct result of load, or over load. I had the drive temp gage pretty much pegged on my last run in the fall.