I am getting conflicting stories here. I am switching from bravo three to bravo three x's. Knowing that the difference is only in the gear assembly, same drive assembly. I am being told that the bravo x drives require the red dot gimbal bearings. A call to mercury both Wisconsin and Oklahoma yields that they do not use red dot bearings in bravo/ or bravo x assemblies being they use the same transom assemblies, only in the xr series drives with the hp assemblies. Which person is correct? Any help would be appreciated.

Red dot is mandatory, the U joint is differant. That being said they are standard on all Bravo transoms starting @ serial 0M, but check yours regardless.

put the red dot in,its not hard to do and not very expensive,JUST DO IT.

You just missed a great sale by BAM on Ebay!! $ 35.00 each.

Thanks Marc

Transom assemblies and drives are both 2007 model year. So is it safe to assume they have red dot bearings and are ok?

Yes, but you know what happens when you assume

There needs to be a relief on the inner race I think. This is so the larger u-joint clears the bearing. Make sure it is there. Even though you should have the correct bearing in there, I've heard of it being installed backwards at the factory (which wouldn't matter for the standard drive), but would if you upgraded to the larger joint.