The XR upper gears are stronger, if you find a good set of gears. There has been alot of teeth breaking off the driven gears in the last two years or so. Before that they would last long enough to wear out, around 250-300hrs with 600-700hp. I have had customers with 1000-1100hp and the gears would hold up. But it doenst seem to be the case these days.
My opinion has always been, if you dont have enough power to knock the teeth off the helical cut gears then use them. They will last a lot longer. Problem is, how do you determine that? Well, talking to others that run them and their combinations and how they drive. Everyone tells me they drive their boat easy. I tell them I drive mine somewhat hard and it lives, theirs are broken... Go figure. It's all relative.

The newer X gears are the ones with the thick floors. Drives with serial number OM and later have them. OL and later are thin floored. XZ gears are the same gears as the X gears in the standard B1, except the input shaft splines are the same size as the XR yoke.

The XR gears will fit in a standard B1 case, but they have to be setup properly. Same with putting an X gear upgrade kit in the B1 upper case. Anytime you think about upgrades a steel tower in the case is recommended. I have milled the towers out and found cracks that you dont see without millling them. I install a steel tower that is threaded two inches into the case. Not as costly as Max, and no modiffications to the lower part of the upper housing. Maybe not as strong as Max, but I have not had any failures to date.
Putting XR upper gears in a Bravo 1 case is approaching the cost of an XR upper. But I have heard that pricing from Merc has changed and the inexpensive XR uppers may no longer be available. If that is the situation, then it may be cost affective. But still the XR gears are not my favorites at this time..

Tools needed to set them up depends on the method you choose. I use Merc's new method with considerations when setting up the old design case. I also add some tricks that have seemed to help over the years. I also measure alot of things that are never talked about. Like how much runout in the lower pinion gear? They wobble, and wobble isnt good.

Larby,
I bellieve a properly setup B1 with steel tower, XR ribbed top cap and good shafts will more than accomodate your setup, if driven with respect! Case in point, one customer with 38' Formula, 575hp NA motors, 4yrs with my B1's. Another, 24 Checkmate, 900+hp, Procharged, two seasons. Like I say, driven with respect.. they can and do live.

Hope this helps.
Dick

Is the price increase on the XR gears related to the crappier gears that are out there now?? I had to pull apart 1 of my drives this summer for a clutch issue(it was slow to engage, replaced the clutch and good now). I had bought them used and only had a few hrs on them. Anyhow, after inspecting the driven gears, the forward gear had stress cracks on 1 tooth. I made that the reverse gear when I reassembled, to get thru the season, which I did. I need to pull apart and inspect this winter. I'm going to need some gears, whats the best path??

It sucks that Merc is putting out a weaker product, and charging more for them. Is there any hope for aftermarket gear sets coming out that are stronger, without the crazy pricing? $1600, come one..

Does anybody know where the gears are produced? Or by who? China?

LE

Mr. Gadgets what is the cost of the bravo 1 upgrade you can email at [email protected]

Goin,
Email sent.

That cheeeeep compared to a B Max upper set:eek::eek:thats 3 sets of of bravos

Its just seem like crazy pricing to me compared to the high performance automotive industry. Manual transmissions, ring and pinions, they use gears that absorb 6000rpm dragstrip launches with crazy amount of HP. Parts are affordable.

The marine industry need more competition I guess..:bsflag:

LE

Interesting that the SCX upper gear set is the same cost as the list on the Merc XR gears!

I keep telling people, SCX is a good way to go. You can buy an SCX, one Bravo at a time or just poney up before you break the XR's.
There may be a few guys that will come up with a better gear for the XR in the future, but that is a long process and there doesnt seem to be any available at this time.
Dick

Larby,
empty your pm box.. :)