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-   -   who has broke a scx imco drive? (https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/drives-lower-units/229666-who-has-broke-scx-imco-drive.html)

articfriends 09-14-2010 12:47 AM


Originally Posted by JasonSmith (Post 3187765)
Do they live any longer than Merc gears?

As far as I know there are NO aftermarket bravo gears in existence except maybe chinese lower gears that are put into the sei bravo lowers. I tested and experimented with bravo gears heat treating them further (which did NOT help ) and cryo treating/isorem polishing them which DID increase the life cycle of the lowers running big power as far as the gears brinelling and chipping away but as far as breaking teeth off uppers it did not help. I still provide this service for fellow boaters looking to extend bravo gear life,Smitty

Panther 09-14-2010 11:05 AM


Originally Posted by waconda (Post 3206834)
You do know there is a 1.5 Ratio now for the Bmax .

Just curious what weight of oil you were running when you lost the upper bearings. My rig had 300 hrs when I changed the gear set and my bearings looked good and the gears were starting to pit.

I'm running Amsoil Marine gearlube. One of the upper gears lost a tooth because the bearings needed replacement. Ron Bender knows the bearing replacement intervals needed to keep them together and running.

I heard about the 1.50 and that's an upgrade I'd really like to do one day but for right now the price tag for each gearset it making me keep the 1.30's.

Are you the new owner of Bmax? Let's chat when you have a moment.. I need to order some stuff. :)

sunfun 09-14-2010 09:00 PM


Originally Posted by CB-BLR (Post 3206602)
I would take the 2" spacers out, and put in 1"-1.5" spacers... betcha see some of that speed come back. The SCX drives are alot heavier than the SC drives and therefore sit deeper in the water.

Chris

Thanks,
Already tried that. Started off with no spacers then went to 1 then the 2". With no spacers couldn't even get on plane? So back to same length as SC's

waconda 09-15-2010 07:31 AM


Originally Posted by Panther (Post 3207480)
I'm running Amsoil Marine gearlube. One of the upper gears lost a tooth because the bearings needed replacement. Ron Bender knows the bearing replacement intervals needed to keep them together and running.

I heard about the 1.50 and that's an upgrade I'd really like to do one day but for right now the price tag for each gearset it making me keep the 1.30's.

Are you the new owner of Bmax? Let's chat when you have a moment.. I need to order some stuff. :)

Yes I am the new owner and we have all the internal parts in stock. As for bearing replacement the bearings are rated to far exceed the life of the gears, that is why I asked about the oil you were using. If the bearing failed it was most likely over heated [ plugged cooling on the drive ] or starved for oil.

If I can help please give me a call.

J.P. 09-15-2010 04:03 PM

I have the Bravo 1 XR upper with the Imco SC lower. Does the intake on the SC lower supply cooling to the lower or the upper? If the upper how far up the drive does the cooling water go? Motor is cooled by through hull pick up then through the sea strainer.

I need a service manual on this thing just to get an idea of what I got.

JIMG 09-15-2010 06:17 PM

with all of these high horsepower engine boats, can't someone find a land n sea propshaft dyno rated for that horsepower. perform a before and after test, and at least maybe determine if it is a horsepower loss verses a hydrodynamic or setup issue? only problem it only goes to 800hp

dennis r 09-15-2010 06:35 PM

When I changed to the SCX upper and SC lower I had to go to a 5 blade prop. When I ran my xr with a sc lower I could run my 30 pitch 4 blade with no problem both drives were 1.5 ratio. and when I ran my B-MAX with 1.3 ratio I had to run a 26 pitch prop.and lost 7 mph.

Panther 09-16-2010 08:16 AM


Originally Posted by dennis r (Post 3208895)
When I changed to the SCX upper and SC lower I had to go to a 5 blade prop. When I ran my xr with a sc lower I could run my 30 pitch 4 blade with no problem both drives were 1.5 ratio. and when I ran my B-MAX with 1.3 ratio I had to run a 26 pitch prop.and lost 7 mph.

What was the reason for the 5 blade prop?

I dropped similar pitch size when I switched from Imco Extreme SC's to my BMax but only lost a few mph.

Seems every boat is different such as the member above who lost 8mph on his SCX conversion. To me it seems like it's mostly the gear ratio than the drives. However, I heard there's also some losses if you use the SCX Lower.


Originally Posted by sunfun (Post 3206564)
We have a 96 Cigarette Cafe Racer, a heavy flat bottom boat! Running appr. 800 HP each motor with blowers. Blew 5 Imco SC's in 1 season! This year put on 2 complete Imco SCX's with 1.34 gears 2" extensions. We have put on 90hrs this year, NO problems or issues! Strong drives, very smooth shifting. Lost about 8 MPH but all worth it! Tried numerous props, can't gain it back! Well worth the investment!


dennis r 09-16-2010 08:44 AM

I could not get a 4 blade to hook up it had 21% slip at 5000 rpm

Panther 09-16-2010 08:47 AM

That's odd but then again, when I had the Imco Extreme's I had difficulty getting on plane, the props would blow out and not hook up for a while. When I installed the BMax i cured the problem.

I think it had something to do with the IMCO Extreme SC lower not having a cavitation plate.


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