Any updates?

Learned alot this weekend. I borrowed some Maximus, but the diameter was to large to run with my shorties. So we went on to plane B. I removed the 1/2 spacer and -2 shorties and installed some standard lowers. We measured the propshaft centerline and were now at 4" below the transom directly in front of the drive. Boat is FULL of fuel, water tank FULL, and ALL my normal gear that we boat with. Boat got on plane easily with the 34p Bravo 1's, but I could only turn them 5400 rpm, speed was 87+ on gps. Switched to 32p Bravo 1's. Boat feels GREAT with them. Planes no problem, rough water handling is excellent, cruises at 60+ @ 3800. Only got a chance to almost open it up 1 time 89 at 5600, still had tabs down a couple of notches and drives not fully trimmed. The Mrs. was kind of giving me that look, so I eased off the sticks. Boat had over 3/4 Fuel.

Shortly after this leaving breakfast we were cruising with about 10 other boats and at 3500 rpm the starboard side coupler between the upper and lower drive decides to let go. Fortunately we were right in front of our cove when it happened, turned in put it on the lift and hitched a ride for the rest of the day.

Plan now is to reinstall the -2 shorties with 1 1/2" spacers and run the 32p Bravo 1's and call it good. Boat should be a few clicks over 90 in its normal weekend trim, we'll verify next weekend. I am happy with the 4 blades and I believe that they will be easier and more forgiving on the drives. I may have the props labbed by Bblades over the winter and that should be good for a little additional speed too.

The boat will be a true 90+ mph ride that handles rough water of LOTO extremely well, looks great and draws attention everywhere it goes. I am completely satisfied with that......................................for now

Awesome, John. Sounds great. Can't wait to see it in person.

The look I get from Linda when I'm tearing down the main channel on a busy day is usually just this:

Good to hear John. I figured lowering it an inch would make a big difference.

Well, it sounds like you got the drive height issue squared away, that's great news!

About the broken coupler..... They usually break because the pinion bearing in the lower is shot. The vertical shaft wobbles and breaks the coupler. The broken coupler is usually just a sign the lower needs refreshing.

The same thing happened to me about four years ago. The caged bearing in the lower isn't the greatest. The needles "grab" the race on the vertical shaft and wears down the race making it loose. The mercury style bearing is actually better but it doesn't fit our cases.

I've made a regular practice of replacing the bearings in the lower each season and I've never had this happen again. My $.02

It wasn't the coupler, I loaned him my used lowers and it broke the 8 year old vert shaft.

Today reinstalled the the -2 shorties with 1 1/2" spacer. The Bmax shorties do NOT have full length cav plates. So can't compare them directly to the full length lowers. Took some tab to get on plan. 5700 rpm with 32p Bravo 1's @ 92 mph. fuel is around 1/2 tank, about 125 gals. I'm calling it good. I need more seat time with the setup to see if I like the way it handles. I'll either leave it like this or reinstall the 2". She's getting put to bed on Sunday.

A huge THANKS to waconda and the BRAVO SHOP for going the extra mile and helping me get the boat dialed in. John was a tremendous help in this whole process.

Great thread ....Just found it. Thanks for posting all the info!

keep in mind when you go from 1.30 gears to 1.50's you are picking up a signifigant amount of torque, to the tune of 20% at the prop. IE- a 1000 hp/1000ft lb tq motor has 1300 ft lbs of tq at props w/ 1.30's (minus parasitic loses of course) and going to 1.50's would give the same setup up 1500 ft lbs of tq, Smitty