ICDEDPPL

iTrader: (1)

My experience was the same. Customer service is 50% of the equation for me.

JasonSmith

Are you referring to the drive oils?

drpete3

Im guessing no after my conversation with him yesterday

endeavor1

iTrader: (3)

Im gonna try out this new oil of Johns this weekend. I bought a drive from him and he also sent this oil for me to try so I m looking forward to reporting back about it.

I know John has different lowers and strengthening in them now but I m sure in the future we will all see a huge jump in this product.

lvrepoman

Single engine, and the deep pockets for drives was getting old fast. My typical life span with any of the stuff out has been around 2 hours before needing, at the very least, all new upper and lower gears. We had no way to pinpoint what was letting go first. Last time around it was a total annihilation of practically every component in the drive. Imco lower case had a 5-6" vertical crack running parallel to the vertical shaft, the propshaft splines twisted at the gear end about a full spline, clutch shaft twisted apart, lower gears destroyed, upper gears destroyed, upper pinion bearing impacted and seized, forward gear fused to the clutch cone. The only 2 components I could use again if I wanted to are the upper case and vertical shaft. I did go ahead and purchase a bmax for the desert storm poker run. But before I spew the results of my trip, lemme back up a moment. About a month before the poker run, i found 2 hurt cylinders in the old motor. I decided to go ahead and finish building the new combo I had been working on. The old combo was 505 cubes with a hydraulic roller, merlin heads, and a huge procharger. The problem woith the old motor was bottom end torque- it didnt have any until 2300 when it came into boost very violently. That motor made right at 1700hp and 1200 ft lbs, and ran to 6400 before the cam ran out of space... at 32 lbs of boost. The new combo is 582ci with a very well prepped 23 degree head, a lil more compression, a solid roller with a much more aggressive profile, and the same huge procharger. This motor made 2389 on c16, and 1470 on 91 octane pump gas. Actually made more power than I was hoping for or expecting for that matter, but Im not one to detune anything... use it if you got it. The boat is a 1988 scarab excel 28. Weighs in at 6000 lbs full of fuel, with 2 people on board. My best mph before the bmax was 121.3. That was with a 35 pitch maximus and a 1.5 ratio xr with all imco parts. I went to havasu for the poker run and managed at run a full day, make it back to the marina under its own power, and squeeze out 3 solid pulls in cleaner water... 128, 131, 133.7. This is the first time I have ever been able to get into the throttle and keep in it for any amount of time. The tune I had for the poker run was a mid boost tune. I ran it on 110 octane, which was good for just shy of 2100 on the dyno. The drive setup for desert storm is geared with a 1.30 drive ratio and a 34 pitch maximus that i had labbed for blade strength, not rpm. I ran this combo to 6100 before I lost the balls to keep the sticks up anymore. If anyone here cares to get into any details any further, ill be more than happy to discuss every aspect of this build with them. Im not here to hijack this thread, but merely to share my experience with this drive and the bravo shop. My first day in havasu I had a small hiccup with the drive, which was a product of my own doing. I needed a little more prop clearance at the cav plate, and after discussing it with John, I took a grinder to the cav plate and made a dimple. In doing this, I managed to loosen the upwards cav plate bolt, which during break in, backed out and wiped out a prop and bent the propshaft. At 7am the next morning, John showed up at my house with a brand new propshaft and a smile. He swapped that shaft out with me, and than clearanced that cav plate to where he felt it was safe to run. I have not found this type of customer service and loyalty from any other company that I have ever dealt with for any type of product. I am thoroughly looking forward to running this drive some more, just to see how much punishment it will really take. When the time comes for repair, I am actually looking forward to dealing with John some more. I dont know what he did to make this thing live, but he did. If anyone feels that I am being untruthful in any way here, I welcome you to come to Vegas and take a ride in this thing... i suggest you bring a box of pampers with you.

Glenn 702-604-5206 if there are any questions to be asked, feel free to call me or pm me here.

lvrepoman

Also feel its worth mentioning- John has some pretty cool pictures taken in Havasu of the slight damage done by my expanding maximus. We found out together that those props arent rated for very much power... I think we measured the deflection at just under an inch outwards, and just under an inch forwards...

txriverrat2001

All you charge is a box of pampers for a ride in that thing? - $hit ... I'm in!! LOL!!! Thanks for sharing

pacalim1965@yaho

lvrepoman, I have felt your pain with all the bravo band aid tactics. i still cannot figure out why my 509 m3 procharged 27 Baja Boss eats bravos for lunch. tried all the cryod gear thick floor, steel tower, bull chit and still destroyes upper gears. Iam runnin 7lbs boost and i treat the drive with respect never air it out and gentle on the stick. i think the combo of trim and acceleration is the problem. any insight will be appreciated.

JasonSmith

It destroys them because your motor probably makes it's torque in your cruise rpm range. Combine that with the crap oil offered by Mercruiser, AMSOIL and others and you've got your answer.
Oil separating from the gear surface causing metal to metal contact.
You're a prime candidate for some good oil.

pacalim1965@yaho

I use royal purple gear lube. Jason i think you are correct about the rpm range and torque, do you think if i swaped the 30 bravo prop to a 28 it would decrease the load on the drive? and raise the rpms out of that danger zone.