Im running 600hp in a 32 active thunder 7500 lb boat with bravo1s but i dont boat on any big lakes or ocean so boat never launches and i babby it on plane and ease the throttles and all is ok so far about 60hrs.

what about a basicaly stock fresh hp 500 efi with a bravo 1 in a 272 baja am i on borrowed time ??

Has anyone done the Arneson conversion? I have a freshly whippled 525 with a Bravo XR that I imagine will be toast eventually. I will most likely be putting in the SCX/SC or the Arneson next winter. Any info would be great.

Pure torque will bust bravos. It literally rips the teeth off the gears. Baby it or not, if you run bigger water and have 700 lbft or more, your going to break gear sets. BTDT and after 5 or so you really get sick of paying for them.
I swapped to an SCX/SC combo and couldn't be happier. Smooth shifts, quiet and no more gear sets self destructing every 30 or so hours.

You are 100% absolutely correct. I have been there.

How often are you servicing the SCX/SC? Everything I've read and been told, the XR should be every 20 hrs. At that rate, I'm looking at 4 to 5 services a season. I like to jump on it and I know I'm living on borrowed time. What's the purpose of the added HP and torque if you can't get on it.

What kind of boat do you have?

hi Rik how ya doing? this is Jaime from Antioch. Has one been done on a 24Pantera? I remember Fin posting along time ago he was working on one with ASD. Im assuming it was a local boat, but my Pantera is the only one im aware of in the area. Thanks JAIME

I change the gear oil every secong engine oil change so 20 hrs max.

I went to the SCX because I want to be able to hammer the stick forward when I am cruising along. I do not want to have to baby the thing all the time. That takes the fun out of having the HP in the first place.

You should be relatively safe with the stock 500 efi. What typically fails on bravo based drives is the top gear. The 500 efi simply doesn't have enough torque to quickly damage the gear like a large SC engine will.

The only bravo based drives that should be considered reasonably robust are the ones that use a larger beefed up upper gear... such as the Imco SCX or the Bmax. The down side is these drives rob more power due to their more robust build.

You also still have to consider the options with the lower unit as well. The lower gears are also known to fail, but the vast majority of bravo failures are typically related to the upper gear. The SCX lower is more beefy, but it will rob even more speed. The Bmax historically used a bravo based lower gear, but I understand they are working on a more industrial lower and it should be on the market soon. Obviously we have no idea what kind of speed losses they'll see with this new lower. But again, the lower is not what usually fails, it's that pesky upper gear. Although, once the upper is addressed, I suppose the lower becomes the next weakest link...