B Max drive
 

No nothing about them are they any good.How do they compare to a XR.Wirth fooling with?? reason there is a pair for sale and I need drives. JOHN SR

Do a search on here, most that have ACTUALLY had them and ran them seem to really like them. They are built better with larger gears case ect... than the Bravo XR. i have some for sale as well as a couplke more on OSO. Only reason Im selling mine is I have numerous XR's ready to go on my current boat and sold the single I oriignally bought it for. There is 1 on here for sale advertised as damaged and I must say you dont see that very often. I do recommend to try and get them with the IMCO lowers though.

People seem to LOVE or HATE them, both opinions come from owners and non owners. John the owner of the Bravo shop is a great guy. Good Customer service. The upper is very very strong. The lower still uses an XR gear. I think the drive has potential as John keeps updating it in the future.

We installed a couple new B-Max last year on a 38 Top Gun with 850s and haven't had a problem since!
John Was real good to work with!

Will the B-Max drives work with the Bravo 1 transom assembly/helmet or does it require the HP transom assembly/helmet.

No transom assembly or helmet change needed.

It is a direct replcement, an upgrade is recommended as the transom assembly becomes your next weakest link...

i know a local guy that had a 22ft eliminator daytona that ran a bmax for years with no trouble out of the upper. he ran a imco sc lower and would have the lower rebuilt about every 50hrs for security. the boat was a little heavy for the size but still small and considered light. he ran a 572 with a quadrotor making about 1200hp. the bmax upper held up and he was not easy on it even out of the hole. it was a 1.3 ratio running a 24" prop, the boat was crazy fast accelerating. it sold me but im still considering the imco scx upper with a sc lower for my htm ss24 with 1250hp this fall when i get the new twin turbo motor installed. i can tell you from the abuse he did to the bmax i was and am still impressed. i think bmax now offers a 1.5 ratio if you need it. it will bolt right up but depending on your hp i would surely consider upgrading the gimble ring and inner transome plate. in my opinion the new weak link will be the lower.

i ran a pair on a 42 fountain with blowers 850hp and in five years only broke a prop shaft, its all in who sets them up, i shipped mine to ron bender and if i get another set i will have the same guy set them up again. i would love to have a set with 1.50 ratio

Why would you not have the owner John Pfahl set them up? The drive has evolved so much i think you would be at a disadvantge any other way. Nothing against Ron Bender, just stating fact. Go to the manufacturer would be my choice, but my opinion is biased to. My Cigarette is usually in his shop sleeping minus the new interior its getting this week.

:evilb:

when i did mine john wasnt around, ron was im just stating i have nothing against john, but like you, you got your guys you deal with and so do i, when i did mine the bravo shop was ran by dean so thats why i used ron. never said john was bad but ron set these up and in 5 years only a broken prop shaft well he did something right.

Spent some time talking with John today at the new shop. The changes he has made to the Bmax drives since purchasing the business is amazing. I had a original Bmax and while it appears the same is not as good as the current units. He has made many small changes in the way the cases are made,chamfering edges, adding reliefs etc, definitely the only guy I'd have setup a bmax drive as he is he only one that knows every trick to making them perfect.
The parts and knowledge he uses for bravo drives is also very beneficial to helping a bravo drive survive for any length of time.

well its been 6 years since i did mine. john is came along way with that company, when the other guy had it ron was the one to use. i wonder what all has been done to make them better, i know when i got my lowers they looked like crap i shaved the lowers and smooth the heck out of them and made the leading edge sharper.

John has done a lot to the BMax's to make them even stronger. Better materials, closer tolerances, and redesigned lowers.
Take a look at all the improvements. http://midwestboatparty.com/forum/sh...The-Bravo-Shop