DriveGuardian
#41
#42
Registered

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 9,969
Likes: 6,464
From: Chicago
and the comments on the vid:
Rich Smith: Nope. Limiter set at 7,000. Prop just breaking loose between swells. Happens too fast to pull back. One of the reasons we are using the Drive Guardian System
#43
Registered

Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 8,439
Likes: 93
From: yorkville,il
i do not know the guy who is making the driveguard units and i have no experiance with them but imo this unit will prolong the life of a bravo style drive because the torque spikes that a bravo sees upon reentry is a parts killer.mercury marine limits the use of a bravo style drive to the sc600 and under and i know a few guys that destroy these drives with 525s in their boats.i am not saying that this unit will allow you to put a 900hp supercharged engine in front of a bravo and stop the drive failure,nothing is going to do that but i do believe it will extend the life of the drive in an application where the drive leaves&reenters the water with any frequency..
#44
Registered
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 946
Likes: 1
From: Franconia, PA
Had a DriveGuardian for entire OPA season. Didn't have any drive failure that DriveGuardian could have prevented. Because of the frequency of the waves (at Atlantic City where the video was shot) I was unable to get into any rhythm because they were all short hops that by the time the prop spun and then bit again, it was too late to pull back. Beacause we were racing, we had to keep going, even though I wouldn't suggest anyone run their boat like that. The piece of mind of having the DriveGuardian did make it bearable to keep hearing the rpm spikes.
#45
The first set of pictures is our pinion gear from 2013, it has 3 races on it. No Drive Guardian.
The second set of pics is the pinion from this year, same side, same drive. 5 races with the Drive Guardian. I assure you we ran just as hard, coming second in points and winning another World Championship. Same props, same engines. It does have some wear, hence the sheen to it, but no big dents or dings from impact like the first one. Fantastic results.




Second set



Happy to snap some more if needed.
The second set of pics is the pinion from this year, same side, same drive. 5 races with the Drive Guardian. I assure you we ran just as hard, coming second in points and winning another World Championship. Same props, same engines. It does have some wear, hence the sheen to it, but no big dents or dings from impact like the first one. Fantastic results.




Second set



Happy to snap some more if needed.
#47
Registered

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 174
Likes: 15
From: Cary, IL
#48
Registered

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,598
Likes: 1,168
From: taxachusetts
#49
Registered
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,943
Likes: 0
From: Manhasset, NY
I think this is Great !! It really is great that these guys are trying to innovate products to make our hobby a little bit more fun and a little less hurt on the wallet. Now, not to derail off the Drive Gaurdian but has anyone used the Drive Sync ? I NEED THAT !!!!!!! I want one NOW....... My one complaint about my boat is I need three hands to trim and drive. Especially at high speed.... My drives are always moving at different speeds and that device is EXACTLY what i need..... where do i order and who has used one ?
http://www.marinedesigncorp.com/drivesync.html
http://www.marinedesigncorp.com/drivesync.html
#50
I wouldn't think so. It looks like it's nothing more that a multi-disk clutch pack so all you'd have to do is tighten or loosen the stack to adjust the friction so they slip at a predetermined level. The design looks very simple and honestly it's so simplistic and obvious that I SMH that I didn't think of it, lol!
Congrats to Mike, it looks like a great product and I'm sure it works as intended (if properly set) to some degree!


