Bravo with 525's
 

Will Bravo Drives hold up behind Twin 525's in a 6500 lb boat?

I've got a single 525 sc in my Nordic heat which is I believe 4000+ lbs and my standard bravo has held up fine....I also am very conservative and don't do hard holeshots and launch it all the time...however I am upgrading power and going with a steel tower case and cap with XZ gears this winter for a little added protection

Stewart

What twin engine BBC boat only weighs 6500# ???

The real question is how long will they hold up. My single engine 28 Pantera(about 6000#) had a 525SC. Original Bravo drive upper let go at 205 hrs.
Next drive was an Imco upper mated to the stock Bravo lower. It was still going strong 275 hrs later when I sold the boat.

28 Saber that was an approximate weight I was given, similar to Fountain of same size.

That dry weight is prob pretty close. I think my 28 Pantera was closer to 5500# dry with a single engine.
I think regular Bravo's would be ok for while, but X's or XZ's would be my choice for being strong enough and lasting the longest.
A lot will depend on how its driven and how much air time it gets.

Usually easy on launches and never really air time, inland lakes, do drive it like I stole it on occasion.

I had 625hp 540's in a 33 Outlaw with bravo's...:D

Do you know how many guys race with Bravos, Drain a pint out often to see if something is going on.. You can catch it early that way. Tuck the drive the night before, all the junk will float to the drain plug

Thank you all. I have grenade my share of Bravos but with significantly more HP and TQ. I needed to hear from those with experience with this setup. I feel more comfortable making my decision now.

A good friend of mine had a 28 Saber with 525 sc Hawks and Bravo's. Not really any problems. Maybe a little twist in a propshaft and that was replaced right away. Kind of an open checkbook with his boat.

Bravo drives
 

I had a 28 Warlock offshore with twin bravo one drives with 525sc with 600hp each. The bravo drives was stock with annual oil changes. I have driven the Warlock in lakes, rivers, ocean without any drives issues, the drives has over 350hrs after 20 yrs of ownership. The Warlock has run more than 90mph.
I feel is how you drive your boat and regular maintenance on the drives has provided me 20 years problem free service.

I run 30 maxima's on stock xr's with a 34 Superboat which is a fairly light hull , just at 200 hours and one drive has some metal this year. If I was staying at this hp level I would just buy new bravo's every 5 years

3 bravo XR's behind 3 525EFI's on my 47 Fountain (16,000 lbs wet). Have never blown up a drive.

Twin 525sc (550hp) with bravos and 5 blade Maximus props in a 28ft Checkmate (may be a little lighter than you)

I've had no issues - ran at lake Erie multiple times last year along with the Lake Cumberland poker run.

Thank you all for your input. I figured that if Merc was putting them there from the factory that it was pretty safe and you have confirmed that though.

It seems like a drive guardian, billet top caps, and drive showers would go a long ways to keeping Bravos happy.

a tool can break a bravo with 300 hp... a good driver can make one live with 650+ infront of it