I have a 39 Cigarette with 600 SCIs. I had fresh XRs, this spring they were rebuild by Offshore Outdrive in Florida. I was very easy on the boat all summer knowing they were a weak link. I blew a drive within 15 hours. Unless you like to idle all day, I don't think they will last long at all with your engines and boat. Sell them while you can, and buy SCX drives.

i have my original bravo ones from 1998. 1000 hours behind stock 454 mpi's. now three years with no problems running 650 hp at 93 mph. how long do i have????? lol

I over powered the hell out of them, used to get 3 passes out of a set of gears.

I got a season with NO issues running 1020 HP through the XR drive I got from you :)


5000 lb 29' single tho'. No comparason to what the OP is running

(PS.. but I guess THIS one of yours wasn't built br Frank's marine hence the extended life ;) )

What is XR rated HP/torque from mercury?

I had a "NEW" from mercury B1 drive behind stock 496HO and top gears destructed after 10months. Merc warrantied and I paid the difference for the X drive and from day 1 noticed it's noisy which I presume from the top gears. Now got 50hrs and nothing on magnets. Shouldn't the XR handle more power, why the failure?

There are some serious design flaws in the Bravo drives that need to be fixed to handle any kind of power. When I blew my first drive in a 5500lb boat with about 700hp, I took it to George at AADS. He showed me boxes of broken shafts and they were all broken in exactly the same spot. When the bearing goes it puts more load on the gears so they chew themselves up. He redesigned the bearing and shaft which is huge for extending the life of the drive. I've had him do a level 3 rebuild along with having the gears cryo'd. So far so good, just finished my third season and I just can't bring myself to baby it like I know I should. I also have a pretty big cam which doesn't really develop power until I get on plane which helps the life of the drive. You definitely need better oil then the Merc stuff. I run NEO oil which after 3 seasons is still clear and in good shape. I drain some every season when I check the magnets and check for water or degradation. Best part is the 24 month warranty from AADS even with your power level.

Yup, I was breaking XR's on a 30' boat w/525efi. Pretty sure it was the 5 blades that was doing it. The boat had close to 200 hrs. running a bravo prop. After switching to a Maximus I broke the drive twice in the next 150 hrs.

If I run thru the tigers den, how nany times can I do so before I die ?

lol, good luck op !

NA = or Blower engines?
NA = They should last a little bit
Blower = A lot less than a little bit

From 2 minutes to 40 hours its a crapshoot. I prefer the heavier weight unicorn oils that promise the world but it still doesnt change the true destiny of an XR. I think a few other guys running on XR's do the same as me, whenever I saw one that looked good I bought it and kept in in the corner till I needed it.