hirschlegal

does anybody have any experience with sport master lowers on a 382 Fastech. I have an 03 382 with 500 EFI's I.T.S. and am spinning a 31 Labbed Bravo One Prop. I have high slip numbers, over 30% at WOT with a top speed around 69-70. I spoke with a number of guys, and everyone seems to think that X dimension is so conservative that its causing the boat to run slow. One guy has a 382 with 525's, he removed the muffler tips and installed sport master lowers with a 5 blade hydromotive prop and he is running 84mph, no joke. Does anyone have any other experience with these lower units?

Island Hopper

I assume this is with 1.5 GR. What is your RPM @ WOT?

RedDog382

I think this conclusion is contradictory. If you truly have a 30% slip factor, the drives and X diminsion are probably too high. You are not the first and only to have problems with the set-up on a 382 with I.T.S. See multiple previous threads on this subject.

RedDog382

Seems very unlikely in a fully optioned 382. The sportmaster lowers will decrease speed by a couple m.p.h., as will XR drives when compared to standard B1 Bravos.

Magicfloat

You posted 31 labs on on thread and 30labs on another,31's seem a little strong, what are they?The 03's were generally shipped with 30's. RedDog is right,SM's lose 2 mph but they do look kind of cool. Problem is the big,deep skegs. You can fix that by trimming the skegs,some of the racers do that. I had a diagram at one time but can't find it,sorry.You are down a few mph but prop changes should help,5 blades will help a lot. Have you gotten your selling dealer involved? He is the first guy to go to,my customers always seem to . My 04 Poker Run 382 with 575's,Stellings boxes and 5 blade Hyros runs 78 loaded. 382 is not the fastest 38 out there,but it is the most comfortable.Fastest stock 382 with 525's and Stellings would have to be John Buyers' boat out of Ft Laud, he did extensive prop tweaking plus got rid of the restrictive Corsa Mufflers(Trick Marine can sell you open tips that make a tremendous difference) but I think John is in the low 80's,84 seems high,but who knows?

hirschlegal

the boat came with 31 labs. The mercury part number is for a 32 which was labbed to 31. I have spoken with my dealer and he is going to pick up the boat and test it to see whats going on. I know John Buyers, have a place not to far from him in Florida and we did several poker runs together in Florida last winter and this past spring. I am in the process of removing the Corsa muffler tips as well. Unfortunately they put the tips on with 5200 and the mechanic was afraid of cracking and/or damaging the gel coat getting them off. Given all that I have read on the Corsa muffler tips, I think I'll take the chance and repair any gel coat damage. I had Corsa make me a set of tips that match the existing tips without mufflers and still have the option of switching them to the drives because the boat as the Quick and Quiet system. I have to check the drive heights this weekend. They are either too high, in which spacers are the answer or too deep in which case sport master lowers with or without spacers will do along we prop change. As far as that 382 with 525's Sportmasters and 5 blades going 85-86, I will be taking a ride on that boat in November when I get to florida and will let you know if the numbers are real. That boat also has no muffler tips. Thanks for your help

hirschlegal

yes 1.5 gear ratio and spinning 5200 RPW at WOT

Magicfloat

I misread your early post. I thought you had SM's already. I now see you are wondering if SM's would help,my bad.Can you get on plane by nailing the throttles with drives down and K-planes all the way up without the props breaking loose?Typically,a properly set-up 382 with 4-blades will need the planes down somewhat and feather the throttles a little to keep from breaking loose. My 04 is set up right for the SM's and Stellings,but needs some tab and feathering of throtlles. But something seems off here.Hard to believe you can turn 31's labbed from 32's(BTW,that is normally a better prop than a 31 labbed from 30's in most cases)But you are getting way too much slippage it would seem.You are on the right track to have your dealer check things out.And,BTW, tell Herb I said hello.