Drive Showers
 

Looking to add drive showers to the Bravo 1's on my 292. What do you all recommend?

I'm sure you will get many options and opinions on this question. Personally I am running the Rex Marine showers with the dual pick-ups. You can check out their website for some pictures. They look great and work great as well.

i have been looking for a while...no product on the market fits my needs. i wanted the simreks but contacted the company and sent a picture of my setup...he said they would have to be custom made to wrap around the latham ext steering brackets...at 210 a piece i think ill do without for now.

i dont want to have to drill my cav plates. anyone have any ideas? sorry for the thread jack.

to the OP look into latham showers, rex marine, simrek, and wicked marine. imco also makes some similar to latham.

just be careful what you buy yourself into...like i mentioned some require cav plate drilling and others flat out dont fit with ext steering hardware.

I went with Latham since the hydraulic steering plates on top of the drive already had the threaded hole for the shower fitting. You do have to drill through the cavitation plate to mount the pick-up. They provide a template to make sure you drill it in the proper location. Not that tough, just measure twice and drill once!:drink: I think the Latham showers have a clean look and do a good job.

Anything you buy will work fine behind small blocks,but you do need them.I got a set from wicked marine you do have to drill the cavitation plate but I did not think it was a big deal.

my only issue with the latham's is that their is only one pick-up...and the water pick-up seems kind of high.

You can try Simrek, www.driveshower.com

The nice thing with Simrek is you can do a group buy and save some coin... With a 5+ order they're only 139.00 ea. I know a lot of people say they are the best drive shower. I'd be interested in a group buy for the Simrek if you or anyone else is!

Not an issue at all. Latham specifies in their instructions to install the pick-up on the side of the cavitation plate where the prop blades are on the up-swing. So port side for standard rotation (clockwise) and starboard side for counter rotation. This really pumps a LOT of water up the pick-up. I hung off the back while on plane and the drives are getting SOAKED.

Also, since the pick-up is up and out of the way and on the 'high pressure' side of the prop, there is no chance of creating a cavitation problem, which I have read about in some cases.

Even at 210 they are worth every penny.

^^^ sorry but $150 is my cutoff for $30 worth of material and $30 worth of development and testing per every shower sold...

These are the ones I want to get. If you have the Latham steering it is a must because the drive mount covers the top of the gear housing. By using the latham kit (or the Hardin knock off for Latham) it will force the water between the drive mount and upper gear housing which is exactly what you want. If you use a standard setup it won't hit the top of the drive at all.

What is a bit odd on your setup is the Latham steering but different tie bar. My Donzi is all integrated Latham.

They are the only ones that work

Actually the tie bar set-up is Latham, or at least the mounts are engraved 'Latham'. It was factory installed at Formula. I think they went with this set-up because the steering cylinders are mounted between the outdrives. Or maybe because the top of the outdrives get pretty close to the bottom of the swim platform in the full up position not leaving much room to mount at the plates(?). Dunno, but I sure love how she drives with hydraulic steering!:drink:

That's a Formula thing. Most use the tiebar with the cap brackets.

simrek halo

i sent the owner of simrek a picture of my setup and said the halo's would not clear my latham steering brackets.

I like it too, except when docking it gets a bit tough sometimes. like there isn't enough pressure in the pumps.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_CivJQ_k0mVE/Sk...0/DSC02787.JPG

Do I understand that the "cap style" don't do much good?

The holes on the top of my latham brackets are not tapped. Why is that? I guess I cant install the drive shower hose.

the only shower that i can use is the latham shower...this is due to the hydraulic steer setup. it is less effective than the simrek showers which cool the entire outer casing just not the top.

yes, formula makes it difficult to setup any shower aside from the kind that involve braided steel wires and pickups through the cav plate. damn steering brackets.

the top of the bravo drives should be tapped to allow for easy installation.

That is not my experience. I boat on the river and will make 20-30 mile stretch runs at 50+mph all the time. Prior to putting on the Latham showers (see post #4) the drives would get hot enough to get the grey/chaulky hard water deposits. I also noticed the gear lube would turn a little dark and have a bit of a burnt smell. After installing the showers no more chaulk and when it is time to change the gear lube it still looks and smells like new.

Like I said in an earlier post, I hung off the back when my boat was on plane and the drives are getting soaked! Yes, water sprays out the side between the Latham plate and drive cap, but water is also running down all sides of the drive.

I've had several styles on my boats. Simrek halos work the best, but the chrome cap styles also work. I also think the Simrek halos are the least attractive, and the chromed cap style ones look better.

I have some spare AN stainless line and fittings, I could cook up something like this for maybe $20.

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-11572...ve-shower.aspx

That's basically it, right? 1/2" npt at the top plate, and a through fitting with a pickup tube? Might make a good weekend project.

^^^pretty much...i am looking into retrofitting my own drive showers too.