Forgot to mention, my uppers and lowers have never been apart either in the past 710 hrs. no excess metal or anything at any of the oil changes so far. i also run the halo driver showers and they have made a big difference in keeping the heat down in the drives which is what usually causes the upper bearing to go out since it out of the water all the time. both drives still shift nice and smooth and no clunking of any sort when going in and out of gear.

I never ran a 292 but had a 2003 312 with 496"s. 72 mph and a great ride for the size of the boat. If your over nighting you may want to consider the bigger cabin. Like stated earlier,you already picked the right manufacturer,now it's just what works for you. Good Luck,and let us know what you decide. Jeff

The only thing I'll add about the 292 is they are fun to drive. Yes they are a bit slow to plane but once the boat levels out it accelerates from 35-40 to 60 in a heart beat. The throttle response is amazing. And the nice thing is they are easy on fuel vs. big blocks. I do miss the sound of my 502 powered 271 but the 350 mags have an exhaust note all their own.

I had the option when we bought our 292 of riding and crawling all over a 312. The 312 is much larger in the cock pit and a little longer side seats in cabin but for the extra cost in fuel it was a no brainer to get the 292. The 292 is much more nimble but slower to plane out. Engine access is about the same. We can cruise al around our lake on 50 gal of fuel a weekend, sometimes less depending on how much swimming is done.

was there a problem several years back in the 292's w/ the 6.2 engines? what model years did that affect? I'm wanting to get into a 292 and looking at a couple of 06's, but concerned about the 6.2 engine. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

I'm not aware of any issues with the 6.2's. I purchased my 2008 brand new in 2010 and have no problems through the first 85 hours.

it may have been fixed by the 08 model year, but I've heard comments on problems with the 6.2's for a brief period of time that was requiring a lot of repair work or new engines completely.... for some reason I was thinking it was in the 06 model year boats.

My 2006 292 has 6.2s. Bought the boat new and now closing in on 300 hours. Turn key reliability and run as good as new. I follow a very good maintenance routine and they have treated me right. The only issue has been IAC valves, but that doesn't have anything to do with the 6.2.

I thought I had heard of a bearing problem with 2004 6.2's