2004 38 lighting
 

I have staggered 38 with stb motor fwd and see the newer ones are port fwd...... anyone know why they changed???
Also I am thinking of putting some 2" shorty's on and wondering if I should go with merc's or imco's???

imco's are faster.

what power

525's it does 88mph now stock......fresh water speed

I am currently trying 1" shorter Imcos on an 04 Lightning. I was told 2" was going to be too high and the Imco's were faster although because of the smaller skeg, might get a little loose compared to the 2" sportmaster with a spacer. First try last night, and still breaking in the new drives, but it got up on plane just fine and seemed to be able to pull more prop than the stock 32 Bravo One's. I have recieved two prop reccomendations 30P 6 Blade Herrings and Labbed 30P 5 Blade Maximus's. I will want to try before purchase. One other thing the fuel tanks were full and that will no represent where I will run for top speed.

04 lighting what? power?

you may have been misinformed. i just today ran a 03 38 half stagger with 575's 2" imcos spining 33 hydro p5's. she ran 108.2 and was still climbing. i will be running another with 750 single 4's . although this one is has standard gimbals and trhe first has i.t.s.
either way go for it.

p.s the maximus will be best hole shot, planeing and cruise. you will sacrifice some top end.

Talked to fountain they told me they recoommend 2" shorty sportmasters and Maxumis 35 pitch 5- blades by 15-5/8" as that's the set up they are currently rigging there boats from the factory with and that I should expect speeds around 96mph with my stock 525's. Just ordered the props to try first.....they are very pricey with the lab finish that they recommended........
I was thinking that when I do try the shorty's of trying the imco's on my xr's as it seems everyone thinks they are faster......But are they reliable???

I have 525's w/short stagger, I had to sort through many possible setup opinions, 3 sources came out simular. That will be the first try. I have 2" Sports to try later.

38' question
 

I have an EFI500 powered 38' '01 model with stock everything (B-1's, not staggered. etc) . It runs like a banshee-86.4 GPS in saltwater, 100 gls fuel and 1 person. It is just a quick hulled boat BUT I have been reading all the notes about shorter lowers and want to make the right shorter move and prop move at same time. I would love to hear any experiences with same setup I have. Can't buy 4 sets of props, then 2 different sets of shorter lowers. Would appreciate any assistance and thanks

Viaqua,

What props are you running on your boat?

the first ic above is of a 99 38. same bottom. 2" worked well on that boat.
you should really find out what your x-dimension is, and then make a decision. remember that going 2" shorter and adding a spacer is cheaper than buuying a 1" then finding out that you need to sell the 1 and buy a 2 or never finding out what a 2 could have done.
speed is not cheap. it takes time that costs money unless you can handle the tasks your self. and it takes parts that cost money, some of which can be a waste if not thought out properly.

26 Hydro's

monstaaa-Many thanks and I know the 1" dangers. I have the $ to do whatever, I just can't stand wasting it. Who can? I figured that with all of the experience in this forum, someone has the answer.
Many thanks again.

you are ver welcome, hopefully my comments have helped you come closer to a decision that best benefets you.

bets of luck and sasfe boating.

Just put on Imco 2"shortie's. They are well worth the money. Comes out of the hole good and gained good mph. Now I just got to get it proped right. Tried the 35p maximus's that fountain reccommend......but, couldn't spin enough rpm's for top end performance......They worked well out of the hole, in the mid-range, and had great fuel econo:D Just sent props back to merc. They said they get me some more rpm's out of them.

how many rpm's were you down?

I have 2 Mercury 2" shorties with 150 gears for 2500 ea or 4500 for the pair. Roger 336 214 6900

I was only turning 4800rpm's......Ron at Merc say's he'll get me some........... I can't wait to get'em back and try'em to see where I am at??? Plus I would like to learn what they are going to do to them......???

keep us posted

Last night second time I used with shorties.......one fell completly off going 60-65mph in 50ft of water....... I hope the place I had work on it satnds behind it!!!! My blood is boiling! To top it off the props I sent back to merc on Monday and pd $200 to overnight'em with ups still haven't made it there!:( Three days late so far! Not a good week!:mad:

These still available????