Way too much prop. Your boat should run 68+ all day at 5100-5150. Most 27's do best with a 24-26P. Sounds like a case for Brett at BBlades!

Also don't forget that we're talking about a bone stock ho so if you have a cylinder that is leaking a little or if you have a high hour engine that is wearing, it will continue to be harder to reach the optimal numbers.

Personally, I believe that if a 496 is "left alone", it will run next to forever minus normal maintenance and breakage.

It will give the 502's and 454's a run for their money in terms of stock service life. It DOES use oil so don't forget to check it often. Running it hot or low on oil will take some of the fun out of it.

You gotta get the drive number first cause with a 1.65, a labbed 30 would be perfect on a step bottom...

It is 1.65 outdrive. how will i know if a labbed 30 will actually fix it. lot of money to spend if it does't fix it

Mine is an 04 same set up as yours .. 28 bravo it runs 69 ,i tried a labbed 30 but i run heavy and like the 28 better for getting up on plane .. I am thinking about going to a maximus for better mid range cruise speed . I am more about better cruise speed than top end speed ..

Well not to sound cocky but I have extensive experience with this boat. There are some who have more than me.

I have an 03 single step.

Now, before you get all confident and spend your money, you should be diligent in knowing for "certain" that you have a healthy engine. Forget about your Livorsi or Gaffrig Tach.

1 compression test on all 8
2 leak down test on all 8
3 plugs, wires,
4 fuel pressure as well as fuel delivery system
5 air cleaner or flame arrestor
6 verify actual rpm at wot and with best trim settings - you should be able to hit your rev limiter once in a while in rougher water... A digital tach should read 5000 rpm almost all the time if not closer to 5100. That means watching it a lot at wot in calm water trimmed up close to 5

I know the 30 will run "slightly" better on my boat when it was stock based on the above info along with Brett agreeing that I could have bought a 30 and cut it down pretty far to get some minor gain. I'm talking 1 - 2 mph average. Anything more would be a pipe dream.

The prop may not be worth the money at all. But if all else is equal, it will net you something. Comes down to what value you as the owner puts on going just a little faster.

It's real important to me but not so much to other guys..

And one more thing...

Think about it, if your engine is in ship shape and you can bump the limiter that means that there is a wee bit of room to work with.

How? If you can cut a 30 down far enough to still get your rpm where you want it, that means that the smaller 30 is still slightly bigger than your 28 and again, the gain will be small but will show on gps.

Don't forget your bravo 28 is actuall somewhere around 27.3 but that's a whole different story.

And there's a real minor difference from one engine to another if you wanna split hairs.

Sorry I forgot you already have the prop you need. You can just work the one you have and save the price of a prop new or used...

lab work is bout 100 bucks an hour and typically worth it.

My guess is that you are not actually turning 4900 to just under 5000.

If you don't wanna buy the digital tach (SmartCraft SC 500), you can test your tach from within Diacom using the pseudo tach test and at least you will know if it's off or not and by how much.... mine is off by as much as 300 rpm in some instances. That's HUGE.

Thanks for the advise going to wait till after vaction at LOTO before i do anything