set up
 

Hey Northerndoc, take all the advice you can get, when it comes down to it if your boat has a 2000 set your going to have to put a lot of power on a bravo to get it to run that fast IF you find someone that knows a transon set up youll go a lot faster with less power, and more depenability. Ive rigged 2
35s that with 525s that ran 115 all day yeah they were race boats only difference being weight. Put the CG were it belongs rig the transom how it should be and you wont have to put the power on a drives that everyone knows a wont take. how much does your boat weight and is it dry and can you keep it dry?

whipple is in the front running now due to times, and a good product. their are others.as for gears, cryogenics does work. some feel merc is not the best but rather imco. as for prop speed the single step likes the handling part of boating in my opinion. this is said after dialing maybe 20 or more 35 ex's. as for how out of stock 525??? props. bottom. lowers.

with all due, you must pay more attention to your drives then.
one of my favorite packages is a ZUL 598 750 single four and a -2 bravo sportmaster witrh 1:36's. no matter what kind of application, 35 ltg, 36 gladiator, 38 ltg, 42, ltg, 38 t.g, 27 activator, 30 superboat, 29 kryptonite. it is a vbery durable and rewarding package. maintanance is a true blood line, as is the oil.

Cant see how a bravo would hold up behind a richie zul 598CI. My buddy with a 2006 42 EX has been thru 1/2 dozen XR drives since he owned his boat. Several other buddies have blew their bravo's to smithereens. None were running over 600HP. All of them run good lube and change it often. Other than changing the lube, how can they maintain their drive internals any better? One of them did the cryo treatment in a effort to stop breaking drives. Didnt work. Lasted less than a season. I believe he ended up going with a imco. One other buddy with a 37 Stilleto has some procharged motors makeing around 750HP i believe. He has had good luck so far with the imco drives i believe.

One thing against them is over here we boat in some rough water. Boats spend a lot of time airing out. Im sure their drives would last a bit longer if they boated on a small lake.

Questioning
 

Hey Bo, did your post question the 525s I used. Do you want #s, hull #s , current owners, OH ya I forgot about the 4 seater i put some griffin motors in that that was the funnest ride in the river at a 127. Is there really 20 35xs that far out east.

Had a 2000 35 Lightning twin step. Took the 500 efi's to 540's, crane 751 cam, AFR aluminum heads, Whipple with 7lbs of boost. Ran the boat 100 hrs the first summer, had IMCO Sc's with 1.36 gears, spinning 29 Hydromotives that had been worked a little. Easy on plane, didn't jump the boat out of the water, never broke a drive.
Traded the boat, new owner broke a drive in less than 10 hrs. The drives will last, you just got to realize what you can and cannot do.
Our 35, was one of the most fun boats we owned. Ran like a raped ape. Go for it.
Our 38/700 boat is a lot of fun also though, and no drive worries.:drink:

How fast has a single step been and what kind of power?

I also agree on installing the motors back in the stock location for CG reasons. Bmax uppers and -2IMCO SC lowers with Cryo'd gear sets on my 42 with 750HP and I have 3 seasons on them. The Bmax's are watercooled and also been using Mobil 1 75w-90 every 25 hours.
Let me add ... I have learned that running hard in the rough is alot easier on the drives when the fuel is low.

BTW don't forget to drop in a fresh set of lifters also.

relax,,,, dont see where i questioned anyone..no,, no there arent 20 35's east, i like to b.s guys with big egos and lil; peepee's..
and as is well known for anything worth while, people will travel...

i agree that they do blow up. but like i said they will lastr. easy out of the hole and that sort of thing. often changing oil. swaping drives from side to side. this isnt law just whay i have found to be a help. a gladiator with 750's and 1 36 bravos went 3 seasons with only poker runs on it and maybe a couple handsfull of crusing around. the owner was very good on the sticks and we serviced the boat very often. like every run out. i mention this being i feel alot of guys here do there own service and therefore can save a few dollars doing so where they can svc more frequently...