TRS To #3's
 

So I bought a 88 10 meter last year & I love it. It's got 600 hp 509's & TRS drives. My dad also has an 88 12 meter that he upgraded from #3's to #5's last year. They were just rebuilt before he found the 5's. Was kicking round idea of putting the 3's on my boat. Was wondering if anyone on here has tried it & were the results worth all that work? My TRS's are like brand new with no problems. Would it slow boat down, they say takes more power to spin a 3? My engines are farther foward in my boat than his, so would have to deal with that.

The Konrad, replacement for the TRS would be your best way to go. Parts for the #4&5 are becoming harder to locate, I would imagine #3 are not far behind.

not sure your engines are further forward..same transmissions and engine placement..konrads are your best bet hands down.and a direct bolt up..awesome pricing going on....

To convert to 3's from TRS, you are correct. The engines have to move back like 2''. So you will need to drill the stringers. At that point, you will also probably want to raise the engines height wise too.

Personally, if you have the #3's, go for it. Most it might cost you is a couple grand in misc parts, like ssm tailstocks for the trannies, and transom assemblies if you dont have them. Thats ALOT cheaper than spending 20-25k for new drives.

Set your propshafts about 1.5-2" below the bottom, you may have to notch the rubrail. The boat will more than likely go faster than the current trs setup, and throw a cool rooster tail. The 3's will live forever with 600's in a 10 meter, and if you wanna step up to 750's, they will work fine for that too.

Mild, have you run a set that high? With or without a notched transom?

Yes, my 38 has Ssm iv's . Was a Trs boat. Propshafts are 1.5" below the bottom. No boxes, notched transom. With 4 blades prop slip is 10-12 percent.

Do you think the 4's different skeg and cavitation plate make a difference? Just asking because I'm getting ready to start cutting on my hawk for the 3's. I think I'm going with 2.5-2.625 below.

There was a guy on here with a 10 meter with iii's and very high x . No boxes. I wanna say with about 425-450hp he ran mid 70's.

Lil red you may not be able to go that high on your boat, being 40ft and heavy, deeper drives may help carry the bow better and net more speed. No cavitation plate on the iv's. I think your boat would do well about 3" below the bottom. But that's just my thought , and I am by no means a rigger !

Thanks for the info! Good points that I was forgetting. I had originally decided on 3, then said I could squeak a little more..... Forgetting that I'm trying to push a barge!

You switched yours over fro TRS, yourself or did you have someone do it? How much of a nightmare was it? We have everything except tailshafts. My dads boat is a 88 12 meter. It had 1.68 ratio when he bought it new. Couple years ago he had drives rebuilt and went to a 1.50. Now it's got 5's with 1.50 and 1000hp, and is quite a bit faster. What ratio you running? Shortening the tailpipes seems scary.

Not sure what u have for tailpipes now, so can't say. If you we're going with iv's or v's, you could have prob left your engine heights exactly where they are. You still can, but you'll still be kinda deep. A Ssm iii is about a inch shorter than a Trs I wanna say.

It's really not that much of a nightmare. If you have rear plate style mounts now, your good there, if not, I have the mounting ears that bolt to the tranny and then to the inner transom plate of the Ssm should you need them

24.311 shaft to shaft on a 3 not positive on trs but I think it's something like 22 7/8?

I'm that guy. But I switched it to bravo's now and runs even better and I set thr drives even higher..

Here are a few before and afters..I know some guy's like the 3's but you can still get decent money for them and if you have to do all that work bravo's are the way to go. Just my opinion

My Understanding is Gary Kollofski / board name ( RMPRam )
bought all the rights from Mercury to produce these parts.

He has the prints and they are being built by the same companies Mercury used.

Gary Kollofski
[email protected]612-247-7081

Great guy

Good Luck
Jon

Did you ever price a set out :eekdrop: But they are available..

Bravos are the way to go if you never plan on going over 450 hp, I had close to 600 and am shooting for 700 now so I had to go the other way or plan on limping home.

They aren't cheap, however, too be honest a XR gearset isn't exactly either. And if you run some respectable power, you'll burn thru 3 of those XR gear sets while that Ssm gear set will still look new.

I've seen more than my share of broken gear sets, snapped vertical shafts, busted cone clutches, and top caps on fellow boating buds boats. Lake Michigan eats bravos .

I remember my buddy BZ who has a 05 42 fountain with 525 Mercs and xr's, poking fun and told me " dude, when did they stop making those #4 drives 1985? " my response was "something like that. Btw, how are those modern drives workin out for ya ?"

Considering he went thru pretty much 1 drive a summer since 2007. My iv's been on since 1996 with blower motors twisting them.

You know those cool old vintage mid 80's offshore videos of cigs, scarabs, apaches, running offshore with some nasty 7000rpm eickert motors running 90+ in 5-7ft seas?? Guess what, they had #3 drives . Try that with a bravo . :)

My reasons for switching all summed up right here.

have everything you need to convert minus drive, even have two sets of stelling headers for that set up

I would leave them alone and save the threes if you need them

Not gonna let the boat be down in the middle of summer when I can do it all now and sell the bravo stuff before it breaks.

And the 3's look much more serious hanging of the back then those bravos.

I agree but we are talking about a 7500 lb 33 ft boat with 600 n/a motors. Not a 40/38 ft 11,000lb beast. The three's are so long that you have to raise them way too high on that boat. They cracked the transom on mine .If anything put 4 or 5's on it. Im just saying 600 on that boat no problem.. Plus when you go to sell it a boat that size I bet a bravo boat sells faster..

I do agree with the iv or v being better for a 10m. Nice thing about them is being able keep the engines low in the boat, and still have a good propshaft height.

I guess alot has to do with how you like to run your boat, and what kind of water you run in. 600's and bravos can be a great combo, and last a long time if your a sane person. But if you're the guy who likes going out and running hard in big water, airing the boat out, lots of throttling, the ssm is the way to go. My buddy who has a 10M with iv's on boxes, has been running blown 588's for many years. He runs the $HIT out of that boat in big water. Drives havent been a issue. As for speed, his boat was a reggie fountain special, rigged with the iv's and big power from day 1. That boat has got real close to 120mph.