Drive hight, single engine boat
 

On a single engine 25 foot boat with a standard Bravo One drive, what is a good drive hight as mesured from the bottom of the boat up to the cavitation plate?

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Use propshaft depth as your measurement. Most will run best at 3-5" below the bottom.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

OK. That one is a little tricky to measure. Should it be with the drive trimmed so that the propshaft is parallel to the boat bottom?

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Yes. That would put it at neutral trim.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

3" is high to me but its a place to start. If you start there you can always shim it down. Its a lot cheaper and more accurate than using shorter drives to get it higher.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

I agree, 3" is high.

From your Baja avatar, are you talking a 25 Outlaw???? If so, factory is probably set at about 5" below the bottom. I wouldn't go more than an inch higher than original.
I would also post in the Baja section.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Are you cutting a new transom hole for your Bravo drive, or...?

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

same reason Im gettin a 2" IMCO shorty installed this winter from Doller Offshore.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

No, it is a baja 235 Force. I think the bottom to prop shaft distance is close to 8 inches. Compared to your numbers that must be exceptionally deep. Are there any specific reasons that Baja put it that deep in the first place?
I was thinking of an IMCO shorty as an easier way to do it....
Thanks for your input

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

I have a baja 24ol my stock height was 7 1/2'' baja's are deep. I went with a 2'' shortie and love it now 5 1/2'' my buddy races a 26sutphen which had a ext box didn't run good so off came the box and then the drive was 4'' it was to high he added 1''spacer now its great, I think smaller than 5'' would work with stepped hulls. when I had the stock height the 3 blades worked better now I use 4 blade trying a 28b1 or 5max this spring through BBLADES program. any help you need let me know. art

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Older boats had the drives deeper. They were heavier hulls and needed the drive deeper to carry the bow. Also, hulls were not as efficient. 8" is in the basement. I think my '93 24 outlaw was in the 7.5" range as well. You would most likely benefit well from a -2" shorty. How much benefit??? Who knows till you try. Might try a post in the Baja section as well.

What hp are you running???? More power also helps the carry the bow and allows for higher drives.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Airtime, what differences did you exerience in terms of speed handling, etc?

I run a standard 502 MPI , 415 hp, perhaps some more with Gil exhaust. The boat weighs in at 3600 lbs + gas and driver. I will try a post in the Baja section to see if someone else has tried shorties on these old boats. Thanks.

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

Does that go for twin setup also? Does the transom angle make a difference when you calculate? I noticed in my Mercuiser books there is a table for trs and the x dimension changes slightly with variations in the transom angle.

Thanks Joe

Re: Drive hight, single engine boat
 

4 inches should be the norm.