Marine warrenty.HUH
07-31-2007, 01:26 AM
#62
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Sorry to Hi-jack this B-max thread,I am just trying to help others who have the same problem getting outdrive gears to last. It would be nice to have a warranty that covered these lowers failing so often but in my case I would have needed to buy 2 B-max drives,so that I had one to run while I shipped the other one off for new gears,it would be better to be able to just run it considerably longer without the gears failing,warranty or not,Smitty
07-31-2007, 07:26 AM
#63
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The drive shaft , in the lower, broke in the splines above the pinion gear. This damaged the gear set, as well as cracking the lower housing. The lower gears do show signs that they were "giving up" as well (stress cracks and pitting on gear faces). I think that the housing is repairable, so it will need a drive shaft, gear set, bearings, and seal kit to put it together.
This is a single engine application (29' Fountain), so the drive carries 100% of the load all of the time. I did call Dean, when we were researching drives, and was assured that this was the "last drive that we would ever need", for this application. It was understood that there may be some speed loss(due to gear ratio change). That was acceptable, as a trade for reliability. That is why we decided to go with the B Max.
I understand warranties, and have been in the "boating" industry at every level. I do not feel that Dean owes us 100% coverage, under the circumstances (second owner, 6 days out of warranty per Dean). I would expect that some kind of offer to "share the cost" could have helped both of us. He could have offered a discount on parts,labor, or both and still not lost money in honering a warranty, that is less than a week out. This could have turned a bad situation, into some good publicity for his company. Not only that, it would give him an oppurtunity to inspect the failed part, and determine if changes need to be made. That's very important, when you have a failure where there shouldn't be (may need to change parts or modify warranty).
I now have the second B Max on the boat, and have to wonder...when is it going to let us down??? There is no confidence in this drive now.
That is my side (opinion) of this situation. I am not bashing Dean, or his products. I just wish that our "reasonable expectations" had been met.
This is a single engine application (29' Fountain), so the drive carries 100% of the load all of the time. I did call Dean, when we were researching drives, and was assured that this was the "last drive that we would ever need", for this application. It was understood that there may be some speed loss(due to gear ratio change). That was acceptable, as a trade for reliability. That is why we decided to go with the B Max.
I understand warranties, and have been in the "boating" industry at every level. I do not feel that Dean owes us 100% coverage, under the circumstances (second owner, 6 days out of warranty per Dean). I would expect that some kind of offer to "share the cost" could have helped both of us. He could have offered a discount on parts,labor, or both and still not lost money in honering a warranty, that is less than a week out. This could have turned a bad situation, into some good publicity for his company. Not only that, it would give him an oppurtunity to inspect the failed part, and determine if changes need to be made. That's very important, when you have a failure where there shouldn't be (may need to change parts or modify warranty).
I now have the second B Max on the boat, and have to wonder...when is it going to let us down??? There is no confidence in this drive now.
That is my side (opinion) of this situation. I am not bashing Dean, or his products. I just wish that our "reasonable expectations" had been met.
07-31-2007, 08:43 AM
#64
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Thanks Beakboater. This is Chris. We are working to resolve this. The pole is still very functional. That seems to be the least problematic upgrade that we've done to the boat .
.
07-31-2007, 09:50 AM
#65
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The Bmax is basically a Bravo with larger upper case(water cooled), gears, some larger bearings and shafts....
It uses the same clutch cone assy., pinion bearings, and seals.
The lower back then when I got mine were XR lowers with the larger vertical shaft.
Again, with those treated lower gear sets I'm looking at a near perfect setup with the Bmax uppers .
It uses the same clutch cone assy., pinion bearings, and seals.
The lower back then when I got mine were XR lowers with the larger vertical shaft.
Again, with those treated lower gear sets I'm looking at a near perfect setup with the Bmax uppers .
Last edited by Back4More; 07-31-2007 at 09:59 AM.
07-31-2007, 09:54 AM
#66
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07-31-2007, 11:12 AM
#67
Geronimo36
Gold Member
The Bmax is basically a Bravo with larger upper case(water cooled), gears, some larger bearings and shafts....
It uses the same clutch cone assy., pinion bearings, and seals.
The lower back then when I got mine were XR lowers with the larger vertical shaft.
Again, with those treated lower gear sets I'm looking at a near perfect setup with the Bmax uppers .
It uses the same clutch cone assy., pinion bearings, and seals.
The lower back then when I got mine were XR lowers with the larger vertical shaft.
Again, with those treated lower gear sets I'm looking at a near perfect setup with the Bmax uppers .
07-31-2007, 09:47 PM
#69
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The boat owner called Dean today. Apparently Back4More misunderstood, because Dean's position is the same. NO WARRANTY, and no consideration for not living up to the "sales pitch". He did have the parts, and they will be sent to the customer(at full price).
It is very dissappointing to me, because I did the research for my customer, and recommended the BMax, based on Dean's claims. Now we have no confidence in the drive or the manufacturer. I guess we are STILL looking for an alternative to broken Bravos
. At least we have two, it's just hard to change them in the water, 100 miles from the shop. 
It is very dissappointing to me, because I did the research for my customer, and recommended the BMax, based on Dean's claims. Now we have no confidence in the drive or the manufacturer. I guess we are STILL looking for an alternative to broken Bravos
. At least we have two, it's just hard to change them in the water, 100 miles from the shop.
07-31-2007, 10:34 PM
#70
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Rackster that sux.....I know you and Thomas had high hopes for the B-Max product....others on here seem to have good luck with it so maybe you will now....appears they make a decent product but don't handle issues very well...good to know before doing business with them...see you in reggieville thurs
