The higher torque of blown engines will eat them much quicker than a NA engine of equal hp. A blown 800 hp engine will eat a XR pretty quick!

BTW, that's a great buy on that SCX! That drive will hold up to your engine...

that won't work so well, have a friend dealing w/ about that much hp & upgraded xr's right now & it is not go'n well! Good luck!

So what exactly happens when a drive is blown (obviously I have never destroyed one)? Is it one of those things where it can possibly destroy the outer casing, or just the internals? I guess basically what Im asking is if I should just run it until it blows then upgrade, or sell the brand new xr?

With that Imco, can I still use the bravo props as well as the existing hydrolic steering components or would I have to replace everything?

Thanks so much for the information everyone is providing!!!

If you blow the upper, the top cap of the drive will blow off. If you blow up the lower by breaking the prop shaft, goodbye propeller.

When the big quick torque of lets say a Whippled 800HP big block blows a Bravo XR, generally it ruins the case and most of the upper internals to the point where it will never be a good drive again. Don't waste the value of the new XR trying to use it behind such an engine. sell it and invest that value in a Imco SCX and do it right to start.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I've got blown 800hp motors, and have a couple hundred hours on my XRs with no failures.

10K lb boat...and even flogging it in some swells with some (accidental) missed re-entrys.

I think the key is to pull them apart a little more often, run good oil, and don't hammer it out of the hole like you have sixes.

Not sure what you have for drives now? Reg Bravos have just aluminum housings, they blow apart and ruin the housing about every time. XR's have a steel tower but it is not replaceable, stronger and can survive sometimes, basically just stronger but can be easily destroyed. Imco SC's have all XR internals but the housings are rebuildable and can most times housings be saved. They are really just XR's with a stronger housing. The SCX's are a different animal all together. Bigger gears and much stronger. SCX upper with the SC lower is the better way to go if you need to stick with a bravo type set up. ASD#7 is the way to go if your pockets are a little deeper and you can do the re-rigging within your budget The SCX lowers are bigger and stronger but have been shown to lose some speed due to their size. Lots of variables huh?

Imco SCX uses stock steering and bravo props. With any blower motor You are wasting money and time with the XR. SCX with SC lower is the best answer for you. Sell the XR while you can.

So is it as simple as just pulling the xr off, then bolting up the scx, then buttoning up the steering, etc? Dimensions for the steering hooking up to the scx all the same?

Damn, this boating thing gets pretty expensive.........

No not that simple but not hard. The SCX requires that you change the gimble bell with their bell to accommidate the larger head of the SCX unit. The new bells are about $1000. each