Can not speak for the rest of these guys But B Maxs are going on My Cig real soon!!
After about 10 Issues over 4 yrs its time to solve the problem!!.

Bad part is I probably already paid for some Arnesons Damit man

Anybody need some XRs? I have 2 sets One w Teaague Uppers 1.50
and one standard xrs w 1.36 VERY few hours on either lol

I think most of these threads come down to brand loyalty and some cheerleading at the end of the day.

I'd never go back to IMCO because of a bad personal experience I had with them years ago. They didn't want to stand behind their product so I walked away from them. Other's haven't had bad experiences so when a new product comes out they're all over it. I wish IMCO the best of luck in the future, I just wont be one of their customers... Nothing to do with the product, just how I was treated when I had an issue with one of their products.

As for the Arneson... It's an awesome product, I don't think that can be disputed. My own "personal" reasons for not choosing the product were my own reasons, not anyone else'. I didn't want a surface drive on my pleasure boat. I didn't want top speed like most are looking for. I was afraid of installing a product on a specific boat without having documented performance results. I have friends who converted from Bravo's to surface drives and they did not like the handling, they felt it became more of a drivers boat where the Bravo boat was easier to drive in pleasure conditions. I didn't want to lower my engines. I had worries about expensive propellers, dialing in and god forbid I hit some wood and ruin an prop.

As for the BMax. I was able to speak with several people who owned BMax drives on various different boats. These were references I found on my own, they were not provided by the company. I did my due diligence, crunched the numbers and decided to make the purchase. The low cost to purchase combined with the differnece in what I could sell my existing drives left me with a small out-of-pocket expense which I probably would have spent fixing a blow bravo drive. I rolled the dice and it paid off dividends. My drives have lasted roughly 10 times longer than any of my Bravo's to date. I have to maintain the lowers every 100 hrs but the cost of bearings is very minute in my opinion... If BMax ever upgrades the lowers I think they've got one of the best bolt-on "replacement" packages available. But we should be careful what we wish for, it may happen one day.

These are just my opinions and actual real-life "experiences", your results may vary! :)

Nice to hear yours is the type of reply that someone can make a decision from, just good honest facts.

No problem! Just stating my experience, not trying to ruffle any feathers or persuade. :)

I forgot to mention.. The extended Warranty the Bravoshop was offering back then was also very appealing to me. that pretty much solidified the deal once I narrowed down my selections.

John, You have a common problem of attacking RIK and the Arneson drive. Its getting old. I like you as a person but seriously???

I respect companies that promote their own product WITHOUT down grading others. Please take my honest advice.

I WANT your product to succeed, but I will NEVER purchase a drive with XR gears in it again.

What knowledge do any of us have that the X-power will not hold up??? From all the You Tube videos of the Overpowered Spectra, my personal eyes watching a skater run a pair HARD, and the info given to us about the specs of the drive? I Don't think anyone has one bad thing to say about the X-Power besides the price. Besides KAP, but he is only one person, we have no clue if he even took the time to dial it in, was it just his boat? etc etc. But obviously he does not talk about it publicly so who cares.

I Personally boat with a friend.....Pair of IMCO SCX on a 36 Apache over 850 hp, over 400 hours trouble free, Run harder then any boat, hole shot, etc. NO PROBLEMS, NO SPEED LOSS!

I have rated your customer service WELL above IMCO but if you keep this attitude up I will change my mind.

YOUR product has its place, but its not perfect, and not for everyone. Same with any drive. Even the Arneson. But as far as I know the main point of this thread was to help the OP sort through all of his options and find the best one that fits his needs.

BUT, From what I read, he does not like to HALF AZZ things. SO running XR gears in the lower is Half AZZ to me, and others. Sorry but the truth is the truth. Now the OP did say he had a budget. So we gave him multiple options, depending on budget. Some of those options I gave even include your upper and his lower for now, then hopefully you come out with an updraded lower in the future he can buy once he saves his money!

Can you show me just where in this thread I attacked Rik? He likes to not tell the truth about his product at times. Just like he says his drive is the same distance off the boat as a Bravo not true. {Bravo 32 Arneson 52}
I just want people to have real info so they can make a educated decision.
Can you post up some pics of your apache? I would like to see it.
And as far as XR gears being half ass-ed as you say, it has nothing to do with the boat owner doubling the power it was made for.
So the #6 gears I have here that are pitted out with less than 100 hrs on them are also crap? Nothing to do with the 1400hp engines in front of them.
As far as a speed loss with a Bmax I have not seen it in my boat from Merc drives to Bmax so with out know if the drive was set up correct and most likely it was not unless I did the drive, as I,m the only one with the tools to set the upper up gear set up I'm sure it took more horse power to turn. I will be the first to admit the old Bmax had it problems but you can rest assured the are fixed now that we have taken over.
When you called me about drives for your boat we went over a lot of the problems that we have corrected and I answered all your questions and concerns you had.

Nice summary. I would love to see estimated prices added to this chart.

Michael

[QUOTE=offshorexcursion;3645453]



Personally boat with.....Pair of IMCO SCX on a 36 Apache over 850 hp, over 400 hours trouble free, Run harder then any boat, hole shot, etc. NO PROBLEMS, NO SPEED LOSS!

Some have said the scx has some shifting problems, Have you found this with yours, and are you happy with you drive.

looks like a harley sportster 4 speed !!

Looks like a v drive ?