Drive questions Teague/Imco/Bmax
03-20-2012 | 11:02 AM
#161
VIP Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,288
Likes: 779
From: Tulsa, GLOC
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
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
Last edited by Quinlan; 03-20-2012 at 11:05 AM.
03-20-2012 | 12:15 PM
#162
Frank's Marine Service
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 11,959
Likes: 142
From: Elkton, MD
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!
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!
03-20-2012 | 01:25 PM
#163
Registered
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 943
Likes: 277
From: So. Burl. VT.
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!
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!
03-20-2012 | 02:45 PM
#164
Frank's Marine Service
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 11,959
Likes: 142
From: Elkton, MD
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.
03-20-2012 | 02:51 PM
#165
Registered
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,613
Likes: 375
From: Traverse City MI
So you seen a Xpower and now you know by looking at it that it will out last the rest of the drives on the market?
I don't care what Imco sells for I know what I have in cost and if you can by a New SCX complete with all the parts you need to put it on your Bravo Transom for less than a Bmax then go buy it. But maybe you should check around first and see how they are holding up.
You and a couple others on here are very good at switching up what folks say and mean. If you have 1.36 and can pull that much gear now I would not have you go to a 1.5 and why would someone with your experience even ask that question?
I don't care what Imco sells for I know what I have in cost and if you can by a New SCX complete with all the parts you need to put it on your Bravo Transom for less than a Bmax then go buy it. But maybe you should check around first and see how they are holding up.
You and a couple others on here are very good at switching up what folks say and mean. If you have 1.36 and can pull that much gear now I would not have you go to a 1.5 and why would someone with your experience even ask that question?
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!
Last edited by offshorexcursion; 03-20-2012 at 11:26 PM.
03-20-2012 | 03:59 PM
#166
Registered
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 468
Likes: 0
From: Union, NE
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
03-20-2012 | 04:44 PM
#167
Registered
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,499
Likes: 48
From: Newbury Park, CA
So what does everyone on this thread (especially those who DISlike the Arneson) Recommend for drives for the OP? List in order from best choice to worst choice, And why?
My List
Arneson....................Strength, reliability, Speed gain, proven (especially on a Cig), bang for the buck, Expensive but MUCH better props
X-Power....................Strength, reliability, Not proven as much but some, Very Expensive, Expensive but MUCH better props
SCX Upper & Lower....Strength, speed loss, shifting problems, Fair price
B-MAX.......................Upper strength, lower weak, Ugly, speed loss, Fair price
SCX Upper SC Lower...Upper strength, weak lower, sexy looks, Fair price
SCX-4........................Strength (should be similiar to SCX), NOT proven, expensive, expensive props
Keep Current drives stock, Have spare drive (if you want less downtime)....Least expensive, save for YOUR idea of a "perfect drive" or a new boat!
Personally not impressed with Konrad, All American Drive, Max Machine, Teague
#6, NXT, Indy, all require to much work, better off buying a different boat already rigged with them.
My List
Arneson....................Strength, reliability, Speed gain, proven (especially on a Cig), bang for the buck, Expensive but MUCH better props
X-Power....................Strength, reliability, Not proven as much but some, Very Expensive, Expensive but MUCH better props
SCX Upper & Lower....Strength, speed loss, shifting problems, Fair price
B-MAX.......................Upper strength, lower weak, Ugly, speed loss, Fair price
SCX Upper SC Lower...Upper strength, weak lower, sexy looks, Fair price
SCX-4........................Strength (should be similiar to SCX), NOT proven, expensive, expensive props
Keep Current drives stock, Have spare drive (if you want less downtime)....Least expensive, save for YOUR idea of a "perfect drive" or a new boat!
Personally not impressed with Konrad, All American Drive, Max Machine, Teague
#6, NXT, Indy, all require to much work, better off buying a different boat already rigged with them.
Michael
03-20-2012 | 04:49 PM
#168
Registered
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 943
Likes: 277
From: So. Burl. VT.
[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.
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.
