Drive showers
 

Best one for Bravo XR.

Not sure there is a best....I have Simrek and am happy.

driveshowers.com

I got mine from Rex Marine. Has dual lines, and looks sweet.....:cool:

I am switching to this one as well. I have some very good feedback on these!

I got the dual pickup lines driver shower, Rex Marine, works and looks great..:)

http://shopping.rexmar.com/Merchant2...shower-itscool

If fit finish construction and price play into the equation I believe we build the best Best drive shower anywhere. http://www.hardin-marine.com/p-11567...ng-shower.aspx

I have a Simrek but my mechanic said they don't do anything at all

Please explain! I have Simreks as well and am very happy with them. Had to adjust them to fit over the hydraulic steering but so far they seem to work great!

I tried the Hardin one that was shown above. It does not put the water in the right spot. Due to the angle of the back of the cap, the water is actually angled slightly down ward and misses the channeling under the cap and sends a nice stream of water to the transom in front of the drive.

I know this because I had Simreks and they do not put water on top of drive where it gets the hottest. After installing the Hardins, I hung over the back as the wife drove and I was shocked at what I saw.

If you have one, remove the hose from the cap and insert a small dowel rod into cap and you will see where the water goes. Nice cap but the angle needs to be changed to be effective.

I put my Simreks back on, but modified them and they work much better.

The best one ever made was by Innovative Marine, but he is no longer around unfortunately.

Get a new mechanic.

They make a noticeable temp difference. You will go from chalky outdrives that you have to clean every use to never having to clean them. The chalk is from the minerals the hot drive boils out of the water.

So how many guys have hung off the back of the boat to watch the drive showers? I have.:lolhit:

I agree and was surprised when he said it was a waste of $$. I figure it does the job and thats why it is still on, I just dont know how much the shower decreases temp.

[QUOTE=Smitty; I put my Simreks back on, but modified them and they work much better.
.[/QUOTE]

How did you modify them? I have Simrek also.

I've had single pickup Rex and Simreks. Rex looks better. Simreks work better.

I prefer the Max Machine Worx shower. Many friends and I have run them for years.

I just installed a pair from wags engineering.

That Wags Engineering top cap looks killer. That is what I need. A stronger cap that directly cools the upper bearing.

I modded the simreks by separating the flow. In stock form a pressure point is created in the middle at the top. I closed off one side and then had a tube welded to the other side on top which also dumps some water on the top of the drive. Does not look the best but works a lot better.

Why the need to hang over the transom to see where the water goes? Hook up a gardenhose at the shower's pick up on the trailer.I tried that and also had someone following me off to the side of my boat to see if the stream is the same while underway. My shower is made by Hydrocool II .

http://www3.telus.net/spectrasonly/M...North%20Fraser

The cap completely covers the OEM cap and the stream flows down the sides of the drtive.No chalk what so ever.

http://www3.telus.net/spectrasonly/E...%20port%20side

Yea, top cap is hardcore. Cap was more than twice the size as my stock B1 caps. Lil pricey, but in the boating world, you get what you pay for IMO.

Lots of magazine testing here:

http://www.driveshowers.com/

under "Product Reviews"




The stock drive shower on the vee-bottom had a definite and positive effect compared to the test on the tunnel boat. It took out over 40 degrees in the cruising mode. When we tested the vee-bottom with the tip extension, we took out 48.2 degrees, but we still didn't reach the 50 degrees we were looking for. We felt the 48.2 degrees was as close as we would get with HOT BOAT's test equipment.

pretty cool info. thanks

Interesting video I shot a couple weekends ago.. I have to make some adjustments to the drive shower it only works with the drive trimmed all the way down and at lower speeds.. With the drive trimmed up the shower stops working completely, and with it down there's enough wind back there it's blowing the water up and onto the transom instead of on the drive.

The 1st half the video is a 21 Schiada facing fwd in a consistent wind chop (wind 15-20 mph). 2nd half of the video is facing the drive.

http://youtu.be/3JFh5GxHRmU

RD

RD, unless you have the IMCO replacement cap,most drive showers are ineffective at high speeds .
Vacuum effect pulls spray away from the cap. But they do look good being there,lol.

With the high X dimension most boats are running these days it puts the pick-up tubes too high to get any water into them. When the propshaft is even or higher than the bottom of the boat, I can see how no water gets into the shower. This is why we have low-water pick-ups for cooling water.

that's the reason the Imco drive's top caps are plumbed in. If I had high X dim on my boat ,water pickups just for the drives on the transom would be my choice.The benefit of drive longevity would be more important to me than any performance loss casued by friction.

Since we are talking about drive showers.... are there any showers for Alpha SS drives? Or do i need to modify one for it and if so which would be the best to modify?

The Simrek® Multiport Drive Shower ®


Order online using our secure server
Visa and MasterCard Credit Card Orders accepted

SUMMIT
HALO®


55 degrees
65 degrees
COOLING PROTECTION

11
15
DUMP PORTS

X

Stock Alpha(s) All

X

Alpha twins with a tie bar

X
All new style Bravo 1s, 2s and 3s


X
All old style Bravo 1s, 2s and 3s


X
Bravo(s) with a drive temp sending unit


X
Bravo(s) with steering stabilizers (bearing cap mount)


X
All Bravos with Imco, Latham or Fountain Steering (inspection cap mount

Isn't that basically what I have, that doesn't work?

RD

I thought it looked like a simrek from the top. What sort of pick up do you have? There have been 3 over the years. The first design was angle cut, and I could see it not working with a high x, and some trim. Second design had the bottom closed and an intake port on the front. That will work great if its in the water. Latest design is no drilling and simply has the pipes curled forward. You should contact Paul @ Simrek. I'm sure he can give you the right advice to fix your problem. I have spoken with him in the past, very nice guy.

Mine is apparently the 2nd generation.. Most the time it's not picking up water which is problem # 1. I guess problem # 2 would be even when it is picking up water the wind is so violent it's actually being sucked up and onto the transom and engine hatch of my boat as opposed to being put on the drive.

I think a top cap style shower would be the only solution to this?

Thoughts?

RD

wow how can two aplictions be so different? I watched my same showers just absoluty flood the drive sides and top from getting on plane till it was just unsafe to watch anymore about 60MPH and my propshaft is even with the bottom running surface. I guess all boats are different.

RiverDave, picking up water is certianly the first issue. I think both the over the top style and the around the front style would have the same problem blowing into the boat. I agree a top cap sounds like the best bet. Wierd problem.

Lot of wind back there on a small boat.. Appreciate the response.

RD

simrek halos on my xrs..Simrek is the owner Paul Kermis name spelled backwards, super nice guy to talk too and very informative.

I have Halos also, work great.
Didn't someone make a bravo top that was internally cooled? I seem to recall an ad for it. Don't remember the manufacturer.

For high HP engines coupled to Bravo 1 drives, I'd recommend Drew Backlund's 'Cool Swirl' setup.
I know people aren't too sure adding more external lines hanging in the back but it's one system that works
regardless of drive trim positions.

http://www.drewmarine.com/products/c...swirlpics.html

I have drive temp gauges with the latest generation Simrek's halo, and I have watched my drive temp go from 135-140 deg at medium speeds to <100 deg at same speeds, not sure what it is since my drive gauges start reading @ 100 deg. They definitely work.
Dean