offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

I agree 100%....there are lots of reasons, but none are good ones.......darn near a conspiracy!

Its not just bravos though, EVERY drive seems to wear out or break sooner then they should when used close to, at, or above their rating.

Plus there's no reason for drives to cost so much

SB

iTrader: (1)

What ?

I thought there was some special mix of gear lubes that kept the Bravo's together ?

murfman

Because everyone rums Mercruisers instead of Volvos...

These nasty old Volvos still shifted like butter and made no noises. The oil was still clean and clear inside with over 1000 Hours on them and what looks like zero maintenance.

TYPHOON

Its not that they break that bothers me its the insane cost of the parts. I admit I punish my drive and don't expect it to last forever But come on be real about gear sets that should be $300 not $1500. What do you all think it cost Merc to make a XR drive complete ??????? I will say $2000 tops.

BenPerfected

Probably wasn't using the HP gear lube.....

Tractionless

I"m so glad I don't have the bug for more hp.

Dave M

This is a big reason I sold my previous boat. A regular bravo lasted almost 750 hrs. on my 24 Superboat behind a 454 Mag, then a 496HO. I drove that thing like I stole it, LOTS of air-time. My 30 Superboat was a different story. The original XR lasted around 175 hrs. behind a 525efi. I replaced the drive, and that lasted less than 100 hrs. I should of bit the bullet and bought an IMCO after the first failure. I repaired the second drive and sold the boat.

NautiSouth

From what I've read, the most common failure point in a Bravo XR drive is the upper gearset. I'd like to investigate developing a billet gearset with some advanced materials and processes.

If anyone has some worn gearsets they've replaced and would be willing to send them to me, please PM. I'd like to perform some failure analysis. I'll pay shipping.

Nate5.0

Craziest part of these pictures is that this was the only time the boat had been in salt water and it was only for about 3hrs.


#boatsbelonginlakesonly

Slide

I mean, if you run any equipment at or past its maximum rating, you're going to have reduced life at best. Most of the world's Bravo drives are putting around behind stock power and doing their jobs perfectly fine.