For what its worth, I have DUAL TRS 330 drives powered by 502 mercs on my 1989 Scarab. Motors are pushing 440hp.

They are original.

They have the electric shift tranny.

They have needed practically nothing except maintenance and a u-joint on one side, since I got them.

They are BIG, HEAVY, and OBVISOULY far stronger than current offereings.

A good analogy is to compare a 79 Cadillac with a 2002 Honda.

both good, but the cadi is well, BUILT.

YES!
I have had 3 boats with trs and never had any problem.

Just talking about this subject this weekend. The general cosensus it you will get a lot more boat for the money, and they are probably more reliable than a bravo. You blow a trany in your boat ant it costs a couple hundred to fix it. You blow a cone clutch you can figure on spending a lot more. Just my $.02.

I`ve had 4 boats running TRS drives and only one failure.

I like them, they are pretty simple and I can rebuild them myself.

They are much stronger than a Bravo, set up correctly.

As stated above, a TRS boat can be bought for less $$ than a Bravo but that would be a benefit to me.

As far as parts availability goes, I just ordered every bearing, seal, shim and gears for a TRS drive and all parts were in stock and reasonably priced from Merc.

As time goes on, the parts will be harder to get, and that will make the TRS boats an even better deal for guys like me :D

What I don`t understand is how people brag about how they get 50 hrs from thier XR drives and the TRS gets bad press????

Kurt.:cool:

What only 50 hrs from an XR? I have over 1000 on my TRS with only normal service But no 800 blower motor, It has however outlasted several 454s and built 509's I hope the Bravo's get better before I have to switch. The Bravo is so flexable for height mods with 3" spacers to 3" shorties avalible which makes it attractive. Good Luck

I have TRS on my boat with 800 hp supercharged. No drive
problems, I'm sure you can destroy anything made with
enough effort. I personally like the TRS and have no desire
to get on the Bravo replacement program. I did have both
my drives and trans rebuilt at by SPEEDMASTERS.
They were not blown, just more peace of mind when I
put more power in.

I am going to bravo's kicking and screaming!!!! I love my TRS drives :D:D

Jon

Thanks for all the info. This makes me feel even better about the boat. Now the hard part, having to convince the wife!!

When I talk of resale value I should have been more clear. Most boaters do not want to purchase or mess with a drive that is no longer manufactured...it just scares them away!!! They instead will go with the standard bravo set up to satisfy their comfort level.

If you take those TRS drives and start hammering on them in offshore conditions with some decent power attached...trouble will be around the corner. It all depends on the set up, the conditions and the ability of the driver.

DMan

Re: Would You Buy a Boat with TRS drives?
 

[QUOTE=DEVIL MAN]When I talk of resale value I should have been more clear. Most boaters do not want to purchase or mess with a drive that is no longer manufactured...it just scares them away!!! They instead will go with the standard bravo set up to satisfy their comfort level.

If you take those TRS drives and start hammering on them in offshore conditions with some decent power attached...trouble will be around the corner. It all depends on the set up, the conditions and the ability of the driver.

DMan[/QUOTE
I AGREE 100%! You can, and I have, put 500hp in front of an alpha1, no problem with me behind the wheel, but put someone behind it that doesn't know what there doing and the'll blow it in 5 min.!! TRS drives need a good throtle man! I have two new ones L/R if you need them, set only price is $14,000