As a rule of thumb when did merc go to thicker floor bravo gears,I was completely unaware of it. I assume it was around 01 when the xr stuff came out? Thanks for the good deal on the parts Mr g,Smitty

I am running a 25 ft Nordic Rage, 3700 lb. dry. The more I read the better I feal about the potential longevity of the Bravo 1 in my situation versus the guys with heavy boats. The first thing I plan to do regardless is switch to the RedLine Shock Proof Heavy Gear Lube and never WOT on plane out.

I assume that the thick floor gears were a running change for the Bravo 1 and since mine is a 2004 I have to have them. I will check the serial number as well.

You say that you have found cracks under the tower when they are milled off. Why did you mill off the tower? To make room to instal the steel tower upgrade on the standard Bravo? Where do you find this steel tower upgrade?

Thanks!

Good suggestion on the set up check. Definitely not something I would have thought of.

You mention running an XZ forward top gear and a billet top cap. How does one arrive at that configuration on a stock Bravo 1?

Thanks!

I think the new gears are the same as the old XZ gears. You probably have them already. Where are you located Rage? If you can get to western Michigan, you should let Mr Gadgets set up your drive.

I have Bravo One XR drives behind a pair of 565cid naturally aspirated engines that make about 700ft lbs of torque each that hang off the back of a 32' boat that probably weighs something close to 9000lbs with full tanks and a few passengers. I have been using Red Line Shockproof drive lube, and I had Mr. Gadgets/Dick blue print, and assemble my drives. So far I have roughly 65 hours on my drives, and ZERO problems since Dick rebuilt them. For what the Merc Bravo One drive is, Dick paid a very heavy price with his own drives to know what he knows, and has a lot of experience to know what it takes to make them live---at least for what it is.

Rage,
The thicker floored gears include the XR's; XZ's; and the X's as I call them. You cant buy the old gears from Merc and you dont want them. The new drives with serial numbers starting with OM ........ have the thick floor gears. I am not sure when they started using them.. I would suspect that you have them.. What you may not have is the steel tower. I think Merc is now making the Bravo X with the steel tower. Not sure on that one.
I had a friend design the tower I install in the Bravo case. It has 2" of thread holding it in the case, where as Merc's has one inch. Not that it is any better, but it cant hurt. I feel that going to steel towers in both the case and the upper cap is a big improvment in eliminating weak links. I use the XR upper cap that has the steel tower in it and it is reasonably priced.
If you like I can show you some pics of what I am doing with the tower.. on the standard drive..

Dick

Boat is on Table Rock Lake, Mo. Probably not going to happen.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Dick,

You bet, I am interested in anything and everything that you are willing to share with me on how to beef up the stock Bravo 1. I want to learn as much as possible on the subject before making any moves.

You mentioned 'milling' before. Is this fix a simple bolt on/switch or is there machine shop work required?

When you say the thicker floored gears include the XR's; XZ's; and the X's do you mean that they are all the same thicker floor gear i.e. interchangeable?

Thanks!

Rage,
The upper case has to be milled to accept the new steel tower. I have worked closely with a local machine shop to have this done.

When I say the gears have thick floors, I mean that all the gears have it. There is actually only two different gears. The helical cut gears (I call them X gears) are all the same. They are used in X and XZ drives. The standard Bravo starting with the OM serial number uses the same driven gears, but the pinion gear has a smaller splined input shaft. It is the driven gears that Merc made the floors thicker. In doing so they use a shorter bearing in the gear, which in turn makes the towers shorter (one in the case and one in the cap). The XR gears are straight cut gears, not helical. They are stronger but softer, so they wear faster.
There is some interchangablity between the gears, but lots of things need be considered. I run a standard Bravo (pre OM ser #) with XR gears in it. So things will fit, but certain things need be considered. When I put a tower in an older drive, it can use X gears or XR gears, but a lot of things need to be matched up. I hope this helps.. without pictures it is hard to describe.
Here are some pics of my tower mods..

Smitty,
I dont know what year it was that they revised all the gears.. but you are correct, around the time the XR's showed up..

And your welcome.. thank you for the business!!

Dick