Drive help and opinions PLEASE!!
 

I have just purchased a sunsation 288 wih a 502 with a pro charger professionallt installed pushing 575 to 600 HP. Took it out on the lake the other day for a solid 30 minutes or less and the ujoint and gambrel bearing broke. No damamge to drive. When picking up speed this boat sees to wind out and 3000 rpms and then runs GREAT when it kicks in slowly. The mechanic says boat had to be out of waterAND IT WASNT!!!!! He has also told us that the bravo one drive is made for up to 500 hp and this boat is pushing 575+. Did this cause the breakdown, could this be caused if the boat was out of water before or is the drive too small or any other input Just bought this boat and more in depth with this HP and procharger Any and all help and suggestions greatly appreciated...Thanks.

The hp had really nothing to do with your U-joint and "gambrel" bearing failing (i think you meant gimbal bearing). I am running over 1000 hp thru a xr style Gimbal bearing and U-joints and they have over 350 hours on them/7 or 8 years of operation with no failures but they are serviced (greased) properly. I had over 100 hours on the stock gimbal and u-joints back when I had 625-750 hp and they were still like new when I retired them to bigger stuff. Sounds like yours suffered from lack of maintenance or bad alignment/installation.
600 hp sounds like alot to put thru a u-joint BUT to put it in perspective a stock 96 chevy 1/2 ton had 250 hp, compounded thru a first gear of 3.07-1 they rountinely saw 750+ hp put thru it everytime someone floored truck from a stop and easily went 100000 miles and that is with it directly exsposed to the elements, sand, dirt etc, Smitty

I agree, the failure is not due to the HP. They are rated for 500hp, but can handle more if driven right and not abused.