How to tell the diffrence between a bravo 1 and 2
 

I thought I have a brao 1 but a fellow boater told me yesterday he thought it was a bravo 2. How can I tell the diffrence? I need to replace it and want to shop for the correct one

Bravo 2 was a semi rare drive. The best way to find out is check the gear ratio by using the spin and count method. Bravo 2 has a much lower gear ratio in the 2s.

What kind of boat do you have? The bravo 2 was used for larger heavy boats

the upper is basically the same but the lower is a lot bigger (footprint / diameter) also the props for a bravo II use a bigger diameter for cruiser type boats so sometimes prop diameter will be larger on the Bravo II. Also if the outdrive has a readable serial # you can call merc with it and they can tell you what it is but who knows what has been switched out on the app. Also you can ask a Merc dealer with that outdrive serial # as they can look it up on Mercnet.

Back in the 90's wellcaft excall 26 ft cabin boats used the Bravo II along with a lot of houseboats and crusiers. They still do today.

The Bravo 2 has 19 spline shaft and the Bravo 1 has 15 spline. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Great point from Parasail. Forgot to post that. Also the bravo II will accept a 20 in diameter prop. it has a longer length from propshaft to anti ventilation plate.

I had a 96 wellcraft excel with a 454 bravo 2 setup. No complaints about the setup. From what I understand the Bravo 1 and 2 share the same upper and the difference as already mentioned is the taller lower unit and larger propshaft. Also the taller lower unit is less than ideal for a performance application. If speed is a concern the Bravo 1 is a better choice.

Ayuh,.... Actually, the BI, the BII, 'n the BIII, All share the same Upper, only the Lower unit changes,.....

The uppers are interchangeable ,but 1's ,2's and 3's use different ratios in the uppers to achieve the same overall final ratio. For example, a B2 w/1.5ratio uses different ratio in the upper and lower than a B1. Dont ask me why they did it this way but they did!