Extention Box's
 

what exactly do you gain with a box????does the boat act bigger?? can you run more aggresive X-dimension's?higher speeds ? better handling?

The drive sits further back off the boat. Therefore giving it more leverage when you trim, therefore, (in theory) picking the front of the boat out of water.

Atleast that's the way I understand it.

DAVE

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Dyno,

From what I understand you are supposed
to gain a combination of 3 things, but not
all 3 depending on your boat.

1) Faster planning

2) Increased handling / leaverage.
Both in steering and trimming.

3) Speed

Good luck

Cougarman

I have the ITS from Merc on my boat. This integrates a 7" setback for the drive. The X-dimension was raised about 3" on my boat to compensate for the setback and it works great. The boat gets on plane fast so the higher x-dim didn't hurt anything there. I don't know if I get any extra top end speed with it or not, but it looks cool...:D

I agree with pretty much everything said regarding the boxes. Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet, but an extension box also artificially lengthens the boat thus it will react like a longer boat via the other bennefits as previously mentioned. It's probably the cheapest and best way to lengthen your boat without actually going out and buying a longer boat and even if you did buy a longer boat even that one would most likely bennefit from an extension box as well. my nickle

I thought an extension box put the prop into clean water which reduced slip. If you add a box to an existing hull you can change your X-dimmension with out modifying your hull. It also does give you more leverage when trimming but there are other ways you can get around that with out using an extension box.
Less drag and less slip equals more speed.

Im not sure on the "getting on plane faster" though. I was on a 26 Sonic this past weekend and it struggled a little to get up on plane. It got there fine but there was quite a bit of slipping, to the piont it sounded like it might blow out. The owner of the boat said you just have to stay on the throttle and it will come up. Sure enough it did but wasnt better than a non-box set-up. Anyone else experience this?

Tantrum

Correct, cleaner water, less slip more speed. Along with the rest mentioned.

We went with the neutral set back and the -2 IMCO SC's on the back of our non step 42 Fountain.
Can only say that the slip is at 8% and my fuel mileage is better.
It gets up out of the water with a bit less effort too.

Does Stellings have a web site?

DC, Unfortunately not.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1855951350

Just check to make sure it's complete. I don't see the bearing assembly or any other parts pictured...

e-mailed, no response yet.
Anyone familure with these. Are they all the same size ... length?

And he's exaggerating claiming 11mpg gain ... correct?

No, that could be accurate. It really depends on the hull.

Yes, there are differences. This box has the drilled holes, so while it's adjustable, it's not as easily done as the slotted models. Some time with a mill could solve that problem. ;) Stellings also claims a 3" adjustment. However, the center to center distance on my box is 2 1/2". With 1/2" bolts the edge to edge distance is 3". Lie? No, just creative measuring. ;)

It also bothers me that the center bearing is out. My bearing was removed and I could not get the gimble to align. I ended up sending the box back to stellings for alignment. Theoretically, there are shims that position the bearing. It's not that hard to align, you just need the correct shims. I didn't have them, hense the problem.

You will also want to make a decision regarding the inner transom plate. The merc plate can be made to work, but you'll need to cut the center hole out. The other option is to run the Stellings inner plate. The advantage of their plate is that it's very clean and you can get it in a raised version. Mine was slightly over a bill and well worth the money.

Ultimatly, even if the box is missing some pieces, it's still a great deal.