I have a Nordic Rage with a stock 496HO and a Bravo X drive, I want to pull the drive and replace the seals and check everything or replace what is needed to keep it in good shape. The motor/drive has 150 hours since new and just wondering what I should do to keep it in good shape. Also I want to use factory parts what and where do I get these online?? Thanks for any and all help!!!

I just went through both of mine this year and I bought all my transom/ drive parts from Ron at JR marine. He was very helpful and is a wealth of information. I did all new cables, stainless steering pins, all the seals and hoses etc. He has some great how to videos he's posted on YouTube also if you are doing it yourself. I bought a drive alignment tool and some other specialty tools for the project if you need to borrow them let me know otherwise we will see you out this year!

Thanks, Would you have Ron's number?
I hope you get that baby out this year!

I also have a new scan tool for all the Mercury stuff...if you need it?

A couple of main things is ,, install a new upper pinion shaft oil seal,, new shift shaft oil seal,, check the gears for normal wear,,no pitting,,set the rolling torque on the upper pinion bearings to Merc.specs,, after setting the proper torque , if they feel rough or gritty when turning them , replace them,, use locktite on the pinion nut,, and I would replace all the thrust bearings while its apart,,then check the upper pinion depth in the housing,, look over the shift cam for wear, check the shift linkage to be sure its not loose or worn at the connection pin,, get the driven gears timing marks correctly aligned and check the driven gears backlash w/a dial indicator and shim them to Merc. specs.,,properly torque the spanner nut.
Several things must work together to make it correct.

253 you have a shop or do drives on your own? Just curious.

Ron's # is 216-390-1330 I just told him I wanted EVERYTHING I could possibly need to do the job as I didn't want to have to hunt for anything else or wish I had replaced something I should have. He was very thorough and I had everything I needed when my parts arrived. I could have maybe saved a few bucks piecing everything out on egay myself but I didn't want to risk getting some knock off crap or incorrect parts etc.

Nice! I'll keep that in mind if I need one I'll hit you up! Don't worry we will be out for sure. At least to float around since there is no beaches to anchor at currently lol! I'm almost ready to drop our engines back in... it should happen in the next week or two hopefully. Just waiting on some parts from BUP and then I have to con my buddy into bringing his service truck with the crane on it over to help drop them in.

Thats good to hear!! I love your boat! It's important to get the correct parts and not a cheap knock off. If you need a hand on your install let me know?

Talk about high water, there is no beaches or sandbars any where. I think I'm going to be ready in the next 2 or 3 weeks.

Thanks man! I'll fill you in on all the details it's been a process to say the least lol. The only help I may need is if you have a crane or some apparatus like that if my buddy isn't available? I keep driving down to the ramp on nice days and checking out the water level to see if it's dropped. Also talked to a couple buddies and it's pretty cold still and a bit of debris floating around. Hope it changes soon!

Dave, I have a couple of portable gantries, but I need to know how high you have to lift including the engine in the measurement? I can grab one of my small forklifts and I have fork extensions or a boom arm for it so that might be easier. Is it in a level area? How far out are you on doing it?

I look at it everyday and I would guess three weeks before it drops any large amount.

Wow you have everything! I'm about two weeks out I'm guessing? Let me pin my friend down one way or another and I'll message you if that plan falls through. Thanks!