ubet28

Im considering buying a spare drive to carry with me for when I’m on poker runs or traveling so if something does happen I’m not dead in the water.

I guess my assumption was no hole shots keep the drives in the water.

im open to any tips pointers you guys have.

offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

Sweet boat by the way!

There's a lot of misinformation floating around with outdrives so it's really hard to get good data and info.

My advice is enjoy the boat and drive it normal. I honestly don't believe that driving like a grandma helps. The engines are sending peak torque through the drives no matter if you are trying to get on plane easily or just cruise speed, but now the boats dragging ass in the water and running near peak torque. So just go fast and enjoy! Obviously don't abuse it but it's an offshore performance boat and there's no reason to own it if you can't enjoy it!

You are 100% correct to always keep a good matching spare drive or 2 around. Summer is too short.

Fluid Change and magnetic inspection every 20hrs is good. As soon as the Christmas tree on the magnet doesn't dissappear into dust mush in between your fingers, and you look closely and see a tiny sliver of metal, the drive needs a rebuild, if you're lucky enough to catch it.

There's ZERO bravo based drives that will last as long as they should doesn't matter the upgrades. But there's also no better upgrade solution especially for the money. Too much to explain but there's no simple bolt on solution.

Its really just a mental game. You have to start thinking that drive rebuilds and engine rebuilds are normal just like changing oil and putting fuel in. You can't think about it as a surprise, or should have lasted longer, or you will just end up hating this hobby and eventually get financially forced out like most people. So just plan on something needing a major rebuild every season and you will be good.

snapmorgan

iTrader: (2)

I carried a spare XR drive in the bed of my truck for years. I used it a couple of times on my own boats, but it did get loaned out a lot too. It was a money maker as well. I would let them use my spare for a week or 2 while I got theirs fixed or replaced, then would swap it back out.

ubet28

Thank you for taking the time to write this response. Very well said. You definitely seem like one of those guys that knows his ****.

What boat power drive options you running?

So where does a guy go from here if he breaks something or wants/needs to upgrade? Boat is a 97 38 Fever?


also what oil do you recommend you never said.

1MOSES1

we run neo oil…

with that being said, no oil will protect weak bravos from 800+ hp. I’d expect to go thru outdrives regularly every 125-150 hours.

changing oil every 15-20 hours is not fool proof.

offshorexcursion

iTrader: (5)

You are welcome and thank you!

We have had a few offshore boats with big naturally aspirated and blower motors, Alpha, Bravos, Imco Extreme SC, upgraded Imco SC, Merc SSMV, Arneson, and helped friends with a few other motor and drive setups. Our cruisers have all been inboard and Vdrives.

There's Just too much to explain with drive upgrades i would need a keyboard or a phone call but short story is just enjoy your boat like it's setup and buy a different boat when you are ready because it's rarely a good decision to do major upgrades. Cost time and stress are not worth the results which often include speed lose, still not bullet proof, and headache trying to dial in.

You might be able to carry a spare Bravo or 2 that are not teague platinum to save some money but remember you can sell the spare drives for about what you paid so you really won't lose any money just temporarily have the money tied up while you own them. So might be easiest to have a pair of drives setup and ready. More times than not when one drive goes the other is ready also. Funny a few times I've argued with friends after they blew a drive to just have both gone through they said no that drive is fine so I force them to have it looked at and sure enough the "good" drive cost more to rebuild than the broken one!

There's a lot of good shops that deal in Bravos some of the most popular are

All American Drive Service
The Bravo Shop
Max Machine Worx

These are my personal favorites
Dicks Performance Marine "Mr. Gadgets"
Smittys Engine and Trans "Arctic Friends"

But there are a lot of other shops capable and plenty of guys that are not lol!

I like the convenience of Amsoil Severe gear in the 5 gal pail with a universal pail pump as a lid. You can get quarts locally across the country, and you can find a local distributor that will give you dealer pricing. It's widely recognized as one of the best gear lubes, even owners of competor companies have told me that it's some of the best. But not all Amsoil is the best BTW.

Remember to drain the drive for hours, trim up to let all the hidden cavities drain into the drive for hours again, and then trim back down to drain the rest out. Fill from the bottom up to the reservoir to prevent air bubbles. Leave the top plug out and reservoir cap off which purges the air then put top plug back in and continue to fill until the low line on the reservoir. Let it settle and top off reservoir as needed. (I've overfilled the reservoir walking away from the pump and it continues filling)

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

Do you know what the boat weighs with fuel, getting that thing up on plane with those engines in the peak torque range is stressing those drives for sure

ubet28

I do not. My plan is to pull it across the scale at my suppliers yard then when it’s in dry stack pull the trailer back across the scale to see what the difference is.

I'm guessing 10k

Keith Atlanta

If you are buying "a spare or two", Just buy one IMCO SCX and dont worry about anything. With the money they get for drives right now you could buy one SCX for less than two Bravo XR's.

87MirageIntruder

I have my "A" XR drive at Mr Gadgets as we speak for a rebuild. He sure is great to work with.

I also bring my spare "B" drive with me when I take longer trips. It's just an X model but would save a vacation.