| OutlawBob1000 |
01-09-2003 08:19 PM |
I'm running a B-max behind a 1000hp 572.It's been two seasons now and about 120hrs. It's been running in mostly rough water and poker runs. When I first dropped the 572 in, I figured I would blow the drive, a bravo one, which was at least stonger than stock. It had stronger gears and better bearings. It held up to other engines that I had in the boat which were a 515 hp and a 610 hp. But the first test run with the 572 the upper blew apart on the first full throttle pass. Because I anticipated it blowing I already had a boat sitting there waiting to tow me in. I rebuilt the upper with even stronger parts and still blew the upper. So that's when I went out and bought the B-Max. After blowing 2 uppers apart I was hesitant to open the throttle up on the B-Max. I let the drive break in and I even changed the oil (I use Amsoil 2000 series 75/90) and then I took it out to see if it could handle all the torque. Thank god it did. So I proceeded to take it out in the rough waters and poker runs and run it hard. I have such confidence in the B-Max now that I'm never worried about blowing it. At the end of this past season the drive was pulled and torn down and showed no sign of wear or problems. And needless to say, lube was like new. The only problem I had with the B-Max was shift problems. I have bought 1 of the first 50 drives sold, so since then the Bravo Shop has come out with a better shift linkage that hooks up to the barrell of the shirt cable.
note: if you do purchase B-Max's you don't set the shift up the way you would with a stock Bravo shift. I'll tell you about that later if you do purchase the drives. I do run a light boat with this drive which may be the reason why I have had no problems at all. I have heard of guys with heavy boats running B-Max's that were breaking prop shafts. I believe this is an X-dimension problem. I have heard of no one actually blowing the upper gears on the B-Max, which of course is the weak point of all other Bravo 1 drives. The B-Max upper is as strong as a #six drive. I consider myself a pretty good throttle man, but there's been times, and I'm sure it's happened to us all, where the prop has broke water and the r's were way too high on the prop's re-entry. I would swear that if I didn't have a B-max back there, that any other drive would have blown in these instances. And I'm not talking about the stock Bravo's, I'm talking about everyone who claims they have a strong Bravo for today's high horse power engines. I have heard of guys running up to 1400 hp in some drag boats with the B-Max. Pretty impressive! Hope I enlightened you about the B-Max drive.
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