I take it you also had to fill and rework your transom then?

Monty, yes that had to be done on my boat, BUT there is a easier and less costly way now. Stelling's now makes a TRS to Bravo conversion that is all done within their extension box. The extension box on the transom side has a TRS bolt pattern so that it will bolt right up to the existing TRS bolt holes that you now have in your transom, HOWEVER on the drive end of the extension box it has a bolt pattern for a Bravo One drive thus eliminating the need for having to fill in and recut the transom of your boat! I guess the only draw back is that you have to buy the extension box which STILL is an expense, but there is much less labor involved. :)

Fred,

Yeah, you mentioned to me how much you paid Doller to rebuild them, that's one of the main reasons I'm hesitant to replace them. I haven't made a decision yet about what I'm going to do - stay with the TRS's or switch to something else. It just seems like everyone has a different opinion about them. As I mentioned earlier, for everyone who says they're as weak as a wet noodle, someone else comes up with an example of them living reliably behind big power.

My main goal is just to have something that will be reliable behind the 540's I'm building without me having to spend more on a pair of drives than I paid you for the boat. The thought of redoing the transom is unappealing due to the very good consition of the hull.

When you had them rebuilt, were they "upgraded" in anyway, or were they just rebuilt to stock specifications?

I'm gonna have the tranny's redone since they appear to be stock originals. Might as well since I have them out. I'll have extra clutches and steels installed to increase their torque capacity.

Cool, Thanks as always Fred.

TRS
 

Hi Monty, These is no upgrade for TRS drives, and we have found the stock parts to be getting more and more scarce. As you would read in the Bravo XR, XZ post, the life expectancy has alot to do with the method of running the boat, as well as HP and weight of boat.
If you would like to discuss this further with our Sterndrive tech, John Klumpjan, please phone him at 800-376-1616, or 954-463-9988. Or for the conversion info, ask for Mac.
Regards, Mindi

I am surprised no one mentioned these:

Konrad Marine Drives

Anyone ever use them? Supposedly rated to 800hp, bolt up to TRS, 2-speed trans...

Has anyone on the board ever used a Konrad drive?

Spectra32,

I looked at their site, but I didn't see any mention of it bolted right up in place of a TRS?

"Transom Mounting Template available, patterned after popular mount." patterned after popular mount. You need to call Konrad, but I'm certain this popular mount is the TRS.

Monty,

You can always put Bravo's on your boat, they will be around for ever. The TRS is a tough drive, the weakest link is the lower gears. I inspected and replaced my lower gears this spring after 300hrs of hard use. I run a 311 with ZZ502's(567ft lbs), and I'm not easy on it.
While BAM seems to be anti TRS, and Doller seems to be neutral, there is a place called Offshore Performance Specialties(Don Carter)who is definitely pro TRS(offshoreperformance.com), and stocks alot of TRS drives and parts. Since your drives are fresh, I think I would save all that dough and buy my wife something nice.