Bravo 1 and 500 HPs
 

I have a 50 foot Nortech with triple 500 HPs and standard bravo drives.The boat had 525 sc until 1998. to this date the drives have not been a problem but I have heard that due to the weight of the boat that they need to be changed.The boat weighs in at 15500 lbs.

if you havn't wasted them yet why change them? Especially if you went down in HP. HP500 are 470 hp a the prop and SC525 are 495hp at the prop. If you wanted better reliability or you are killing bravos you coudl upgrade them. Imco make complete drive as well as upgrades for you existing bravos (new guts) and the bravo shop also sells the bmax drives that are supposedly pretty good. There are a few other companie sthat make bravo upgrade kits too.

Other than that you woudl need to glass over your transom recut for SSM series drive and move your engines and mount up trannies for the SSMs. BIG $$$$ in parts and labor. To go to SSM drive woudl be a huge hassle you woudl be betteroff selling your boat and getting another 50' that already has SSM drives and bigger power.

Don't fix what ain't broke! Spend a little on preventative maintenance. Change your gear lube every 30 hours. Also have someone go into the drives every year to check on bearing and gear wear. It's money well spent.