Bravo drive replacement/upgrade question. Help Please.
 

A buddy of mine had both his bravos ripped off (stolen) a few days ago! :mad: Its off a 1991 32' boat and he needs to get pricing for ins. now. He was wondering if the XZ/XR drives will bolt right up to the existing gimbals? if not then whats his best option for a replacement bravo? Just the bravo-x drive...or is he SOL and must go back to the standard Bravo drive? The boats a 1991 black thunder with mild 454's in it. He feels it heavy and just wants a bit more peace of mind with better drives is all. Thanks

Wally, either the XR or X will bolt up to his gimbal, just need to change the gimbal bearing, bellows retainer sleeve and put some plastic spacers in the trim cylinders. total is about $60.

Even the new box stock Bravo is stronger than what he has now.

I know the XR uses a larger input shaft....So you need to replace the gimble bearing with the larger one to fit the XR shaft. I believe they have a red dot on them. I think it is only a matter of like .030 bigger, but it needs to be changed. There is a merc service bulletin on this issue.

Not sure about the XZ input shaft size??

Other than that it should bolt right up.

THANKS GUYS! i will pass the info along to him...he will be happy :) ......oh and Marc.....i bet he will be ordering from you when he gets the ins check for the parts :)

My insurance was trying to depreciate my drives due to their age. I had to proove that they were rebuilt in order to collect full value. He might want to beat them right away on that point too.