I've been very happy with my innovative marine shower. I have mine plumbed into the water pump so I don't have to worry about cavitation or pickup problems.

http://www.innovativemarine.net/

With 550hp on a 3000Ib hull I blew a bravo 1 upper in one day after about 20 hole shots. Prior to that I was gentle with it for almost a year with no problems.

This was more of a test than anything. I had a new XR upper waiting at home along with a blower.

Just goes to show if your gentle a bravo 1 can last a long time on a light hull with up to 600HP.

zt260:
Thanks for the reply. Here's my problem. I use the boat to slalom ski, and would probably have to do at least "half-hole" shots to get me and other big guys out of the water. Your comments about the Bravo upper therefore cause me concern. What did the XR upper cost you? Any more thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

IT LOOKS LIKE ALL OF THE HP BOATERS HAVE DONE THE TESTING FOR MERCURY AT THERE EXPENSE. IT IS AMASSING HOW FAST BOATERS WORK TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT HP,TORQUE,& BOAT WEIGHT TO DRIVE LIMITS. MERCURY PROBABLY USES OSO TECH TO WRITE THERE DATA SHEETS.:rolleyes:

bouncedcheque-
 

The new XR Upper was about $3500. I found a good deal, you might pay as much as $4000.

I was pulling skiers at the time I blew the bravo 1. If that is your goal, I would buy a new XR or XZ upper right now. You must change the gimble bearing to do so, otherwise this is a bolt on replacement.

The XZ is cheaper, shifts smoother, and will handle your HP unless you go up to bigger HP (ie. Blower 600+ HP)

What HP are you at right now?

If you are running high HP with the Bravo, you may want to consider a stronger gimbal ring if you don't have one as well. When I had Bravo's, I never broke mine (had about 420 hp), but if I went higher I was told to get the Merc stronger one. I believe there are other aftermarket solutions too.

zt260:
Check out a regular e-mail I sent you at info@moor... etc. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone else for your input as well.

It all depends on how you use it. I smoked two upper sets in one season on my cat :( Surfacing them really beats the crap out of them thats for sure. On my powerplay I ran a 540 / 560 hp for 125 hrs without breaking it. NO hole shots and careful throttling and lots of oil changes.