IM finalling my power for my new 30' cat. Im looking for drive options. I'm concerned about reliability, and also speed. I know of the mercury xr's, imco sc, and arnesons , I have heard great things about the arnesons but they will probably be out of my budget. Are there any other options out there and does anyone know the approximate costs of these for a twin application, thanks

BMAX

http://bravoshop.net/BMax_Drives.html

In the drive forum we are having a similar conversation with mr gadgets. Bmaxs are good as well as a host of others, if you got 15k to drop per side. With the power your running get some newer(00 and up) bravo ones and be done with it. Your running sbc right? They will be fine and you can buy them and transom assem cheap right now. We push 850 through ares. Do we have failures? You bet but we can pick up gears sets for less then a grand. I might mess up a set a year and that's boating in fl all year long. That's 15 years of boating. Now alot of it has to do with how you treat the drive coming out of the hole but these are drag boats so just take your time.
I am sure I will get beat up on this but its my experience over the las ten years.

A very important point. Someone on this board once posted: "Fast, Cheap, Reliable - pick any two." If you go too cheap, you will wind up spending far, far more money in the future than if you had invested in the good stuff from the start. (And you'll have to deal with the aggravation of breakdowns, tow-ins and lost weekend.) Good Luck!

I ran 600 through a B1 and never had an issue. Cats are easier on Bravos than Vs because of less hull in the water to push. Limit your holeshots and you'll be fine.

Are you talking a stock b1 or a stock xr's. Where is the cheapest place to get one right now with gimbals complete what should I pay. Will the b1 be as fast as the arnesons surface drive? Yes I'm looking at sbc engines, have found lots of options . Would like to get 550-600 hp, should push my 30 over 130mph

What boat are you looking at ronza? I know that we are all curious....

Pm you

+1

Price vs. speed, reliabillity and durabillity, you can't beat the ASD#7M with ANY B1 stuff.

Don't forget the speed increase from the Arnesons over the B1 style drives. There is quite a difference. Also, when you add it all up, steering, boxes, drives, props ect. the Arneson ASD#7M is not really any more pricey than the rest. Just stronger and faster, and will most likely save you money in the long run.

Do it once, and do it right.

Drives a good idea to consider, but unfortunately there is more to worry about than just the drives.

What boat is it?

What power WAS in the boat with what style of drives?

Honestly, if the boat has always had stock power with bravo drives, you are in need of more than beefier drives.

Things to consider:

Transom Assemblies: What style are they, figuring they are Bravo's (stock or HD)? What condition are they in? Have they been rebuilt or modified for the increased power? If not, you may want to consider just replacing them with Mercury HD's or IMCO's. If the boat is still apart, in todays day there are some great deals on NEW, HD Transoms.

Steering: I am sure the cat has a tie bar that connects the 2 drives together, but is there any addition steering? We strongly recommend that you have at least dual ram steering and full hydraulic is the safest and most comfortable way to go with the bigger power cats.

Drives: Now to the drives.. This is really going to depend on how you drive the boat and how the power is set up. If they are naturally aspirated, chances are you might get them to live a bit longer as long as you are easy on the boat getting onto plane (work the boat onto plane at a low RPM before the cam comes in) and do not air it out to much. If they are blower motors, you will immediately make power and really have to baby the drives getting onto plane and when airing the boat out. RM and Even if you have XR drives you can still easily break them so you are going to have to be patient and re-lean the boats manners.

Round Numbers:
Mercury HD bravo transom assemblies: $1950ea
Good NEW Bravo XR drives: $11000ea (approx)
Steering: $5000 (dual ram, full hyd)
Misc that you never think of: $2000+

Sorry I am not a writer and i just kind of blurted this out there, but these are serious things to consider. Twin 600HP engines are going to get your boat moving so you have to think of the entire package. Faster speeds can cause serious stresses on the boat and can change the handling characteristics! Like these guys say here, if you want to do it right, it is going to cost a few bucks! If you do it right the first time, you will end have have less drama to deal with and save money in the long run!

If you guys have any questions, please feel free to give us a call! -Eric