Well guys, as many of you said, "it's not if, but when the Bravo breaks!" Was on Lake Havasu Saturday having a great time (sorting out some carb work I had done with help from OSO members) and weather was nice...until, see pics below! Cruising up to Topock about 50 or so MPH and started to lay into a little bit. At about 65-70 heard a clunk, rattle, and the boat coasted to a stop as I quickly backed out of the throttle, telling the wife "that didn't sound good!" Tried fwd and reverse but nothing...called vessel assist. Left boat in Havasu to have a bimini and cockpit cover made, but now need to research what to do. Can lower case be repaired, or probably replaced? MMWX, IMCO, BMax...I don't know? I'm very mechanically inclined and curious if I should pick the boat up when top and cover is done and bring it back to Phoenix to tear apart myself, or leave it to the pros? JC Machine was recommended, and another was Prestige...I know nothing of either one. I like to tinker and would also like to learn more about the internals of the drive. Engine is 540ci w/8 lbs boost but driven easy, i.e. easy on plane and easy throttle from 50-100, not slammed wide open.

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Spend big money on a complete drive swap like Arneson or IMCO SCX or

Buy a spare used matching drive and rotate through rebuilding them cheap to stock specs. Any upgrade bravo based drive will STILL prematurely wear out and break. There are NO magic tricks that will keep the stock gears (which all of them use) to live long enough to wrnty the expense.

You ran that one out of oil by the looks of it.
The upper is the weak point not the lower.

Call Max Machine Worx in Lake Havasu, in the Outdrive business 16 years, some of the best, and, they answer the phone themselves, great guys, very helpful .

928-505-7860, Max Machine Worx
Lake Havasu

He did not run low on oil. If he was low on oil, the upper gears lose lubrication first. All the Bravo gears are net forged and that means far from perfect tooth to tooth contact. Depending on the original set up and the water you run is, upper or lower gears will fail. The gears start pitting and then fail. With the amount of power you have, you should be checking the magnets for flakes every 5-10 hours running time. If you see flakes, get them inspected.

I have a Whippled 565 , about 850 HP , I just switched from a SC to a SCX upper and lower , was a little pricey but works nice . I did lose
about 5 MPH though , but now don't have to worry about it blowing up in the middle of the lake .

Thanks for the responses everyone. Max Machine Worx will have the drive today to start assesing the damage. May look into another alternative down the road, IMCO SCX or other, but not now.

Good choice. Part of what makes a bravo drive last is how its put together so someone with a lot of experience is best. As said though, the XR gears are a crap shoot. An SCX would be the ultimate solution, but pricey.

Exactly!


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