Has anyone seen or heard of any strength issues with the bravo outer transom plates when the access panel is cut out of the back instead of using the mercury holes drilled through the sides?

I haven’t heard of any myself but only personally know them on boats under 70mph. Just something I’ve been curious about for a few years.

If you're referring to the JR marine kit. I did that on the Outlaw I had, though it was a sub 70 mph boat I never had any issues while it was on the boat. When I pulled the motor I replaced the whole transom assembly since I had access to it

I have those on both my drives, no issues so far after 3 years. My boat tops at 67, so sorry it's also under 70.

Had the jr mod on my 70mph boat for 7-8 years-250hrs. No issues at all. I wouldn't hesitate on installing it.

I'm running one on an 80mph single Bravo.

Not sure I would translate load on bravo vs. top speed.

faster boats have less drag, lighter weight, and sometimes more power.

i.e. a top gun with twin steps that runs 85 is likely putting less load on drive of a old flat bottom that is only running 70mph.

the are that is modified to do the kit is not a high stress area. I say go for it.

I ran it on a 27 big block Crownline for 9yrs and no issues and rebuilt them using the same kit on my current PowerQuest 380 back in 2013. Only issue I had with the Powerquest was CP Performance drive shower hits bottom cap screws if drives are turned all the way and trimmed up all the way. It damaged cap screws and threads, so i put in heli-coils and went with button head socket screws and did some grinding on drive showers where they touched for additional clearance.

Change the entire TA instead.

I think that's yes the best option, but not having to pull the engines is a plus I did mine and am happy w/the results.

Hydraulic steering ….