No forward gear
 

So, was thinking of going with bigger tabs on the Sonic. But as I was pulling into my dock yesterday, it was crowded. So I shift into reverse to back away till I have a spot. Go to put it into forward and nothing. Neutral is good and reverse is good. No noise, no smell of rubber. Cables were just changed in the fall. Had a new gimbal ring done in the fall. Motor was out to do this. So now I'm going to the boat today to see what's up. No Tabs for me till I see what this entails. Any ideas?

I'm thinking something wasn't tight enough, and slip. Needs adjustment

I'm hoping that's it. I checked the cable at the motor end unhooked it and still could not get it into forward. Engine running the coupler is spinning, so I know it's not that. I called my mechanic who did the gimbal ring and he also put a new able in. No problems and I have 40 hrs on it since all the work.

Well got the bad news. I'm looking at rebuilding the upper. Forward gear and shift fork are worn. Looks like my season is over. I'm really bummed. I gave my mechanic the drive serial# so he can price out the parts. And give me a price to fix. I'm thinking maybe just getting a new upper. But then what about the lower? Buy a whole new drive? I actually do not want to spend 8k. Well, I thought I got a good deal on this boat! Lol. My wife wants to sell it. Can't blame her. I tried to explain to her that I have to fix it first. Anybody got a spare Bravo 1 drive they don't need? Oh well thanks for listening guys! I didn't sleep good last night!

Put a post in the wanted section, I'm sure folks have drives.

Standard bravo 1?

Sorry about the drive trouble, Gary.
Good luck.

Padraig

Go see Mark and see if he can hook you up:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mer%2...7495178310321/

It's an offshore boat. Stuff breaks. You can't just give up when it happens. The easiest part of boating is buying it.

Ask Sick Stringer he always has drives

It's a Bravo 1 performance with the low water pick ups. I'm assuming it came with the boat. Serial number 0L749618. Every Bravo 1 I'm looking at has the standard water pick ups on the side of the lower, not on the bottom like mine. I'm assuming it's 1.50 gears. I'm leaning towards buying a whole drive. My luck will be if I just buy an upper the lower will go! But I'm not ruling out that option either. So stupid question, will any Bravo 1 upper bolt to my lower? I think the xr has bigger u joints so that won't work? Will any Bravo 1 complete drive just bolt right on? I'm also thinking if I buy the whole drive I would just do it myself and save the labor. Again thanks for listening guys! Your all talking me off the ledge! 😆

You won't have any issue with a drive without the low water pick up. Could help at very high speeds but your not there

Only the very old Bravo's have comparability issues, any after 1995 will work. Can put X, XR, standard on any lower. I have a XR upper on a standard B3 lower

Do yourself a favor. Buy a nice used drive from Sick Stinger. Mike is a good guy. Then with the money you saved buy your wife some nice piece of jewelry and give it to her on your next outing on the like new boat. Killed 2 birds with 1 stone. I’ve been married 39 years, so I know what I’m talking about. :rolleyes:

Sick Stinger what have you got? PM me with details.

I would PM him directly as he is very very busy.

I did pm him. Waiting for a response. Boy, it's hard finding parts. But, I do have a question for you Bravo specialists. I keep finding two different part numbers 5-5231200TP And 5-531200NP. One is the classic. Which one do I need? Also was told any x drive would need new gimbal bearing. Don't want to do that. I just want plug and play as I'm doing this myself.

Gimbal bearing is DYI. Just a few cheap tools, and every boater will need to do once ir twice.

The X would need another gimbal bearing because the U joints are larger

Not finding the part your listeing but just looking at the number I would just say its same part different vendor

Baja 250 is selling this one
https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...-complete.html

that sold already. I'm waiting for Mike to get back to me with his number, so I can call him. He told me he had 2. In the mean time I found a bravo 1 xz. Question, I know I'll have to change my gimbal bearing to the red dot. But will I still be able to use my same prop? Also, the guy told me it was a 2018. I thought they stopped making them before that. Also he posted what I feel are stock pictures. Looked the same as another ad I saw that said was sold out.

No need to change prop "unless" it's a different ratio

All XR's have the same upper gear set, the lower is what changes
The others have different gear sets for upper and lower

Ok, really don't want to spend the money on a new drive. But I found a place that has new Bravo 1 drives. New style and old style. Any difference? One better than the other? Still holding out to find a good used one. But the season is moving on by.

Ok, update. I finally did find a nice clean used drive. I'm back on the water!