Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

currently have a 2003 358 w/ 500efi's spinning 26 pitch lab finished bravo 1's
went out this weekend and GPS at 74.3 with 3/4 tank of gas and 2 people aboard , air temp 85, water temp 65 or so.
My question- what are the correct prop selection for this boat??
the 26's have a great hole shot, and turn to 5200rpm's, but I think their is some top speed missing.
How about 30's bravo 1's?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Thunder32,
I currently have a 2001 Sonic 358 with 500 efi's with the bravo XR's. Sonic put 28" pitch props on it,they are not lab finished.The engine turn 4900rpm. I figure if they were lab finished you may see an extra 100 rpms. I have seen 78.9mph(gps)with half tank fuel,and 3 to 4 footers. Hope this helps.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Hey NJ thanks-
I have labbed 26's that came with the boat as I stated earlier, but I am the second owner.
I may look at another pair of props 28's or 30's and keep the 26's for spares.

Again, thanks for your input, that's what I was looking for.
I just knew that the 26's were the wrong props for this set up.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I have 28" Bravo 1's on my 2001 358 with 500EFI'S. No GPS but I do hit 5200 RPM's. I do not know if they are Lab finished because I bought the boat used. Have had faster boats than my Sonic and I feel that this is a good combination. Next time I take the props off I will look underneath and see if they are LABBED.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Drag "N" Ass,
It sounds like you have lab finished props,they probably have the blades trimmed alittle. The highest rpm I have seen is 5000. That was with the drive trimmed way out and light load on board.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

ok guys, may have to call "throttle up" on this one also.
I may start with 28's labbed, but I do have another question.
My last go- fast, a 32' AT rode alot better than the 358.
Maybe I'm not trimming correctly or something-
set the drives at neutral position, say "5" or so with no tabs, and a "1" foot wake will start the bow bouncing, which I am not use to, or to crazy about.
I bury the drives to calm down, and re-trim.
I have "tested" various combinations of drive and trim tab settings, but I have not found anything I'm happy with.
Thus, hoping to change props with right pitch AND add "cup" or whatever to add some stern lift to help the "bouncing bow" syndrome.
I defense to the 358 however, it does seem to ride better in 2-4 footers, than 1's or less.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Are you sure 5 is neutral ? On my boat that is trimmed way out. Neutral is around 2 for me.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Sonics ride better at higher speeds, and rough water. I will get a slight porpus in calm water and slower speeds in my 31. I can gain almost 10 mph in rough water!!! Are you in fresh or salt water? I know other 35s that run 80ish with the 500s. I don't know what the "sweet spot" rpm is for the 500s, but I think for cruising it is around 3700 rpm. You'll figure it out!!!

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I have a 2002 358 with the HP500 EfI's that I bouight over the winter. The boat had stock 28 Bravos that gave me about 4800 rpm and close to 78 mph (gps). I had the boat into Sonic and they swapped out the props for me with labbed 28's. Now I can hit 5200 rpm but only run around 74 mph. I'm thinking of going back to the stock 28's because of the speed issue but isn't it better to run in the upper range of the max rpm??

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I always felt that way until someone goes by me at a couple miles per hour.
I have 525's with labbed 28's and get about the same numbers as you do with the labbed props .I am going to try a set 30's that are labbed
I will let you know I have a 2003 358

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Thunder32,
Try bringing your tabs down alittle(even with the running surface).this may help. It did with mine. My hull has the notch in the transom.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

thanks NJ, but I do not have a notched transom.

Will post results when I figure it out.

Adam

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I just ordered a set of labbed 28's from Houston Propeller - I'll see how these work out and post the results too. Should be here in about 10 days or so.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

thanks Splash-

please post results when you can.

Adam

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Got a chance to get the boat wet . I ran the 30 lab finished
ran the same numbers as the 28's but now boat was full of gear
wife and two daughters full of water . So I have to say I picked up
a little ran 5200 rpm around 77.6 w/short blast
Water was flat .What I really liked was 3000 was around 43 mph

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I got my new labbed 28's this weekend. Got a little time to run them but the water was dead calm. I was running close to 5000 rpm but didn't have my gps on. I did notice the midrange seemed to be much better.

I get alot of the porpoising too. I've indexed my drives and tabs to neutral - approx 4 on the drives and 5 on tabs. I have to run with more than 5 tabs or I start to get alot of front end bounce - no notch either. Where are you other guys running your drives and trims with your 358's?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

good question- I'm interested too....

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

When we are running 40-50mph
I always set tabs at around 5 give or take a little on each
The drives are set around 2-3 for the same speed . This seems to
stop the bounce . when I want more speed I just flatten or 0 out the tabs
and run the drives as far out as the rpms will let me (flat water ).
I found the sweet spot and marked it on my tab indicator with a dot from a sharpy seems to make it a lot easyer to find while moving. Hope this helps

RR

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I have an 05 358 with Bravo 1's 30 pitch. I ran 79.9 on flat water but i have to run a lot of tab initially to keep the bow from bouncing. Has anyone found props with enough stern lift to keep the bow down. pic's attached

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I have the same bouncing problem with my 35ss and am looking for info on the best props to cure this. Has anyone tryed the hydromotives yet.....supposed to give better stern lift.

Also my tabs appear to be "nuetral" (even with bottom) around 5 also. But how are you guys finding a "nuetral" setting with the drives ? what are you calling/refering to as nuetral as far as drive trim when you look at the back of the boat ?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

viper 7 are the 30's bravo 1 props labbed ? are you running ext. boxes of any kind ?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

The 30 Bravo 1's that Iam running are not labs. i have a set of labs coming to try. My drives are Mercury Racing XR's with ITS which gives about 7 inches of extension.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Viper,
Are you running 500 EFI's or the 525's?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I am running 525 EFI's.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

OK- got a set of 28's Bravo1's from an OSO brother- not labbed in good shape (thanks Jim)
Air temp-85
Water Temp- 80-85
a little humid to say the least
waves- 1 foot or so
Conclusion-
boat ran MUCH better with the 28's vs. the 26's
more stern lift, and no bouncing bow-
no tabs, and drives set at "3", and 1/2 tank of gas, 1 person
3800rpms- 59mph GPS
WOT @ 4800- 76.2 GPS
much better mid-range cruising, with minimal top end ( 2 mph or so )

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Thunder,
Thanks for the results - were these done in fresh or salt water?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Adam posted yesterday, Potomac River, slightly brackish water.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

I have tried several different propellers from Mercury and Hydromotive on my 05 358 with twin 525's. Hydromotive 27 P5-X's are by far the best over all propellers I have found. The bow bounce and porpoising problems of the 358 are almost eliminated. The Hydromotive 5 blades only require a minimum amount of tab to keep the bow down as compared with a ton of tab with the Mercury Bravo 1 4 blades. Acceleration out of the whole and midrange is like a day and night difference. Fuel economy is also much improved as prop and hull efficiency is much higher and the top speed is at least the same as with the Bravo 1's. I hope to play with the boat a little more to see if I can coax a little more speed out of the P-5's.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Friend of mine just bought a 2001 358 with 500 efi's the boat has imco extension boxes and 28 labbed 4 blades we hit 76.8 on gps yesterday.Anyone running this combo?I ran the boat and it starts to porpoise and wont stop until you tab it down,5 on the indicator dropping drive didnt help but than again this was a 5 minute ride.please post any relative comments.Interesting trait (porpoising)wonder why? anyone else use 5 blades.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Running Hydromotive 27 Pitch 5 blades and very little tab is required at slower speeds to keep the bow down. no tab required at higher speeds. I ran 82 Saturday afternoon in fresh water.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Thanks for posting,I wil pass on the info to my buddy!

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Hi Guys I Have A 35' Boat With Hp500s ,brovo1 Drives And 28' Props Lab Finished The Boat Run 80mph At 5600rpm. The Way I Have It Set Up Is The Props Rotating Inward. (this Holds Down The Bow) The Problem That Most Of Seam To Be Talking About. The Easy Way To Try If This Works For You Is To Swap Props From One Drive To The Other And Then You Would Have To Run The Boat In Reverse For This Test. Good Luck I Hope Works
Mike

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Viper - What were your rpms running?
I have a 03 with 525's and am running lab28 b-1 's and
I have the standard outdrive settings. yesterday 77gps 1/4 tank two on board.
This thing also sucks fuel I would love to see better fuel mileage and top end .
I am now on the limiters at 77gps trimmed up no tab.
Are the Hydromotives Labbed?
Thanks for help
RR

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Roadrunner the Hydromotive Props are not labbed. The difference between the Hydromotives and the Bravo 1 props is prop efficiency.I am getting a slip factor of 7% with the hydromotive P-5's and I was getting a slip factor of 19% with the standard 30 Bravo's and the 30 labbed props were even worse as far as efficiency. I am turning around 5200 RPM's at 82 MPH GPS with the Hydromtives P-5 27 pitch. Handling and fuel economy are also much improved with the P-5's.

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

VIPER7 Thanks for the reply . It sounds like the way to go . What do you think about labbing the hydromotive p-5 Also where did you get your props and how much did you pay for them? Thanks for your help! When your boat was running 82gps what kind of a load were you carrying ?
Thanks
RR

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Has anyone tried a pair of the Mercury Maximus 5-blade ?

Re: Prop selection for 358 with 500efi's
 

Roadrunner, I got the Hydromotive P-5X Props from Matt at Throttle UP and he worked with me as I tried two different pitches from him. As for labbing the props I have not tried any of these props.The standard props put me in the RPM range where I wanted to be and the standard props are a lot stronger and not near as subject to damage and breakage as the labs. I feel sure that Matt could give you some info from Throttle UP. When I was running 82 I had 5 people in the boat and a little over a half a tank in the fuel tanks.