When to upgrade the Bravo 1? 570hp/640ftlbs

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07-21-2022, 10:57 PM

#11

Griff

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad Christy

Griff,

So, I'm a bit confused....

It sounds like you're saying the durability of the B1 diminished in the early 2000's, and Merc's solution was to develop several stages of stronger outdrives. But the chart shows a different story. I *THINK*. The drive on our PQ is a B1, MFRd in 2001. I'm just trying to figure out what we've got.

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

IMO, Merc did not address the root of the problem which was the quality of the gears and shafts. Instead they improved the overall design to make the drives stronger. I know a bunch of people, including me, with 800-1200 hours on older/pre 2000 Bravo drives behind 502/454 mags with 385hp-415hp. Yet when the 425hp 496 HO came out, regular Bravo's were failing regularly with 100-200 hrs. Merc then started putting X drives behind 496HO's. My regular Bravo behind a 525SC let go at 210 hrs. People are now lucky to get 210 hours out of an XR behind a 525EFI. The reason is the quality of the gears.

07-22-2022, 05:56 AM

#12

JaayTeee

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What they did fix was the problem with blowing the bottom floor of the driven gear out
by making the gear floors thicker, I’ve never seen this happen on a OM s/n set, but as Griff
mentioned, the quality seemed to go down in other areas