Bravo III Shifting Question

[msd58]

Yesterday I went out on an informal water test on boat that had 454 and Bravo III. (Very low hours on boat.) This was my first experience with a Bravo III and that my past experience had been Alpha I's for years. I did not have any expectations. I did noticed that the Bravo III seen to bang into gear compared to my Alpha I. A noticable difference. The shifting felt easy and was crisp and immediate but, much louder than my Alpha I's. There were no unusual sounds like chatter or clicking. Just the bang. Hey it maybe was boom. I don't know how to describe it. I asked the owner if it always did that and he yes, he has owned the boat since new. Is this normal?

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo III Shifting Question

The B3 drives have 2 very large stainless steel counter rotating props, go get that mass going from a dead stop usually makes a clunk into gear, not a big bang. If the idle rpm is too high (650-700 rpm), they will bang into gear a lot louder than they should.

 

[msd58]

Re: Bravo III Shifting Question

The B3 drives have 2 very large stainless steel counter rotating props, go get that mass going from a dead stop usually makes a clunk into gear, not a big bang. If the idle rpm is too high (650-700 rpm), they will bang into gear a lot louder than they should.

I was not paying attention to the RPM's The sound it made was similar to a loud clunk more than a big bang. Maybe I did not give right interpretion to sound.

 

[burp]

Re: Bravo III Shifting Question

I went from a Volvo SX to the Bravo 3 outdrive. For me the part to get used to was not the clunk into gear but rather the force required to get it in and out of gear. Also, around the docks the difference between the single/dual props is very noticable. Once the Bravo 3 outdrive is in gear it really moves some water. Get used to bumping it in and out of gear fast when docking, or else find a good fiberglass/gelcoat guy.