Drive Shower Bravo 3

[oldno7]

Are these of value, if so which brand stands out?

[ss3964spd]

I've read about them #7, and from what I've learned they are useful if you are driving the B3 with lots of HP and torque and/or running the boat at sustained WOT.

What engine is in your boat and how do you use the boat?

We're going on our third season with our 300 HP/B3 equipped boat and have not had an out drive related problem.

Dan

[oldno7]

I run the boat at Lake Powell. Many extended drives in the 40-50 mile range.
Engine 7.4MPI

[seapuppy]

as stated...they are mainly used to cool the top of the gear case...with that said...your not running your engine/drive at say warp 2....so...really it's not working hard enough to warrant the expense....last yr we were at the local marina ramp and this super high performance seal boat came in...man it was awesome.....the drives and props probably cost more than my entire boat....but anyway...they didn't have the showers on....so...probably not worth it...
so..would it help??..maybe.....would it warrant the expense??..probably not...


Sp

[oldno7]

Thanks for the input

[capav8r]

I was told by one of our local high hp baja drivers that if you see white chalking on the upper portion of the drive, then you should think about adding a shower. The chalking is supposedly caused by the minerals in the water being left behind as the water is evaporated off an excessively warm drive. He also told me that they all use Amsoil in their drives.

[jeffmeans]

"Drive Shower"? What the hell is a Drive Shower?!

[shrew]

A Drive shower has absolutely nothing to do with keeping the drive clean. Most drives on boats, such as Maxum's are completely underwater when at displacement speed or stopped. When the boat is hauled, a hose will do the same thing for cleaning salt from a drive. If you boat in salt water, you should be hosing down the boat and drive and running the drive and engine on muffs to flush the salt water out when you haul the boat anyway.

A Drive shower is to keep the drive cool while running at higher RPM's. You're impellor draws raw water through the drive and that water cools the drive internally, so there is really no need for a drive shower. Boats that use running through-hull pickups for engine cooling are bypassing the pickups in the drive and therefore the drive is no longer being cooled internally. A drive shower is used to scoop water while running and constantly spray down the exterior of the drive to keep it cool. Very high perfomance boats will use running through hull pick ups to increase the volume of water being drawn in for cooling. Some high performance boats might add a drive shower in addition to the water being drawn internally for supplemental cooling, but you'd have to be running ridiculous amounts of HP to necessitate something like that. Many guys like the stainless steel look of a drive shower even if they don't need it.

You'd be hard pressed to find a Maxum that would need a drive shower unless you've decided to bypass the pick ups in the drive and go with a through hull running pick-up to cool the engine.

[jeffmeans]

You two guys are amazing (Schrew and Sea Puppy). I thought I knew a lot about boats!

[seapuppy]

jeff....shrew and I answered the question bout the need for a drive shower.....is there something we're missing???

SP

[Cymru]

I think Jeff was just saying that you guys know your stuff. At least thats how I read it. ;-)

[seapuppy]

ah...brain fart...


SP

[jeffmeans]

Bingo!

[seapuppy]

AAH!!...thanks.....that's why we get paid the big bucks......


by the way...I wanna raise !!...zero to plus zero!!

[shrew]

SP, I'll give you 1/2 of my zero if you're short this week. BTW- I'm not as knowledgeable as I am cheap and stubborn. I also take approx. 5 times as long as a professional to complete the same job.

[seapuppy]

deal!!