Boats For Sale:
V drive pros and cons |
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wayoutthere 
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 Topic: V drive pros and consPosted: November-06-2021 at 7:47pm |
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Would like to gather as much technical information as possible and hear opinions on the pros and cons across the whole spectrum to include;
Direct versus Vdrive, installation, shaft angle, gear reduction/ratios, preferred unit, maintenance, any and everything. Picures tape measures technical drawings are encouraged.  To start im interested in where the shaft exits the hull as measured from the transom compared to a direct drive. As an example this screenshot is from the mercury installation filter, it would be great if there was similar tech drawings from pcm
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75 Tique
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Joined: August-12-2004 Location: Seven Lakes, NC Status: Offline Points: 6131 |
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Posted: November-06-2021 at 8:36pm |
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Interesting questions, but not sure there will be many answers. CCF caters mostly to older boats and if newer boats, pretty much all direct drives. A site like Planet Nautique caters to wake/surf boats and hence a whole lot more v-drives, but I am guessing not too many people over there have torn into the mechanicals of their boats. They are more interested in where to put the extra speakers or the 2,000 pounds of extra lead that is apparently required to make their $200,000 boats work right.
A bit of context might help with responses. I know you've mentioned a project you are thinking about, but details have been pretty scarce. Could it be you are thinking about taking a direct drive and turning it into a v-drive? Many many moons ago on this site and on PN there were two such projects, turning 2001s into v-drives. Well documented builds, at least one of them was. Been a long time (10 to 15 years I would bet) so my memory is a little poor about it. Sadly, all the photos are gone, but here is one of the threads. The blue one is the thread above.  Cant think of the history or source of this one.  |
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wayoutthere
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Posted: November-06-2021 at 11:02pm |
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I like the direct drive but in this case a v drive would be the only way.
Along with 2000 pounds of lead you forgot the l.e.d. cupholders, plus the stereo controls on the surfboard. No, i wouldn't convert direct drive to v, and cramming the engine all the way back to save cockpit space is out of the question. This is more performance oriented in that the cockpit would be sacrificed so the drive line can be located/set up to perform as designed rather than it be sacrificed in the name of seating. Thanks, that thread i think will have quite a bit of info, seems like it has pics, far as i skimmed anyway.
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67 ski nat
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Joined: July-19-2018 Location: Santa rosa Status: Offline Points: 1199 |
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 12:41am |
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There is something cool looking about second boat a 454 would be the trick
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KENO
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 7:20am |
I guess if you had a picture or made a sketch or something of what you're talking about, it would be helpful if you want any meaningful input. It all sounds a little secretive right now  There's plenty of variation in v drive gearboxes and ratios, mounting methods (attached to transmission, divorced from transmission)
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GottaSki
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 8:58am |
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Equal poundage, a v drive is capable of more speed, less wetted surface. Problem is the bloat a typical vdrive user attracts. Tuna towers, stereos, batteries, Fat sacks, and these water bladder things. .😉
Direct drive will be superiorly nimble, due the center of mass being close to midpoint. Maintenance, direct drive is king One can also analyze the Infinity layout and learn from it's positives and negatives |
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"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worthwhile as messing around with boats...simply messing."
River Rat to Mole |
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75 Tique
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 9:35am |
Ah, that's it, Infinity. I was thinking the center engine v-drive was the Toyota Epic, but upon Googling, found that to not be the case. The Infinity was fairly highly regarded, but since it is no longer around and not copied, I guess not all that it was cracked up to be. Funny, in googling the infinity, found a thread where someone else confused it with the Epic. Odd, since they are nothing alike. Wish WOT would tip his hand as to what he is thinking. I'm curious now. If not DD to v-drive, then what? reconfigured v-drive to improve performance? Sliding v-drive configuration forward to get weight out of the back of the boat?
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“So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
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Jonny Quest
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 10:12am |
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Ahh, yes. The Infinity ZX-1. Rob Shirley's "think outside the box" offering. It has some slick features and cool ideas. I've often wondered why one of the "Big 3" never picked up on it and made Version 2.0
JQ
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Current
2003 Ski Nautique 206 Limited Previous 2001 Ski Nautique Open Bow 1994 Ski Nautique Open Bow Aqua skiing, ergo sum |
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75 Tique
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 10:35am |
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In doing a little reading, the whole point of the infinity was to move the gas tank to get rid of extra weight in the stern. Next likely spot was in the floor, but the engine was in the way, so move the engine which in turn led to the decision to rotate the engine and make it a v-drive. Seems like a long way around, but apparently it worked in terms of wake and maneuverability. Again, I wonder why it didnt stick.
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_____________
“So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
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75 Tique
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Posted: November-07-2021 at 6:42pm |
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I did a little more digging. The other v-drive 2001 pictured above was done by a fellow with screen name 84 resto. He had a couple comments in Form&Functions thread linked above. Apparently 84resto's build was documented on the old "the2001" website which no longer exists, sadly, it got totally overrun/invested by spam posts to the point that Eric gave up on it, so I guess that record is gone.
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“So, how was your weekend?” “Well, let me see…sun burn, stiff neck, screwed up back, assorted aches and pains….yup, my weekend was great, thanks for asking.” |
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wayoutthere
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Posted: November-08-2021 at 7:02am |
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Never heard of infinity ski boats, nice looking hulls. I like the out of the box thinking.
Funny looking underneath with the shaft strut and rudder so far forward, but throws out the prop and rudder "have to be here" or it wont work.
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63 Skier
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Posted: November-11-2021 at 10:39am |
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DAN, WHAT SPECIFICALLY ARE YOU THINKING OF DOING FOR YOUR PROJECT??? We like innovative thinking, fun projects, etc. It would be fun to know what you are thinking of doing, as others have asked. I promise none of us will jump in and steal your patent.
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'63 American Skier - '98 Sport Nautique
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wayoutthere
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Posted: November-11-2021 at 4:10pm |
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No patents here, particular model came 2 ways back in the land of black and white tv, stern drive and v drive, i'll bet even a few outboards got popped as well. Price is high for the admitted work it needs, give it some time see if he comes to grips with it's true value. These guys think it's worth all the gold in fort knox, well if thats the case why is it outside uncovered full of water and lily pads (referring to another hull i passed on 3 years ago, a16 foot fish pond with cattails up in glen falls n.y.) Edit in; that boat will turn to dust, everyone passed because of the asking price.
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wayoutthere wrote: