Bravo III Bellows

If it is your exhaust bellows, then it does not matter. The new ones sold do not even attach to the drive, only the gimble housing. You can still buy the ones you are talking to, but why bother? My bet is if you take it back tot he dealer, they may fix it, but will tell you the same thing.

BTW, I would not be stretching bellows out. You run the risk of small tears or rips.
 
Ripping and tearing is not an issue. These things are very strong and must be able to stretch to accomodate raising the drive to the trailer position repeatedly without damage. There is a big difference in the noise level without the bellows attached.
 
Ripping and tearing is not an issue. These things are very strong and must be able to stretch to accomodate raising the drive to the trailer position repeatedly without damage. There is a big difference in the noise level without the bellows attached.

Mine has never been attached since my purchase... not a loud boat at all and any replacement from the dealer will likely be of the non-attached type as well..
 
"Mine has never been attached since my purchase... not a loud boat at all and any replacement from the dealer will likely be of the non-attached type as well"..


I was under the impression that if a bellows was cut/came off, It could swamp the boat... Please clarify.. I always make it a point to inspect the bellows as part of my pre-launch program..

Thanks
 
There are typically three bellows. Ujoint bellows,Shift cable bellows, & exhaust bellows. The U joint bellows is the one at the top and the largest. The shift cable bellows is just under the u joint bellows and to starboard. The u joint & shift cable bellows have direct route to your bilge = tear or hole would be a bad thing. The u joint bellows having the largest route and potential for serious leaking into the boat. The bottom bellows is the exhaust and simply routes exhaust through the prop.
 
This is great timing for me on this thread. I also noticed my bellows off on my port outdrive this past weekend. I tugged on it slightly only to find out it was pretty stiff, figured I would look at it closer next weekend when we go over to finish up the spring conditioning. Sooooo is there a consensus? I wonder if there is any performance problems or more exhaust in the cockpit possible if it is not connected to the out drive?
 
...In fact (as pointed out on this thread), they changed the B III drive bellows design to only be attached on one end by design.

To clarify, on drives without the bellows from the factory, in place of the bellows there is a male cone shaped adaptor mounted on the transom end (this cone must be removed before installing the bellows) that mates to the drive end when the drive is lowered. It is a very loose fit that widens as the drive is trimmed out.
 

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