Sundancer inboards

[reastnt]

The larger Sea Ray Sundancers (starting with the 330, I believe) can come with either sterndrive or inboards. I wonder what percentage of these are built with inboard engines - I would guess it's rather low on the 330 and 350, and higher on the bigger boats.

Does anyone here have inboards on their 330 or 350, or know of someone who does? I want inboards on a boat always kept in saltwater, but I wonder if people have good experiences with these in their Sundancers, since I expect these boats are primarily designed for sterndrives.

Thanks in advance for any opinions on this.

RE

 

[katricol]

I'm not an expert but I'm sure all large dancers are inboards with V-drives. The express models are inboards with straight shafts. I don't know what size model sterndrives go up too, but I would guess the largest would be in the 30' to 36' range. Go to the top right of the page and search. There is a 330 thread,and I would guess most are V-drives

 

[HUMPH]

The only way to go in salt water is inboards. There is less performance as far as speed and fuel economy but it handles rough water better and is way easier to dock. As far as outdrives in salt water...ask Frank Webster what he thinks about them!

 

[Creekwood]

The majority of early model 330s I think were vDrives (1995 to 1999). On the Great Lakes there were a few more sold with I/Os but still not a significant portion. I/Os and saltwater don't mix well in the long run for larger boats that are kept in the water.

 

[capecodcruiser]

Not to be a party pooper here, but my 89 30' Sundancer with twin outdrives has been in saltwater it's whole life and it has been fine. Yes, a little bit more maint. but no major problems. I know there are those with issues, but if you keep up on maintenance they are fine. I wouldn't let it deter me from a boat that otherwise was in good shape. Just my O2....

 

[tbirdvet]

Sea Ray offers I/O's up through the 450. I have had several newer boats with I/O's and no issues but I have always been in fresh water.

 

[my3sons]

I/O's versus inboards on a boat that can be equipt either way is a personal choice, and as such , can be the subject of some very bias opinions. The new 330's and 350's as you mention, can come either way. I had a '95 330 with outdrives for 9 years and really liked the boat and had very little trouble. (had one issue with an engine coupling going bad) There is an identical '95 330 0n our dock except it has inboards. It has been there 9 years and has had very little trouble. (broke a prop shaft for no apparent reason several years back) We are in fresh water.
By far there are many, many more inboard versions of this boat than stern drive versions.
I would also guess that there will be many more inboard newer 350's than stern drive.

The hulls of the '95 330's were specific to the drive system. The stringer system in the ER in my boat was totally different than that of my dock neighbor. I assume this would be the case in the newer boats also, so I don't believe that we can really say that these boats are designed to be "sterndrive". If it's a stern drive boat, then it is designed to be a stern drive boat, and an inboard boat is designed to be an inboard.

That all said, you can search this site for all the pro's and con's of the drive systems, but by far, the majority of the salt members here run inboards on boats that can "go either way"
Good luck with your choice.