What’s better about a CLE vs a stock big bearing?

[LakeFever]

I’m wondering what exactly makes a CLE better or stronger? I am going to cone a ratchet lower for my new to me motor and still don’t fully understand what a CLE brings that a big bearing doesn’t?

[TEXAS20225]

its the hardness of the shafts and gears sets they are identical other wise. ive loaded plenty of fishin mota gears and shafts into cle's and sportys leaving the small lower drive shaft bearing out of the sportys after all the torque-master gear set has identical part numbers just like cles on the later models and they do not have lower drive shaft bearing , they had a spacer added on the shaft to make the pinion height work just my experience and .02 worth ( the sporty becomes livable with out the lower drive shaft bearing) if your wondering how i got reverse gear to work with big prop shaft i had them cut out to 1.45 dia hole in it

[LakeFever]

Thats exactly what I wanted to know thanks!

[tlwjkw]

atta boy bobby!!!

thanks for being there yesterday my friend..

[vtboy]

Let,s hear more , like all info

[TEXAS20225]

More on lower units!!!! its a decades long ride on those bad boys for me going back to the early 90's there is so much info i would be dead before i got finished trying to type it all especially cle's and 3.0 torqmasters ,different styles of gear sest ,prop shafts, carriers and the list is endless Mercury has made so many changes thru the years its hard to keep up with them there were many
No sweat Tommy it was the very lest i could

[vtboy]

Thanks Texas20225, I,m just a poor boy loves go fast toys , I mainly built late model/mods dirt cars alot of drag MOPARS, and love cheap old parts, so 2.4/2.5 stuff is it.J. Perry from TN has great info on engines, looking to match with old lowers, I just fell into a old race mercury 2.4 updraft , oval or B.P ?? but lower is 2 port above c/l of cone. so keep info coming!!!!

[LakeFever]

What about those brand new aftermarket Sierra units? Anyone run them? Poop or good to go?

[nitro_rat]

What about those brand new aftermarket Sierra units? Anyone run them? Poop or good to go?

I would imagine they're built in the same factory as the SEI's but I could be mistaken...

[LakeFever]

Are the SEI units any good? I know nada about aftermarket lowers

[Dave S]

2 holes above the C/L is a mod vp lower....

[TEXAS20225]

SEI stands for only manufacture company can rebuild it. Ive had several i took in trade over the years even though they look the same they are not they have extra shims in places merc does not!! ive tried to rebuild some of them but never succeeded i wound up scrapping the whole thing then i would get amnesia a couple years later and try it again same results some of them looked almost new just my .02

[Whaaaaat]

Are the SEI units any good? I know nada about aftermarket lowers

Just put one under my Yamaha f150 on our dive boat. It makes a lot of prop chatter at idle speed. And drive shaft end play seems excessive. They aren't worried about either. The warranty is good for 3 years so I'll let you know then. Right now I don't think I'd try to cone one. Just leave stock and enjoy warranty on a slow boat.

[LakeFever]

I looked at a CLE and it was smooth case, no blow out ring around the back of the bullet and the skeg was noticeably larger than my stocker. The smooth case side no blowout ring is that something to be concerned with on a Hydrostream V-King? I blew my Valero out a few times and did not like the experience... What about the larger skeg is that better/worse to have or what? I have an empty sportsmaster case as well but its been welded so Im not going to run it and its skeg is massive compared to my stock lower. Gotta think this may hurt performance on a slippery V hull no?

[nitro_rat]

Are the SEI units any good? I know nada about aftermarket lowers

They have a good warranty!

Seems like they're either good or they're bad. They'll either only go a few hours (or bad out of the box) or they'll make it through the warranty period..