VP DP Bellow Life Expectancy?

Lifes Good

So I have a question about the life expectancy of the main bellow on a Volvo Penta outdrive. I have the new ocean x drives which would have a very similar bellow to the standard DP drive. Mine are going on three years 24/7 in saltwater. Drives serviced annually.

How often do you change your bellows?

Thanks. LG

Lifes Good

Let me rephrase my question. How many years have you owned your boat and still have the original bellow(s)?

Lifes Good

Gosh... this seems to be such an easy question? I am puzzled.... Anyone? :-??

TonyWalker

I will help out with what I know.  My XDP bellows were awful, even the improved design.  They were a bit part of the reason I have the OceanX drives and while I was at it, new engines.  The OceanX bellows (glorified DP's I believe) have given no problems at 14 months.  I am at the point with this new running gear that I no longer think about them.

Tony

Salt Shaker 342

 

Lifes Good

Thanks Tony. Yes I had the same xdps and change the bellows annually. Now I the ocean x's too. 3 years and all good. Being rubber there must be a life cycle. VP only warrants a year. My guess you should get up to 5 years.... some of you have had your boats for many years... have you changed your bellows? Have any of you made 5-10 years on the original bellows?

Lifes Good

Trying again. How many years on your out drive bellows? Or how many years owning your boat and yet to change your bellows?

tkrfxr

I have xdps with three years on....they are still good....I slowly pushed the limits....

I am considering going to OceanX.

LG, what do you mean by "drives serviced annually" without removing them?

 

tkrfxr

And how do you paint for antifouling protection?

The xdps were easy to do...

Lifes Good

I have the lube done annually and new zincs. Antifouling was applied at new. The shop lightly sanded before applying. I have two years and just applied a second application this past fall.

The longest I have had bellows without replacement it's 3 years only to owning my past new boats no more than three years. This fall will be three years on the new ocean x's. So after that it's all new to me via bellow life expectancy...

I am just trying to get a feel for how long I can get out of the bellows? Thoughts?

Thanks LG!

NY320

The bellows on my Volvo DP's were changed after the 7th season in salt water. I'm in NY so boat was in the water from april to november. Upon removal of them they were in better shape than I expected. No signs of leaks or even cracks.

aero3113

They probably like being in the water, I would think when there out of the water they start to break down.

Lifes Good

Thanks NY320! Aero3113 I agree.

7 years is a good stretch! Anyone get longer?

Bruce

Mine is an 2004 with the original bellows, it's DP-SM drive and always in fresh water half the year, on the trailer the other have. No problems yet. I know this is a different drive and not in salt so I doubt this helps your planning, but thought I would throw it out there.

Lifes Good

Perfect Bruce! 10 years... that's incredible. Especially wet and dry 50% of the time. Being that I am in salt 24/7/365 I have mine cleaned annually but I do get concerned with barnical damage. Those darn things can get Sharp....


Thank you!

tniggel

My boat is a 2007 270, Boat was never in water until 2009, got a great deal on a left over.  I just changed the u drive bellow this year after 5 years in the water.  I boat in rivers around pittsburgh.  I was ready to launch the boat this year when I noticed small cracks in the folds of the bellow, so rather than playing with fire I changed it.  Volvo just updated the bellow and when to a "more durable" material.  It also does not have an internal spring.  Here is a pic of the new one next to the one that was removed as well as pictures of the cracks.  When I removed the bellow there were no internal cracks or water in the bellow.

Lifes Good

Thanks for sharing the pictures! 5 years is about right from what I have finding out.

Bruce

Thanks for the info about the updated bellow, I'm thinking I should change mine this coming winter after reading this. Once again this is a great site, I never really gave mine that much thought until LG brought it up.

 Thank you

tniggel

I use marinepartsexpress.com to get my volvo penta parts.  They are the ones that told me about the updated bellow.  They called my phone to ask if it was ok to process the order as the cost was about $10 more.  They are much cheaper than volvopentastore.com.  What I usually do is look up the part numbers on volvopentastore.com as you can find parts for your engine/outdrive by entering the serial number and they have exploded diagrams.  Then I enter the part numbers at marinepartsexpress.com.  I also was able to located a full PDF of the DP-SM shop manual at scribd.com

Bruce

Wow that's a big help, thank you!

Itzken

I just purchased an '06 320 with the 5.0 DP drives.  Original starboard bellows was leaking, took out gimbal bearing.  Port side was still sound.   Changed them both out for new.  Boat was Lake Ontario 10 years with original bellows, so that's the max life.   I'd guess 5 years would be a safe bet.  

Michael T

I have Mercury drives,  but here's  my point,  if your bellows fail your boat sinks.  Replacing them is not that expensive in that regard. I will probably replace them at three years,  definitely at four years and that's in fresh water.  If these parts fail the results can be catastrophic.  Just my 2 cents.

rasbury

mine is a 2005 270 with original...trailer kept Merc

Michael T

Ras,  if those were mine........ gone  baby gone! At 11 years......? 

rasbury

@Michael T 
it is on my list and keeping an eye out for sure....was lift kept when I bought it with 100 hours on it in 10 years, I've put 100 on it since I've had it. They are not cracking and look good- if I kept it in the water it would have been one of the first things I changed....

MarkB

Michael T said:

I have Mercury drives,  but here's  my point,  if your bellows fail your boat sinks.  Replacing them is not that expensive in that regard. I will probably replace them at three years,  definitely at four years and that's in fresh water.  If these parts fail the results can be catastrophic.  Just my 2 cents.

MT, you're obviously risk averse. There's no doubt you can approach it this way to be on the safe side, but I'm willing to bet 90% of the boats at my marina have bellows that are between 5 years and 10 years old, without problems. This year will be my 5th season in Lake O, and my bellows basically look like new!

I've been told that it is more risky to wet the bellows and take them out of water. UV exposure accelerates degredation, as well as general heat (not surrounded by cold water) and drying out. 

This is another good reason to back your boat into your slip, so that the drives are not exposed to direct sunlight.

Michael T

I'll definitely check them carefully before I replace them as there's no percentage in being wasteful. That said,  I can't  imagine still using a bellows at the 10 year point as that rubber would have had too many cycles,  imo  of use and too much time degradation. 

MarkB

It depends on the conditions, obviously. But I don't think I will need to replace mine until year 7 or 8.