panther jet??opinions on um

[breezeblocker]

looked at a boat for sale today,had the olds motor with a panther jet.how are the panther jets,performance and reliability wise?? :confused:

[FILUCKY]

My first jetboat had a healthy 396 with a Panther pump. As far as a good all around lake boat i loved it. Ran mid 60's and was very reliable, very user friendly but not really any performance upgrades for it. So when i wanted to go faster (more horsepower) had to cut it out and glass in AT-309(berkely style) pump. Panther has a small imput shaft and bearings and bends with about 400 or more ponies. So as a lake boat its great but if you want to go fast look into something else.

[MudPumper]

looked at a boat for sale today,had the olds motor with a panther jet.how are the panther jets,performance and reliability wise?? :confused:
Keep looking, there are plenty of boats out there with Chevy or Ford motors and a Berkely/Dominator/AT set up. ;)

[Cas]

Panthers are a good pump and very reliable. As mentioned above, the main shaft is a little on the small side which could lead to some issues with a lot of HP (500+) but the main bearings are very strong. Panthers main bearings are a pretty good sized roller bearing that are constantly submerged in 90wt oil. So long as the ceramic seal stays in tact, they'll last for many years.
My 21' Tahiti had a Panther that was 26 yrs old,when I took it apart, all the clearances were well within OEM.
The good things about a Panther are they come stock with a S/S impeller, come stock with a ride plate, are basically already set back along with the bearings being in oil.
The not so good, very few aftermarket bolt-ons and the main shaft. Panther does make a diverter that works very well in trimming the boat but if you're wanting to throw a big high rooster, it's not the way to go.
I've rebuilt a few of them now and only one needed new bearings as there was a little rust on them. The last one was put in a boat a couple of weeks ago, 18' Tahiti bubble deck, 454 BBC (mildly built), Panther with diverter...71 mph.
You can find a lot more info by clicking the Laid Back Forums link in my signature. I put up a Panther forum over there.

[breezeblocker]

thanks for the info guys,am going to look around some more.seen some stuff in my price range today in recycler.thanx,brett

[mj680]

Sorry...Panther jetdrives are JUNK :hammer2:

[Cas]

equal power and stock pumps, I'll put my Panther powered boat up against any of the others.
BTW, I have a Panther powered boat and a Berk powered boat. The Berk has taken more time and money just to get it almost equal to what the Panther came with stock.
I guess it boils down to, if you know what you're doing, the Panthers will work well....as will others.

[AZKC]

Like Cas said they last forever. Good for low to medium HP and zero maintaince. Mine was 25+ years old when I had it rebuilt and really all that was wrong with it was the Suction housing was ate up from me abusing it shallow water :boxingguy

[Screemy1]

I love my panther, the pump cover was a little goofy looking, because it was weathered.... I took it off..... seems fine without it..... The thing is ultra reliable... and when out with other jetters..... I seem to be the one that never has probs.... which also makes the panther powered boat the official tow boat.......

[olbiezer]

never had any problems with my panther pump.......if it goes 65 now that is what it will do in a year from now.......no speed improvements available that i know of. but nice lake boat pump

[wrenchdogg]

Ive had panther pump in my boat for five years an never had a problem, , im running 75-80 mph on a gps, very low maint, there is a performance sleeve you can have installed that helps, I too do not run the cover an no probs. panther performance pumps are locted in Drake Oregon, if you want thier info let me know..
Wrench

[wrenchdogg]

the boat is for sale if anyone is interested its the 19,Manta Ray jet boat,, pic included

[Wicked Performance Boats]

Ive had panther pump in my boat for five years an never had a problem, , im running 75-80 mph on a gps, very low maint, there is a performance sleeve you can have installed that helps, I too do not run the cover an no probs. panther performance pumps are locted in Drake Oregon, if you want thier info let me know..
Yes your boat has had a panther pump for the past five yrs but about 5hrs max use in 5 yrs ain't shit, ought to last 100yrs at that rate :yuk: The factory told wrenchdogg that it was the best race pump out there, hum :idea: I wonder where they race them? I 've never been beaten by one! But I still think they are a decent pump, just not the fastest. Budlight :D