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Yes those are the ones I was thinking of. Personally I prefer the one piece units, more rigid IMO. I just looked at Stainless marine's website but I don't see the bracket I bought from them two years ago. 7" back 5" up 2 degree negative trim. The problem is also you may not be able to get the motor high enough with the jackplate alone. Your BRX is a different beast than mine though so I would say seeing as you already have it mounted leave it as a baseline and go from there. Did you happen to check with Checkmate about the Bob's plate? I read somewhere that they were having transom issues with Bob's plate's specifically on 24' Checkmate's. Something about chattering at high speed. Could be total BS but maybe worth a phone call.
Agreed about the rigidity of the 1-piece box. I was able to find the 7" one on the Stainless Marine web site ... thanks.
Otherwise I am already aware of what people are saying about the Bob's plate chattering. I think any transom could experience damage as a result of a 600 lb motor on 8"+ of setback chattering away at 80 MPH. That's a lot of stress. I suspect Checkmate probably got stung by an owner that had a Bob's plate with a damaged the transom that they had to fix for free on their lifetime warranty because some guy was running a chattering Bob's plate. That's a very good reason to say that transom repairs are not covered under warranty if the owner was using a Bob's plate which is what it appears Checkmate did.
That said, I've never seen a properly maintained Bob's plate chatter at all. I can definitely see how it could though. From an engineering standpoint you can probably see how the Bob's plate could chatter if those plastic/Delrin guide bushings on the sides were to wear out. And you'll notice that there isn't a lot of surface area between the aluminum and the plastic on the Bob's plate, so if sand gets in there and the guides are never greased, they could wear out fairly quickly (and allow the plate to chatter in the frame). When you look at other plates like Atlas, Gorilla, etc, you'll notice that the guide bushings are huge compared to Bob's and there is a ton more surface area between the aluminum and the plastic. Because of this they will be far less likely to wear out and chatter.
In the end I agree the Bob's plate is more prone to chattering than the other brands because of the relatively small guide bushings, but as long as the guide bushings are properly maintained and replaced at the first signs of wear, I don't think the plate will chatter. But it's definitely something I'm going to watch like a hawk because I agree that it's a very real problem if you let it get to that.
