ajacobazzi

Okay, well......I've only been able to use my boat twice so far this year. After the last time that I used my boat, I had it detailed. When I saw the boat after the detail, maybe a month and a half ago, everything was perfect. Last week when I visited the marina, I find the support bar between the drives bent. WTF!! I don't even use the boat and ****s busted! And, as you would expect, no one knows anything about what might possibly have happened.

Upon further investigation, it is noticed that the starboard drive has lateral slop in it. If you grab the skeg and lift up, you can move the drive (at most) an inch. Great! Something else!!

So.....my two question are;

1) Can the support bar be straightened, or, does it have to be replaced?

2) If you have lateral slop in the drive (TRS) what am I potentially looking at as the cause of the problem? And, if known, the possible cost associated with the repair?

"I did have a friend of mine look at it yesterday for me, he believes that the lower gimbal "pin" may have broken."

Any insight into this matter would be most appreciated.

dereknkathy

support bar bent in, or down? if it is bent in, towards bow, they hit it with a forklift or something. i don't know if somebody climbing on the bar could bend it down or not...

picklenjim

If it's lifting up and down close to an inch you have serius damage that you should be able to see right away. Up and down should only be .005"-.007". Gimble ring would have to be broke or bell housing at the hinge pins. As for the lower pin the pin itself wouldn't break but the aluminum gimbel housing on which it pivots in could have broke off. Even then the actual up and down movement is determined by the steering arm tightened down on the upper swivel pin. May have broke the gimble housing in the upper swivel pin area. If the gimble assembly broke there's plenty around. Bad part is the engine will have to come out to replace it.

ajacobazzi

It's bent in. At first, that's what I thought, but, the forklift would have hit the swim platform first. It'll probably be an unsolved mystery. =\

ajacobazzi

I think I just threw up a little!!! OMG!!!! I hope the motor doesn't have to come out.....AGAIN. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope your wrong and have no idea what you're talking about!!! J/K.

Thank you for taking the time to post.....

dereknkathy

and you pay this marina to store and handle your boat, to protect it from having to go down the road on a trailer...something hit the bar and missed the platform. those forks are most likely culprit...

ajacobazzi

I couldn't agree more. But of course, nobody knows nuttin........

dereknkathy

and i bet you can't work on your own boat in their marina. you gotta pay them 100 bucks an hour to undo their damage...

87MagnumII

I'd file an insurance claim and get an adjusters opinion. The boat was in the care of the marina, let your insurance Fix it then they can go after the responsible party for reimbursement.

c_deezy

iTrader: (1)

It didn't just magically break on the rack.

That's one of the problems with being at a rack and store, there are a lot of idiots that work at these places. And if nobody sees them screw something up, then they don't say a word about it. I can't even recall all of the screw-up stories I've heard/seen at my local place. Not to mention all of the new bottom scratches and scrapes that mysteriously show up on my boat. Don't get me wrong, there are some good guys that work at those places too. I got to know a few of them pretty well, and I tip pretty good. That's how I found out about getting ripped off for winter storage my first year I stored the boat there, but that's another story....

It may be a good idea to get your insurance involved, depending on you deductible and let them apply the pressure. Look for other signs of impact on your equipment, paint scrapes, area that looks to have been wiped clean, buffed, etc.

It also depends on your rental agreement. Alot of times those are written so that the marina basically has no liability at all.