Any opinion on which gimbal stronger on cat,anyone broken any its gimbals or imco hd units.The its has dual rams attached directly to the gimbal vs the rams hooked to the drives i wonder which one stonger and safer?

good question.
I'm considering an Imco gimble myself.

I'm interested as well!!!

I just rebuilt my current gimbal with an Imco ring and helmet. It was an easy job, no big deal at all. Basically, I replaced everything except for the rams and gimbal housing for under $2k. I was looking into either an entire Imco assembly or a Merc HP, but they are so expensive. Rebuilding mine, seemed like a good option.

the imco gimbal ring and helmut install is pretty straight forward. and i do believe they are stronger than the merc counterparts. bad part about using the imco set up is the solid bilet adapter that replaces the merc rubber engine coupler ends up allowing harmonics that are harmfull to the drive transmit to and fro due to the loss of cusioning. unless they changed it, i havent done one in almost a year.
i still do like the i.t.s gimbal, however it would seem that having the external rams on the imco unit would keep the loss of the drive in a catostrophic event to a minimum v.i.a the rams acting as safety straps.

I thought that solid coupler set up was with the stand off box.


Copied from there add:

The “Xtreme Advantage - HD Gimbal”
At last - - a Heavy Duty Gimbal assembly to match today’s higher horsepower engines
and as you might expect, it is from IMCO
Now you can eliminate the weak link in your drive train and run without the worry of mechanical failure. The HD Gimbal Housing gives your drive the strength it needs. Check these IMCO, HD Gimbal super features:
The HD Gimbal Housing uses a thicker than stock casting.
The HD helmets have been beefed up in all critical areas - including the pin locations that are prone to failure.
The HD Gimbal lower swivel pin is 40% stronger than original.
The HD Gimbal has a removable bearing pack for easy maintenance.
The HD Gimbal nameplate can be simply unscrewed for access to the upper swivel shaft nut, without removing the housing from the transom.
HD rings are designed with additional mass to increase strength, reliability and side load strength.
HD stainless steel hinge pins and upper swivel shafts are included with HD rings.
Match up the new IMCO HD Gimbal to other proven IMCO drive components such as “Xtreme Advantage” steering, tilt rams and drives - - and run with the pros.

The imco extension box still uses the bravo rubber coupler,and there torsional shaft,it is the stellings set up that gets rid of coupler.The imco much better setup,also the imco gimbal looks a lot stronger than factory merc.Has anyone broken any of the imco gimbals?Expensive unit but probably worth every penny if holds up to extreme use.

Like Vinny said, you can change just the gimble and helmet and do it pretty reasonably. One draw back is you must have full hydraulic steering. There is no provisions for the tiller arm with the Imco set. But most people are there already if they are considering going to a heavier gimble ring..

Hope this helps.. and yes I am an Imco dealer also. I worked with Vinny to supply him what he needed. There was one part that didnt come with the kit.. Vinny what was that part??

Hope this helps..

Dick

Dick,

The lower swivel pin was the only extra part needed. However, while I was there, I replaced the bellows, shift cable, gimbal bearing and water hose.

thats right , the imco comes with the long torsional input shaft you change at the u-joint.