Is there a FIX for this?
 

The sikd pad is gone and starting to hit the housing.
Is there a fix for this. The gimble ring is brand new so there is plenty of material on it.

Any ideas?

The plastic parts are available from Merc. I got some a couple years ago from Midwest Perf Boats in Bellevue when I lost one on the Pantera. Mine was doing the same thing on one side as yours.

I'm having the same problem..what causes that? In my case the gimbal housing etc is brand new.

Usually play in the transom assy.. not a good sign, causes it. Depending on how badly it is worn, you might consider a new uppper case. Or if you trust some one to weld it up. I broke one and ended up with closed head injuries! NOT GOOD!

That is an older case that doesnt have the plastic wear pads on it. You can cut the slot and drill the hole and add them. Measure the thickness of both sides to determine how much wear has occured and calculate your life expenctancy and go from there. I just dont like messing with it! A new upper is much cheaper than funeral.. Which is what almost happened in my case.

Hope this helps.
Dick

The gimble ring that I replaced was so bad it could not be repaired. The lower swivel shaft bushing was gone from wear and created an oval hole. A new bushing would fall out.

Time to start a new thread and look for a new/used drive.:mad:

That would be your safest bet!

I had the same problem as you. I replaced the gimble ring and I had a local shop weld the worn spot on the drive and reshape it with a grinder. The shop owner says he does this all the time and as long as the bushings are replace in the gimble ring there should be very little contact on this point of the drive. I think they charged me 75.00 per drive to weld,grind,and paint the area. A lot cheaper then a drive housing.

do not over look the helmut.
the pins oblong the holes aswell,

Everything from soup to nuts was replaced. The only used part is the drive itself. Slightly bent piston? In my application it is the older style without the pads.

Cig,
the old ones without the wear pads would rub and wear away, nature of the beast. If it were a new one and the plastic broke and wore into the metal.. then I would look at loose components in the transom assy. If the wear isnt too bad you can add the plastic wear pads by cutting a slot and drilling a hole. Or upgrade to a newer drive.

BigJim, Cig
I do have access to a drive I built several years ago that was never run. Guy wants to sell it, all new upper with an older Imco lower.. Pm me if you are interested..

Dick

Dick,

this answers a few questions LOL :evilb:

You have a PM :D

Boat me.. yeah.. that's the reason!! LOL!!

Got your pm .. Big!!

What's got me stumped is the port side is just fine. Starboard is only rubbing on the right side as if there is not enough clearance. I even replaced the studs for the MM hydraullic steering wing plates. It pisses me off that I cant keep paint on it.

Being that is it the older style it will rub the paint off. When sitting on the trailer, can you look between the drive and the gimbal and see clearance? These things flex and the drive is suppose to be supported by the gimbal, so there will be a wear point there, unless you have the plastic wear pads. I would look for clearance and then add the wear pads to it.. Take a look at a newer drive setup and compare the diff between the two, before you do any cutting to add the wear pads.. I have never done it, but it does look doable..??

Dick

My is the exact the Opposite. One engine standard rotation.

Dick, yes I did get your PM. Thanks.

There seems to be clearance of about a 1/4". It does not make contact at all while on the trailer while I watch it travel up & down but only while under way. Definetly drivin me nuts when everything is factory new with hp gimbals.

Yes I would like to also know is there some type of min/max
clearance.
Also if anyone can answer this:grinser010:, does the wear occur while the drive is moving up and down or does it wear while the drive is down and under a load forcing it side to side?

My guess is that this is happening while under load

I checked out a new boat yesterday. There is no or little clearance bewtween the gimble ring and the plastic wear pad.

So I guess I answered my own question:grinser010:

There should be very little clearance between the two surfaces. It does flex under load and the gimbal should support it from flexing too much. The wear occurs as you trim it up and down while under load. On a LH prop drive the wear is on the opposite side. I cant remember if they thinned the drive housing to add the thickness of the plastic shim. But you could add it and take up some of the clearance. Either way if there is too much clearance the drive will flex and wear out the new parts in the transom.
I added a SS plate to the gimbal to take up some clearance and I think that is why it broke. The two small screw holes must have been a source for a fracture to start. So that isnt a good idea. They used to add the SS plate to TRS drives, that is were I got the idea.
Cig, is the 1/4" clearance on both sides or just one? When you raise the drive up and down does the clearance change??

Dick

Cig, is the 1/4" clearance on both sides or just one? When you raise the drive up and down does the clearance change??


the boat is still covered up but if I remember correctly it was even thru and thru.

I just took a look at my drive, it has the plastic wear pads, there is no clearance between the upper housing and the gimbal ring. I would take another close look at it and find out why you have more clearance. I just measured the distance from the outside of the wear pads on several upper housings.. they measure Min of 4.000" up to about 4.020". Ones that I just installed new pads on.. would be 4" in the front and widen a bit to the 4.020" in the back where the pin is snapped into the housing. On a drive that has used wear pads with little wear showing, I measured 4.010" along the entire surface. So 4" is what you want to see on the OD of the wear pads surfaces and about the same on the ID of the gimbal wear surface.
That should lead you to where the problem might be. I am not sure if the new gimbal is sized to the newer housings (with wear pads) or if they made the upper housing different.
But I would investigate if I were you.. the 1/4" gap is TOO much and eventually will cause a, (as I was told by Merc, when ever a drive breaks off) "Catastrophic reaction"!!
And believe me.. you dont want to experience it, if you dont have to..

Hope this helps..
Dick

have you checked the toe out/toe in adjsutment; my old TRS drives wore excessively on the outboard plates when there was excessive toe-in, good luck -jeff

I ended up having the drive welded. If was then ground flat. I used a file to remove a small amount at a time. It took about 20 tries to get the drive on. The clearance is tighter than the factory. I would be surprised if its .001-.002.
I am still looking at other drives and this will be used as a spare in the near future.

Did you add the plastic wear pads? That would prevent the problem in the future.
If a competent welder, did the welding, I would feel confident with that fix. Also make sure your hing pins are in good condition..

Yes I paid someone to weld this. They could not think of a way to create the slot for the plastic pad. I added a brand new gimble ring so all the bushings are brand new. I am still looking for a drive and will use this as a spare.
Thanks for all your help.