I have a powerquest 290 enticer and just got my drives back on from the new gimbal rings and pivot shafts, I have a steering bar mounted to both of the drives on the outside and a steering tie rod the controls the other drive, How does one know that both drives are adjusted "straight ahead"? do i adjust them both apart to take up a little slack between them?

Unhook steerings ram(s). Measure centerline at transom plates, then adjust tie bar so prop shafts are center. If you have Hyd steering just mount up, it is self adjusting. You may have to unbolt the wheel and adjust to center after a test run.

For no hyd steering, after tie bar is set measure from fixed point on either drive to outer edge of transom, match up center then adjust steering to match

Ya cant center the wheel on a hydraulic system, other then that adjust the tie bar so the distance from propshaft c/l to propshaft c/l is slightly less(1/8" or so) than bullett to bullett

sorry, not following you, how do i measure center line at transom plate?? I understand about the prop shafts but where do i measure the front of the drive at??

the boat is not external steering, regular steering arm steering from inside boat.

Measure the top of the center of the transom plate side to side, see the part sticking up on the top?

oh, ok.....will the center of greese fittings work? So the center line of the transom plate is the center line of prop shaft?? I understand now.. thankyou!! I just want to make sure they are running parrallell

Yes, grease zerks will work fine.

Makes no diffference where you measure on the drives or transom plate. You just have to use the EXACT same point on both sides..... whether it be the center/edge of a bolt or the housing.

BTW, if you have a tie bar both on the inside in the engine compartment and also one on the outside on the drives themselves, make sure you don't trim 1 drive higher than the other. Very hard on the gimble ring upper pivot pin hole and such.

I prefer to measure the dimple on the prop shaft and compare to a measurement on the front of the housing bullet using the hole for the speedo pickup. This eleminates any errors from 2 transom units that are not mounted perfectly parallel. But in all honesty, for the majority of us, close enough.

well, i will measure from the zerks and the speedo pickup and compare them both. the drives have coolers installed and looks like someone has already trimmed the drives out of sink and bent one of the cooling tubes from the outside steering bar. Just bought this boat about two months ago, used it for two days and winterized it. Just got both the drives back on from a major gimbal ring repair. want to do some things to it so it will be ready for next summer. Hey.. thanks for the info. First twin engine boat i have owned...!

Your gonna love the twin screws when docking Learn to use those shifters against each other (like a tank) and you will be able to walk your boat sideways and do zero radius turns