Has anyone removed a gimbal housing without pulling the engine? I have pleanty of room in the enging compartment and plan to support the back of the engine after taking the motor mounts loose. The U joint broke and allowed the shaft to beat the housing up pretty bad around the gimbal bellow and I am hoping to be able to replace the outer housing (reuse the inner housing) without pulling the engine.

I think you have to either remove motor, so you can get tot he pin/bolt OR you can cut holes in the housing ont he out side to get to the nut.

The nut in the housing is what holds the gimbal ring onto the gimbal housing. I am assuming that once I take all of the nuts off the studs that go through the transom I should be able to pull the entire assembly out. The nut holds on the steering arm which can be disconnected from the steering pump inside the boat.

http://jrmarine.com/ watch the video,,,not sure this is what you need???

that is a video on how to remove the gimbal ring. In my case I need to remove the entire gimbal housing or some call it a transom assembly

just pull the engine then,,,

OOHH you want to pull the WHOLE part that clamps the transum,

then the gimbal goes in it, then the drive its self.

You will need to take off the gooseneck for the seawater intake hose then you should be able to pull it out. With all bolts and nuts removed from the inner transom plate of course.

The lower bolts on the inner transom plate will be murder to get to, as will the exhaust bolts for the Y-Pipes if you still have either original exhaust or you have captains choice.

If you're going to all the trouble to get to the assembly you might as well undo the 10 extra bolts and pull the engine.

The major problem with pulling the engine is that the boat is in a pole barn with a 10 foot roof... I don't have enough support on the roof to pull from it and the boat is sitting on a trailer making it impossible to use a cherry picker. I really wish the .99 cent u joint clip didn't fail and cause this mess!