Hey guys, I'm racking my brain here trying to figure out what to do. There's some vertical play in my Bravo 1 and everything I've read suggests it's too much though I haven't taken any measurements yet. The production year is 1996 and it's behind a stock 502 Mag with 504 hrs and a Latham dual ram steering setup.

With the drive and boat level, how much vertical play is reasonable?

If it's excessive, what is the accepted method of repair?

Industry practice elsewhere would be to bore and sleeve with bronze, but I'm unfamiliar with marine applications.

Spec during assembly is .002"-.010" measured at the lower swivel pin between the upper side of the gimble ring and the gimble housing mount. You adjust up and down play by the nut on the upper swivel shaft above the steering arm.

Thank you for the spec. My calibrated eye-crometer says I'm beyond spec.

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being OMG you're gonna die bad), how pressing is this matter? W/O the hydraulic steering I'd say it's a high priority, not sure how much it matters as is.

Thanks, Cole

The normally is casued from wear on the swuare pin, or the gimble housing where the pin goes through.

to replace gimble, you have to pull the motor and drive.

After further investigation, it appears the play is coming from the tilt/trim pivot. I noticed my trim gauge being a little off and dismissed it, maybe the pivot bolt(s) have backed out? It wouldn't be the first time I've heard of it.

Ran into that on a buddy's boat. His trim would act up not allowing full up trimming. His side pins would come loose which changed the trim limit sender settings. So we knew when his trimming range changed, the pin had loosened up again.

The left side pin was loose, wrecked all the threads in the bellhousing. I'm in the process of pulling it (first try) and it's really not that difficult. All my life I heard swapping a gimbal bearing was a real treat- I guess those folks were slow.

Now the real question- do I toss it on the mill and fix it, or do I seek out a new one?

FYI- the vertical play in the gimbal ring due to wear of the vertical axis pivots was .040-.050". I'm not concerned.

jrmarine.com check out the video

Helicoil it. Use the long inserts. Stronger than new.

Just for your info, They use loctite in those hinge pins from the factory and your supposed to use it anytime you have had it apart. Thing is lot of times it will wipe out the threads just taking it apart. Helicoil sound good.