87MirageIntruder

A couple years ago I noticed my trim cylinder bushings on my bravo drive had some play in them from age/wear. The stock bushings look to be just a black rubber of some kind. I ordered a set of Sierra bushings 18-4288-9. The Sierra bushings appeared to be made out of what looked like urethane, like the aftermarket bushings I used to put in car suspensions. It had a shiny finish, and was very hard. I've been running them for 2 seasons now, and they are very tight still with no play/flex.

I was thinking about this, imagine the flex that happens while under power and flying through chop. The stock rubber bushings have got to be flexing, meaning your drive trim is actually moving up/down slightly as you go. I wonder if Mercury did this on purpose for stress reduction on components? I wonder if stiffer bushings are actually better for performance, meaning your drive trim stays more constant? (But perhaps at the risk of more stress?)

Like many on this site, I tend to overthink things. Thoughts from you experts?

ThisIsLivin

I bought a set of the poly bushings, but they didn't seem to be as firm as my original black nylon bushings. The poly bushings also stick and make the drive jump a little as I move it up and down. Check out the Merc parts and see how they compare to the Sierra.

underpsi68

I bought a set from Hardin or CP Performance years ago. They were urethane I believe. Red in color.

They worked well

SB

iTrader: (1)

I remove my drive each year for various reasons and include lubing the trim ram studs with merc1 101 just because removing others drives these can be tough to remove and i’m sure hard to turn inside bushings as trim goes up and down.

underpsi68

I did the same and also lubed the outside of the bushings also once a year with 101.

Griff

If they flex, it might be a millimeter. If you have mechanical indicators, you won't see any movement, or at least I never have.