Ouch! How common is this failure
 

Check out the gimbal picture and the description. :eek: :eek:

Looks like it was a nice boat.

http://www.cooperss.com/assetnav.htm...d3d144c47a&P=A

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Spectre cat on there is enough to make you cry. Says rollover damage.

http://www.cooperss.com/assetnav.htm...b5b33e38ec&P=A

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Cat is the bonefish boat. I think it hapened early last year. very sad.

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talk to brian (sydwayz) his boat did the exact same thing and merc refuses to cover it!!!!!!( bell housing )

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It was a nice boat. A friend of mine bought it when it was in like new condition. Had it for a year and then sold it.
The new owner had it for a half a season and apparently hit something out on the river one day..... :(

Those pics make me sick..... :(

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I dunno how often it happens, but it sure effn sucks when it does. My boat did not sink, but my gimble broke identical. I was fortunate that my bellows was not compromised. I did not take on one drop of water. As you can see, there is also no visible impact damage to the boat/drive. My drive came down and out of the coupler when I came to a stop. It broke while under way, and slipped out of the coupler once forward motion stopped, and the prop was no longer holding the drive to the boat.

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What a SHAME!!! :( I always liked that Powerplay

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I think I almost ended up with a drive like that at the Lake Cumberland Poker Run last year.

After the run, we joined some friends back in a cove and was swimming around checking out the back of the boat. I found a loose hinge pin in one of the gimbal rings. Both screws came out of one of the pins and it was pinched agianst the case. If I had turned the drives one more time the wrong direction, the pin would have fallen out. That would have been real ugly at 100+mph. While we were still anchored, I took a screw out of one of the other pins and 3 of us managed to get the pin wiggled back in and secured with a screw. Needless to say, once I got home, I removed all the hinge pins screws and reinserted them with loctight.

I now carry spare screws and check the pins every time I get out of the boat.

Does anyone know if this is a common occurrence? You might never know if the pin comes out and your drive breaks for no apparent reason.

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Man that sucks Brian. Glad you did'nt lose the bellows and start taking on water. If there was no damage from an impact, what could cause this other than a weak of flawed casting? Could this be caused by improper assembly procedures when the transom assembly was built. Merc would not warranty this problem?

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Saw this happen on a Top Gun we were running with on a poker run last year. He was lucky the drive did not fall off.

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Same thing happened to me last year. Running about 60 or so. 6 people on board, I felt a slight pull on the wheel. Barely noticeable, I was the only person who felt it. I stopped and everyone asked why. Told them I felt something, the boat never turned or acted funny in any way just the slight tug for a second. Went to get back on plane and and the boat rolled to the right. Idled back and put it on the trailer. The drive was hanging by the bellows and Hyd. steering ram. Looked exactly like the Powerplay gimbal. Needless to say, I replaced both transom assemblies that winter.

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In the Powerplay it looks like somebody upgraded the engines and left on the standard-duty gimbals. The HP500 comes from MerCruiser with heavy-duty gimbals.

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How can you tell the difference between the heavy duty and regular?

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It has the trim senders, HP rings don't

I think I remember that boat being for sale about 2 yrs aga? I think I also saw it down in Pt. Pleasant once. :(

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Where the side load pins go it it has a large stainless ring.

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Where the side load pins go it it has a large stainless ring.

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OH man!!!
I think that was Wes Smiths, or Ozzies old PP!
I loved that boat.

I think the Pantera F2 race boat had the same gimbal problem.
That's why they had the accident.

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This question has been answered correctly.

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yes it was wes boat i got it from him did some upgrades and used it for a year and sold it . then this happened what a shame great boat

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Is the bell housing beefier in the HP Transom assy or just a heavier gimbal ring? I know the bell housings have different part numbers between the two. Where is Marc from BAM, he would know?

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did the boat sink while running?
how long was it under for?
could be a good candidate for a redo, if it can be bought cheap.

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The bell housing is different. The std. gimbal ring has fiber bushings which can be replaced and the tilt pin screws into the bell housing. The HP style does not have the bushings in the ring and has a tilt pin that is held in place by 4 screws. The bell housing does not have any threads.

Sure looks like it's still a nice boat. Doesn't appear to have any problems with the hull. Hopefully someone filled the motors up with diesel or pickled them.

That's all I need.... another project. :eek:

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Ive seen it happen twice, on two different boats. Once was a Chapparel in the Ohio river that hit a log, and one was in the winter at Lake Cumberland on a 30 Outlaw that hit a log.

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Lesson Here:
Do NOT do any high performance boating near logging camps!

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How does it sink???

I can see if the gimble breaks and pulls the drive shaft out of the gimble theres a big hole . But if just the belows breaks and the shaft stays in .there will be just a slow leak.

Am I missing something???

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stormrider, I was standing there when they brought it up, took a couple of hours dont know how long it was down for. Did hear that it was also in need of a fuel tank replacement due to leak. When the boat was pulled it sits just like you see it in the pictures. For some better info I would ask the guys in Brick NJ about it for it was at a local marina there.

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Looking at the gimble picture, it also has the 'repair in situ' plastic plugs in the sides of the transom casting, so someone has done work on this, and not wanted the extra work of removing the motor and gimble to do it.....not a good sign.

I wouldn't want a repair done to the top pin/tiller, or any major part of the gimble without having it on the bench so you can do a proper job. It really aint that much extra work for such an important part of the boat!.

Just my humble opinion.

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the boat did have a fuel leak mid last summer . and the boat was under overnight and pulled the next day it was my boat a year prior and i saw it in brick on land during the summer an heard about a fuel leak not sure why they would go for a ride later that summer with a leak but still what a shame .

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I was wondering the same thing...

Even if the drive shaft pulled out they still had the other motor and could idle back in. Once the boat is moving forward no water would be comming thru the opening and they would have had plenty of time to get to a launch ramp/marina etc. What about bildge pumps??? :rolleyes:

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I had a twin alpha boat that threw a u-joint. knock out the bellows and busted up the bell housing. when i stopped to see why my engine shut down, water was coming in. I was 30 miles from the ramp, I turned on the bilge pump and had everyone go to the front of the boat. Got it on plane, and im sure it was hard on it, but got it back to the ramp at ~30mph. The bilge pump shut off once i got going. A single engine would have sank, but thats what that extra engine is for sometimes.

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Saw a 38 Sonic sink at the dock at American offshoe last winter, smae deal. Guy tied up the boat and left, didn't turn on the auto bilge. Securty guard noticed the boat sink about midnite. Won't sink right away, but, unattended it will sink.

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from what i heard that is how it happened he was coming home at felt a thump not far from the dock and put the boat in the slip and called the marina and said . pull it out in the morning , and in the moring it was on the bottom. i would of checked somthing before i went home just to be safe.

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I never liked the idea that the automatic bilge pump switch needed to be turned on. Cigarette wires theirs the same way.
Most manufacturers hard wire the float switch directly to the battery with an in-line fuse.

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Wasn't that boat (Powerplay) owned by a guy named Guido ? If that's the same one it used to have some big power in it. I remember it sold really cheap.

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My buddy had that happen on his 26' Checkmate and he beat on Merc until they paid. Just call and keep working your way up the ladder. No impact damage tells the story!

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iowned it not last summer but the summer before a guy name wes owned it before me for hampton bay long island and before that the boat was in maryland with blowers in it

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Crazy site! Who would buy this Black Thunder?? What possible value could there be in this heap of junk???

http://www.cooperss.com/assetdetail....2625899c0d4f8d

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The K planes look ok :rolleyes: :D :D

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B-Max's, transom assy's, K-planes and trailer maybe.

Radio still works!! :D

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This was my boat a few years ago....it was possibly the best boat I've owned and it was super clean when I owned it.

The next owner did several things to it and was even cleaner when he sold it.

Bad ending to a good boat !