transom thickness
 

Does anyone know how thick a transom is suppose to be?

Re: transom thickness
 

2-1/4 inch I believe

Re: transom thickness
 

That's 36 inches on an Apache' :D

Re: transom thickness
 

they will vary due to the boat and what will be hangin on them...

Re: transom thickness
 

Thay sounds about right. Thanks

Re: transom thickness
 

My SSMIII service manual requires transom thickness to be a minimum of 2" and a maximum of 2 1/4".

The surfaces must be parallel within 1/8" measured top to bottom of the cutout hole.

The inside surface must be flat to within 1/8"

The outside surface must be flat to within 1/16"

Transom angle 13 to 16 degrees.

I assume other drives will have similar design requirements.

Re: transom thickness
 

That is what Mercruiser says in the service manuals for Alpha, Bravo, TRS, and #6 drives, as well.

Re: transom thickness
 

2 1/4 is best for a Bravo Alpha set up. Sixes call for 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 I believe. You can be as thin as 2 for an Alpha / Bravo.

John

Re: transom thickness
 

Mine is a little over 2 inches thick, Unfortunately I was able to walk out back and measure it 5 minutes ago :mad:

Re: transom thickness
 

Thanks for the info. Mine was only an 1 7/8" and the top to bottom surface was not to parallel.

Re: transom thickness
 

1-7/8 is too thin and the parellel part is important. I fit not straight it can crack the inner transom plate when you torque it. I've done it and it's no good.

Re: transom thickness
 

That is what happened to mine. HTM used a stack of washers to make up the difference and the bottom of the inner transom cracked. Looks like I will be busy after work for sometime.

Re: transom thickness
 

I wen through the same deal with a boat builder whos name I won't mention but in the end they payed all costs realted to fixing it. I would get on the phone with HTM and see what they will do. This is not a warranty issue, this is just plain poor manufacturing and they should step up to the pump and deal with it. If they are unwilling I would raise hell about it. Fortunetly the builder I dealt with fixed it with no argueing and reimburst the cost for all the teardown and reassembly required. Most builders don't run repair facilitys and you will be best tearing it down yourself and taking it to a glass shop or finding a local shop to do the teardown and then sub out the glass work. I did this job on behalf of a customer when I worked at a shop in California and it never cost him a penny out of pocket. If you find a good shop they will go to bat for you and will recieve approval from HTM before starting the job and you will never have to spend any cash out of pocket. Once again this is not a warranty issue this is a defect that has been there since the boat was new and HTM should take care of it regardless of the age of the boat.

Re: transom thickness
 

Thanks hillbilly. I sent the an email. In the past they where of no help. I had to replace the floor last year because the boat did not drain water and rotted out the floor.
Since the transom is fine otherwise I was hoping I could epoxy some more wood and glass over to get to the correct flat thickness.

Re: transom thickness
 

Thanks for all the info guys here is the reponse I got form HTM
From: LIA COULOMBE [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thu 5/19/2005 4:35 PM
To: Richard Fisher
Subject:


Hello Richard,
I would not have a copy of the contract from you to Off Shore. I need to make sure that you were the 1st owner and what the boat came out fitted with from Off Shore, I can not do this with out the original contract. I do have records but they show that HTM did not install the motor package and a pro charger in the box was sent up with it. I wanted to see if there was any notes on your contract. I have measured several of the boats here (new and old) and I have documented them and they are all shy of 2" this is not a defect

Re: transom thickness
 

who ever sent that email is just plain wrong. If they bothered to look in the Merc angine istall manual (diffrent then the service manual) they would see that merc does spec a minimum of 2" and states that the surface must be dead flat. I also don't think it matters who installed the engine package or the procharger, or if you are the original owner. The transom was layed up wrong and that has nothing to do with the engine, procharger or current owner. Although the original engine installer should have sadi something about the transom issue, it's not something you would think to check on a production hull that came straight from the factory. Just cuase the ones on thier floor right now are thinner then 2 " does not make it right.

Re: transom thickness
 

is that email from the old owners widow ?

Re: transom thickness
 

Yes she now runs the company and she insists she called merc and they told her that was not the problem.

Re: transom thickness
 

I told her the same thing and the best part is they did install the package with the ProCharger since the also used in it Hot Boat 2/98 with the power. ProCharger even took the boat to their shop after I was the owner since they wanted to as they put it detune it.

Re: transom thickness
 

Thats not right, they should fix this problem no questions asked. Theres plenty of info out there stating how thick the transom needs to be and even there new models don't meet the specs!!! How many other boats are out there with the same issues. I'd raise one hell of a stink PERIOD!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Re: transom thickness
 

she is a pain to deal with and had turned off alot of potentional new customers along wiht several long time customers. It's a shame cuase they used to build a hell of a boat and knew what they were doing. I can talk to some people for you, I used to do tech articles for Family and Perfoamce Boat Magazine. They deal with HTM and were actually given a boat to do all kinds of testing and articles on. I will see if anyone I knoe has any pull around there that might help you get this thing strightened out.

Re: transom thickness
 

Maybe when there mentioning this problem they can also tell them that the rest of there boats still don't meet the requirement and that should be a major concern to them. Could you imagine a total recall to HTM like automakers get nailed with, that would be a business ender for HTM!!!

Re: transom thickness
 

I would have thought she would have worked with me because of that fact the best offer she make was for me to tow the boat from Kansas to Cal. and fix it at cost.

Re: transom thickness
 

That would be be great I have the boat that was used in HotBoat 2/98 and was in the Powerboat not sure on the date but here is a picture and it is my boat

Re: transom thickness
 

The above is from Power Boat mag.

Re: transom thickness
 

Why can't the transom be less than 2"?

I can see that merc's bolts etc are adapted to a certain thickness, but the strength of the transom has to do with how it's built. What kind of plastic, armor, wood, etc. that was used.

Re: transom thickness
 

The real problem with mine is or was that the transom was not flat or even besides being to thin. Also I am sure merc has a reason for their specs. Also saw the was the HTM fell apart at the LOTO shootout a couple of years ago so I do have concern about how safe the boat is

Re: transom thickness
 

Yes the flatness could be an issue...

Another reason for correct thickness might be the length of the shaft (univ. joint). If the thickness is incorrect the shaft will be either too long or too short according to specs.