TR II or III id
 

I'm in need of some help IDing the sterndrive that I have. The steering level and gimbel ring swivel pin are striped out. I need to replace them, but I'm not sure what unit I have. I talked to the local boat guy(retired merc mechanic), and he told me that I have a TRIII. He also gave me some part numbers, so I order the parts. which was not easy at all, $$$.
Anyways, I get the parts and they don't look right. I haven't started to take the other one apart thou. But just kinda eye balling the new part by the sterndrive, and it looks like it's going to be too long. So I started looking online at the other TR units and the TRII seems closer to what I have. The thing that really have made me wonder is the trim sending units. The unit that I have, has the round trim sending units on either side of the leg. The TRII looks to have the same style. When I look at the III diagrams, I don't see the trim sending unit there. I'm not sure if that can be used to tell the two apart thou. Is there anyway to tell for sure what I have. I can't find any numbers.

Pics of the drive help

Drive id
 

I used to own a 3. It had no trim senders. Also age is a clue. I believe 3's were only made 1969-1973.

I assume you're talking about a TRS, not TR but the gimbal ring, steering lever and pin are the same on either. You will probably have to disassemble your housing to see if you have the splined or square setup. There were 3configurations they used. As said pics would help, as would boat make, year and engine. Then maybe someone can figure out which drive you have.

Here's what the swivel shafts used looked like. If you striped the steering lever on the swivel shaft then it most likely is one which used the spline design on the lever end, "A" or "B". I don't think you could strip the square cut design "C". If it's a TRS it will use a 14 1/2"-15" prop. If it's a TR it will have a 19-20" prop. As stated they use the same upper half. From what you say I doubt it is a III. Best setup would be "C".

I will get some pics tomorrow. It has a 19'' prop on it.
Borg warner velet drive 1:1 tranmission. 454 Gm thunderbolt ignition. not really sure on the age. I think the motor is early 80's.

What kind of boat?

Just a clarification, I was refering to prop diameter, not pitch. If it's 19" diameter it would be a TR.

The boat is a 1977 28' fiberform. It was made in kelowna. The tag in the boat says that it has twin
255's. So I'm think that someone at some point repowered it. The transome has two spots where it could have had two holes in it, for the twin motors, but it is faint. The fiberglass work was well done if it did have two motors in it at one time.

I'll double check the pitch when I'm down there today. But I believe that it is 19'' diameter with a 16'' pitch

That boat most likely had the TR drive, it's not a performance boat by any means. The TRS was more of a performance drive but the gimbal housing and drive shaft housings are the same.

Them TR's were used for heavy boats. There's a lot of houseboats out there with them. They have a lower 2:1 gear ratio for turn'n them big props where as the TRS has a 1.5:1 ratio.

Those original 255's were 351 Ford engines. Probably had the MercTrans II transmissions. Engines would have been about 8" back closer to the transom.

So what your saying is someone converted it to a single 454 with a velvet drive?

Yeah, I think someone converted it to the 454.

Ok, I'm pretty sure that I have a TRII leg. I took the leg off and pulled out the gimbel ring. I have the square/square pin. I have looked up the leg and have found the parts that I need. The only thing is the lower pin. In the book it says that I need a bearing, but in the gimbel ring, its a bushing. I'm not sure what is going on there. You can see the bushing in the gimbel ring in one of the photos.

Ok, how do you put pics on the forum?

Only paying members can post photos via the site. You need to buy a membership or use a host site like photobucket.com

My membership pays for itself for all time and money I save from the vast knowledge on this site.

Ok, I don't think that I have a III anymore. What is the difference between a TRII and a TR/TRS?

is there any definning features that sperate the two. The swivel pin is square/square. The bottom pin is in a bushing, but I don't see any of the TR's with a bushing there. They all call for a bushing. The TR/TRS might be a better fit for my boat becuase I know that my motor is early 80's. It looks like the TR/TRS ran through to 93.

If it has a 19" diameter prop it's a TR. 19" prop will not fit on a TRS. If your still not convinced turn the input (u-joint) shaft. If you have to turn it 2 revolutions to make the prop shaft turn 1 then it's a TR, 2:1 ratio. TRS is 1.5:1 ratio and uses a 15" diameter max prop. TR II and TRS II is just what they called them in the early days. So your saying there's a bushing in the gimble ring? Does the lower swivel pin fit tightly in it? Should have a roller bearing with seals on each end of it. Either someone made a bushing at one time to replace the bearing or the bearing is missing which in that case it would be very loose on the swivel pin.

To get back to the original problem you said the steering lever and upper swivel pin were striped out. Is this correct? And you say it is the square/square design? Can you email me some pics of what's going on. I'll PM you my email address.

Ok, I emailed you the pics. I have another couple of question about the sterndrive. What is the oil line for in the gimbel bell. I see that it has a valve and a seal, but how does it work. It would make more sense if there was a supply and return line. But this is only one, so what is it's function, and why does it have a valve on either side of the connection. Also what if the wire back there for. I see that it is connected to the valve houseing on the bell, but I can't tell where it should be connected to.

The orginal problem, and the reason that took the leg off is that there was a steering issue. I just bought the boat, and I noticed that I could push the leg back and forth by about 3'' either way. So when I started looking into it, it appeared that the swivel pin was turning inside of the steering level. I talk to one of the local boat mechanics, and he IDed the leg as a III. So I ordered the swivel pin and steering lever. When they arrived, they didn't look right. So I pulled the leg off and took out the swivel pin, sure enough it was different than the one I ordered. However, in pulling the leg apart, I discovered that the swivel pin and steering lever are fine. But I did find lots of other problem. The outboard tailstock bearing was almost toast. As well as, the bushings and bearings in the gimbel ring and housing. So it's good that I have found the other problems, but I won't know what was causing the steering issue until I get the leg back together. I was always by myself when I was looking at the steering issue, so I was never in the engine compartment when I was pushing the leg back and forth. So I will get someone to push the leg back and forth when I'm in the engine compartment. Hopefully I will be able to see where the play is.

Didn't get no email. The oil line in the bell is the supply line running from the reservoir to the drive. You have a reservoir in the boat built into the port side of the transom plate. This is where you check the drive lube and add if needed. Should have a dipstick in it. It holds 1 quart and the TR drive holds 4 quarts.The valve on the bell and drive shut off the flow when the drive is removed. When drive is installed they open each other up so the lube can flow if needed from the reservoir. Should have had lube flowing out of the hose when you removed the bell if there was any in the reservoir. The wire is a ground wire. Connects to a screw on the gimble housing which is right in front of the lower swivel pin.

I believe with a long pair of snap ring pliers you can get the snap ring out and replace the tailstock bearing from outside.

What about that lower swivel pin, was that a bushing in the gimble ring or was the bearing missing? Maybe the rollers were missing? This seriously needs to be corrected.

I think the drive moving 3" side to side" is pretty much normal with cable steering when on the trailer.