Gimble ring replacement access panel
 

Has anyone seen or heard of any strength issues with the bravo outer transom plates when the access panel is cut out of the back instead of using the mercury holes drilled through the sides?

I haven’t heard of any myself but only personally know them on boats under 70mph. Just something I’ve been curious about for a few years.

If you're referring to the JR marine kit. I did that on the Outlaw I had, though it was a sub 70 mph boat I never had any issues while it was on the boat. When I pulled the motor I replaced the whole transom assembly since I had access to it

I have those on both my drives, no issues so far after 3 years. My boat tops at 67, so sorry it's also under 70.

Had the jr mod on my 70mph boat for 7-8 years-250hrs. No issues at all. I wouldn't hesitate on installing it.

I'm running one on an 80mph single Bravo.

Not sure I would translate load on bravo vs. top speed.

faster boats have less drag, lighter weight, and sometimes more power.

i.e. a top gun with twin steps that runs 85 is likely putting less load on drive of a old flat bottom that is only running 70mph.

the are that is modified to do the kit is not a high stress area. I say go for it.

I ran it on a 27 big block Crownline for 9yrs and no issues and rebuilt them using the same kit on my current PowerQuest 380 back in 2013. Only issue I had with the Powerquest was CP Performance drive shower hits bottom cap screws if drives are turned all the way and trimmed up all the way. It damaged cap screws and threads, so i put in heli-coils and went with button head socket screws and did some grinding on drive showers where they touched for additional clearance.

Change the entire TA instead.

I think that's yes the best option, but not having to pull the engines is a plus ;) I did mine and am happy w/the results.

Hydraulic steering ….

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my IMCO Uni-Mount.

Did I mention I love it? It should be ILLEGAL to sell boats that can do 60 without it.

We have done somewhere between 50 and 100 of them with zero issues. But none have been on anything super fast.

Just curious, seems like something jumping waves at 80-90 weather it be flat bottom or step would have some pretty significant stress on the swivel shaft pin as that’s what’s holding the drive and gimble ring on.

If only we all had your money.

Gimble rings still wear out even with hydraulic steering, obviously a lot slower than without and hydraulic steering isn’t a fix for worn out steering. Most of the boats I’ve said we have used this plate on aren’t hydraulic steering worthy boats.

this doesn’t fix the core problem…Mercury uses junk material for steering pins. They corrode over time; tearing the seals.

If you don’t want to live with the access window; another option would be to remove the TA and fix the pin.

the JR marine kits use a nice SS that doesn’t corrode. Should last a lot longer.

Anyone ever use one of the knockoff gimble shafts that are for sale all over the web? Merc gets about 350 for a pin that is SS. Many, many knockoffs out there for 100 or less. Just curious.

I've used the more expensive aftermarket SS pins and the cheaper SS pins found online. Both worked good for me. I just measured everything really well vs the original before replacing. Size was spot on.

What aftermarket? I don't want to do this again. Thanks in advance.