my lower pivot point was worn out past the bushing on my stock 95 ring. I was updating to 500hp, and full hydraulic imco singe ram steering and thought maybe i should update to a HP unit. I bought this:
http://vinzimarine.com/2011/02/mercr...nsom-assembly/

in 2 hours the gimbal bellhousing broke. im thinking i bought a piece of junk. and if i pull my motor to remove it and ship it back im out about 400 in shipping and duty taxes and my boating season is short here in canada.

my question would be should i rebuild my old one with a new stainless ring? or rebuild it with a merc HP kit? or just buy a full HP transom assembly? i see them listed for 2600 in the classifieds.
At how much horsepower is an HP transom assembly required?( i have imco single ram steering to the helm)

anyone?
is the hp worth it?
or just stay with the normal bravo 1?

Where did it break at?

What drive are you running?

broke out around the hing pin on the bellhousing aka helmet
Im running a 95 bravo 1
im doing alot of debating. should I send it back to him, try a new bellhousing. order a new hp transom assembly, rebuild the old one with imco ring and bell housing, etc.

So does that guy sell GENUINE Merc assemblies or are they something he makes. At first blush that looks like genuine Merc (although the Ring looks a little weird).

So the Bellhousing broke huh? I would think you have bad luck and somehow got a faulty bellhousing, or something that was defective in some way.

I have 502's with Blowers on a heavy ass CIG and I have not broken any bellhousings.

Since you can put a new bellhousing in without pulling the engines and in about an hour for relatively cheap I would try that first....

EDIT - did the BELLHOUSING break, or did the RING break?

sorry the bellhousing right at the hinge pin tore all out. the ring is fine, the ring is a stainless one from who knows were.
it looks like a nice setup im hoping i had a faulting bellhousing too.

My opinion is that I would go with the assumption that you have BAD luck and got a crappy bellhousing. Grab a new one, throw it on before the weekend is my recommendation!! Summer has to be short in Canada.

my suggestion would be,,after you fix it install dual ram steering,single ram steering will put more stress on the opposite side of the hing pin and will pull through..

Look at the broken helmet and see if it was interfering with the gimbal ring on the top. The last one I replaced interfered and I had to grind it down to clear the ring when triming up. It probably would have done what yours did if I didn't notice it and grind it down to clear

hes shipping me another helmet to install and check it all out make sure theres nothing rubbing or binding