I just put my outdrive back on for the summer and the hydraulic rams don't line up perfectly and I also noticed while i took it out for a ride that it growns while trimming the engine to the down position. Are these problems related or two different problems? The pin that goes thu the outdrive is somewhat cockeyed putting pressure on the rubbers on one side.

There is supposed to be a bushing that holds the pin straight. The groaning is probably the pivot pins on the helmet.

they got tight from sitting. they will either free up, or you will need to rebuild or replace 1 to 4 rams. trimming down while in gear will help. thrust pushes the drive down. the trim is much weaker down than up for this reason.

The first thing you need to do is to get the rams even. Try loosening the hyd line to bleed out some fluid on the one that needs go down more and see if it goes down all the way.

I'N my experience.when the ram/rams get tight and groan .The ram endcap has corrosion in it, effectively choking the trim cylinder shaft The rams should equalize them selves thru the manifold under transom assembly where the trim lines attach, when rams are attached to a common point (trim pins) . Pull the rear pin out and attempt to run them up and down. Most likely only one of them is sticking and groaning and should be rebuilt...Trim rams are easy to repair unless badly corroded ..my 2 cents

sound like lots of good advice. I will be looking into some of the suggested problems and see what i can come up with. I leaning towards possibly having to rebuild one or both rams.

got it working now "i think...in the driveway atleast" cleaned the already clean wires to the battery and topped off the fluid which was still above the low line. I feel pretty stupid after working on my own boat for 20 years!!