johnnyboatman

well we were checking drive upper swivel shaft seal and looked closely at gimbal ring and its cracked at top. then checked other
engine same thing , now its going to be expensive to fix , does any one know what causes these things to happen dealer said prob hit something but no damage anywhere else. mech said he has seen alot broke in same spot . any one else had same problem. i just hope hes done before labor day weekend.

Waterfoul

Is there (or should I say was there) any slop in the swivel pins?? By picking up on the skeg, did the drive move up and down a little?? This is one cause. Bouncing up and down due to the slop in the pin. Mine broke in 3 places about a month ago due to this slop. Found a good used transom assembly and fixed it that way. Stern Drive Specialist sells the gimbal rings for $400. But trust me, drilling the holes to get the bolt out at the top of the pin is not going to be easy. I simply unbolted the rear engine mounts, tilted my motor towards the front of the boat (it's easier than you think) and took the transom assembly off that way. But you have twins, so that may not be an option for you without removing at least one motor.

Rechecking the u-bolt several times a season is a good idea. I never did that. Didn't know to do that.

johnnyboatman

yes i had up &down movement on that side, i checked the torque
on the two bolts at top last winter, they supposed to be 55ft. lbs
mine were 20 so running loose probily had something to do with the worn parts. do you think drew stabilizers would help prevent
wear on the repaired parts .were not pulling engines were drilling
transom.if all goes right 1-to 2 more summers and i wont to move up to a 32outlaw or bigge