Drive Alignment
02-17-2003, 02:01 PM
#2
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Location: Lake St. Clair
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You should
What kinda mounts do you have ?
With offshore mounts, there really isn't too much adjustment you can do without grindin & drillin.
If you have the stock pogo stick mounts, you can bolt the back of the engine down & the bell housing, and adjust the front up & down by slightly lifting the front of the engine & adjusting the nuts under the front mounts. & checking it with an alignment tool......you're going to be checking the gimbal bearing to the coupler alignment. If you're off side to side................you gotta look @ every situation differently.
Hope this helps,
RJ
With offshore mounts, there really isn't too much adjustment you can do without grindin & drillin.
If you have the stock pogo stick mounts, you can bolt the back of the engine down & the bell housing, and adjust the front up & down by slightly lifting the front of the engine & adjusting the nuts under the front mounts. & checking it with an alignment tool......you're going to be checking the gimbal bearing to the coupler alignment. If you're off side to side................you gotta look @ every situation differently.
Hope this helps,
RJ
02-17-2003, 05:50 PM
#3
Your drive alignment should be checked every time your drive is removed ( at least every other year ) The U joints need to be greased also. At that time also inspect the bellows for wear or holes or cracks. When you pull the drive look into the bellows for water. If their is any and you havn't sunk your boat recently than you may have a problem.
02-17-2003, 05:57 PM
#4
Ginger or Mary Ann?
Charter Member
You will need an alignment tool. I bought one from BAM for around $60???????? Well worth the money.
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02-18-2003, 07:55 AM
#7
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chietman,
Be prepared for some head scratching! Sometimes they line up easy, and others take forever to get it right. It's very difficult to see which way you need to move the motor. BTW, don't just hand tighten the rear bolts, thinking that you want it to move easier. It will never align. Tighten them to spec. They are made to swivel when tight. I already made that mistake! It's easier to remove the pedestals from the stringers and adjust them up so that the motor won't have any side loads. Once aligned, that's what the slots in those dudes are for.
I had one stock one that would never align, yet the drive went on easy. After several evenings of @#$%!!, I finally pulled the motor back out to find that the alignment tool would not even go into the coupler! WTF? There was no apparent damage to the splines. I showed it to a merc mechanic and he was baffled. Do yourself a favor and check that before you lower the engine in the boat. That way you will have a confidence factor if it goes into the wee hours!
I had one stock one that would never align, yet the drive went on easy. After several evenings of @#$%!!, I finally pulled the motor back out to find that the alignment tool would not even go into the coupler! WTF? There was no apparent damage to the splines. I showed it to a merc mechanic and he was baffled. Do yourself a favor and check that before you lower the engine in the boat. That way you will have a confidence factor if it goes into the wee hours!
