That and more importantly having the shaft key correctly located. Most shaft failures at the propeller are due to the key sliding up the shaft when installing the propeller.
ours have a pin in the slot to keep it in place. Is that not common?
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That and more importantly having the shaft key correctly located. Most shaft failures at the propeller are due to the key sliding up the shaft when installing the propeller.
Many have that little pin, but service technicians tend to shear that pin off when removing the key by driving it up the keyway to get it out. This is the reason when lapping the propeller put an ink mark on the shaft where the propeller laps to. Then when it is installed with the key make sure the propeller returns to that ink mark.ours have a pin in the slot to keep it in place. Is that not common?
Not sure I'm following this either. This is all being done before the shaft key and props are reinstalled.
Good point, I guess i could start it with the wedges to see if it moves. If it gives i could switch to the bearing and press it all the way out.Correct. The shaft key and prop are already off. In theory, it would work. The only concern I would have is if your existing cutlass bearing is frozen in place (as mine was with a 100% freshwater boat), you may damage the new one. I had to have my strut pulled and the old cutlass bearing pressed out with a press on a workbench.
Totally agree with this. When installing the new, I put mine in the freezer for about an hour and also smeared it with Dawn dish soap prior to installing. Doing that, they slid right in. Removing the old ones was much more difficult and took considerably more time, so the new ones would have warmed back up and made them more difficult to install had I tried the OPs proposed approach.Im thinking the total resistance of using the new bearing to push the old out would be significant. Not impossible though.
Pushing the old bearing out is a pain to start given the starting surface area.
Even if you try to chill the new bearing- it will warm up too quickly as you continue to work the old bearing out.
If you have the tool - trying to save a step given the added challenges doesnt seem to be beneficial.
It might take 15-20 to get the old bearing out, and maybe 5-7 to get the new one in.
The biggest obstacle was finding the set screws and backing them out...View attachment 119898
I had forgotten about that, happened on mine as well. The yard let me use a big pipe wrench and I was able to wiggle them back and forth to get that last inch done.The other pia is the shims that push out the bearing bottoms out about 1 inch from finishing the job. Other than that the tool works.
Just watched the video. Pretty straight forward. If I determine I need to replace my struts, could I rent/borrow someone’s tool?
In exchange, I could lend someone my Scantool for Mercruiser ECM’s.
My boat, 2002 340 Sundancer, sits on a 22,000 lb lift. I’m thinking I may be able to do this on the lift!
Finished up my strut replacement today and thank god it’s done! Don’t think I would tackle that again. Removed both set screws and everything was progressing fine then 1/2 way out all of a sudden one of the threaded rods bound up and would not budge. Put it on the bench and still couldn’t remove it. Ended up cutting the head off one of the nuts and used that to finish the job. That worked fine to get the remaining half of the bearing out but it made the rod too short to push the new bearing in. Ended up using a set of threaded rods from Home Depot with a set of bolts to push the new bearing in. So all in all it was an 8-9 hour job. Lessons learned? Find all set screws and use plenty of anti seize on the threaded rods. The up side is the new bearings speed the shaft like butter.
Noticed that the bearings in both sides had a much flatter side than the other. Not sure if it’s how it sat with the shaft in it since haul out but planning to check shaft alignment when back in the water.
That is how it is often done with home made pullers. If the shaft is out, I have also read some people use a sawzall to first cut thru the old bearing as some scoring of the strut should not be a concern?Received my strut pro tool last week. Planning on tackling this job when the snow melts. I was wondering. Couldn't you use the new strut bearing to push out the old then cut the old one off of the shaft with a dremel cutter? naturally you have to make sure you don't cut in to the shaft but would save some time cranking down on the tool twice,
That is how it is often done with home made pullers. If the shaft is out, I have also read some people use a sawzall to first cut thru the old bearing as some scoring of the strut should not be a concern?
Note I have not yet done a cutless so have no experience. I just came across this thread and glad you got yours finished ok.