Checking Shaft Alignment as Maintenance???

Liquid Pleasure II

Liquid Pleasure II

New Member
Oct 19, 2009
83
Lenexa, KS
Boat Info
340 Dancer 2003
260 Dancer 2001
Engines
Twin 496-mags, v-drive
I was wondering if I needed to have the shafts on my '03 340 DA checked as part of my regular maintenance schedule. She is having no performance issues, no vibrations, etc.

My marina said it would be about $300 to check them but they did not seem to encourage me and asked several times if I was having running issues.

I have read a lot on CSR about sheared props due to out of align shafts and was just trying to avoid that.

Thoughts?
 
Sea Rays are well engineered boats and for the last 10 -15 years, all the models have held their alignment well. New boats, (even Sea Ray doesn't recommend this) should have their alignment checked after they have been in the water 3 months or so. After that, most people only check the alignment when something changes or they his something. I've had my boat since 1997 and have checked the alignment every other year or when the bottom jumped up and hit me. I have never found the alignment to be out of spec.

So for me, I think one should check his alignment to be sure nothing has settled then relax. Checking it is a 15 minute job and isn't a big expense, but realigning and engine can run into a couple of hours if it is very far out.

The above is relative to v-drives and inboards only.........not i/o's
 
Thanks Frank, I think I will have them do it just for piece of mind as the boat is new to me as of Sept. '09
 
The alignment is check as part of the winterizing. Seems fair to me including oil and filter change for $160.00
 
Alignment is part of winterizing?.............I don't think so. The original question was about v-drives not i/o's...............I knew there would be confusion with the answers on this one.
 
I just replaced my cutlass bearings and found my shafts needed to be aligned after 11 years of boating. With that said, they were not bad, but you could see the misaligned wear on the old cutlass bearings.

I will be curious to see if I get better mileage/performance???
 
I am having the shfts checked today. I have had a vibration on the SB side that has gotten increasing worse. Its not severe but annoying.

I had the props scanned last fall and the shafts checked at the prop end at that time. The boat yard thinks they will be doing an alignment.
 
fwebster said:
Sea Rays are well engineered boats and for the last 10 -15 years, all the models have held their alignment well. New boats, (even Sea Ray doesn't recommend this) should have their alignment checked after they have been in the water 3 months or so. After that, most people only check the alignment when something changes or they his something. I've had my boat since 1997 and have checked the alignment every other year or when the bottom jumped up and hit me. I have never found the alignment to be out of spec.

So for me, I think one should check his alignment to be sure nothing has settled then relax. Checking it is a 15 minute job and isn't a big expense, but realigning and engine can run into a couple of hours if it is very far out.

The above is relative to v-drives and inboards only.........not i/o's
Click to expand...


Timely post. I just had mine checked yesterday, it is the first time I have had it done, and most likely the first time for the boat. Well they are out of alignment, so guess what’s happening today! I was quoted around $500 to do the alignment, so it is being done today. Apparently checking the alignment is one hell of a lot easier than doing the alignment.
 
Banagy said:
The alignment is check as part of the winterizing. Seems fair to me including oil and filter change for $160.00
Click to expand...

fwebster said:
Alignment is part of winterizing?.............I don't think so. The original question was about v-drives not i/o's...............I knew there would be confusion with the answers on this one.
Click to expand...

Yes

#1) I/O and V drives – two different things.

#2) to be clear about I/O’s alignment checking, the alignment is not part of normal winterizing. The outdrive must be removed to insert the alignment tool, basically a pole gets inserted into the drive coupling.

Changing the drive fluid would be part of normal winterizing. For sure not pulling the drive and checking alignment. That’s extra.
The tool should slide in easy once lined up…..and before someone else says it “that’s what she said!”
 
hack4alivin said:
Timely post. I just had mine checked yesterday, it is the first time I have had it done, and most likely the first time for the boat. Well they are out of alignment, so guess what’s happening today! I was quoted around $500 to do the alignment, so it is being done today. Apparently checking the alignment is one hell of a lot easier than doing the alignment.
Click to expand...

I had mine done at the dealer over a month ago for $350 and they found the starboard shaft was out of alignment and like your boat it had never been checked. Based some posts here that said alignment should be checked in the water rather than on land, I posed this to the dealer Service Manager. He said that Sea Rays were very stiff boats especially for the 320 and 340s so alignment could be checked on land. He went on to say that if this were a Carver, he would not do it on land only in the water because the hull was not nearly as stiff. I would be interested in Frank's opinion on land vs. water alignment checks for V Drives.
 
Well, my personal opinion is that trying to align an inboard out of the water, in slings, on blocks, on a trailer, and in any situation where the boat isn't being supported on her own bottom is a waste of time and of your money.

It is true that Sea Rays are well engineered and that their structure is well supported by the stringer system, however, they are not stiff and stiffness has nothing to do with it. Ever try to open an interior, cabin entry or transom door while your boat is out of the water? More times than not the doors are bound where the boat has flexed. How could that happen if "they are stiff" ? If the boat flexes enough to fill the gap in a door assembly don't you think the stringers and engine beds move too?

Any time the boat is not resting on her own bottom something other than normal loads are placed on the hull which can slightly deform it. When we align a coupler, we are looking at a few thousandths of an inch so it doesn't take much deformation to screw up the alignment which is why it is wasted effort. Only after the boat is resting on her bottom in the water does the hull relax and the stresses affecting the deformation relax. This is the reason that the proper way to align the engine to coupler is after the boat rests on her own bottom in the water for a few days.

I'm not trying to pick an argument with some service manager or any technicians out there, but we all have the right and obligation to question their recommendations or statements when they don't make good sense and to over rule them if needed.
 
Thanks Frank,
Unfortunately I was afraid that was the case. I'll have my marina or my surveyor check the alignment and if it is off now that the boat is in the water, I will have a conversation with the Service Manager. I'll ask that he send a tech out at Chicago Sea Ray's expense to "realign" the shafts. Hopefully I won't have to do this.
 
Well the shaft alignments were checked to day and they were dead perfect. That's the good news.

Now I need to find out where the vibration is comming from.
 
In the water!!!!! after at least 24 hours! leave this up to the service manager, let him do it on land and then check it in the water and if it changes you dont have to pay for his days labor. a 20 foot boat is rigid and that will change in the water, you cant build a 30 ft rigid enough so that it wont change, the titanic was an unsinkable ship,
if the boat is on 4 stands you take the boats weight and divide it by 4 and thats how much weight is resting on the stands, this dramatically changes when in the water...as an example it may go from 10000 psi down to 100 psi equally when set in the water because hydraulic theory kicks in and every square inch supporting the boat is now equal in the water.
I/O's are more resilant to MA, because normally the back of the engine rests on the gimble ring mount and has a tendency not to move as much
Inboards are to seperate entity's and are not connected physically, good alignment starts at the strut, it must be centered there and thru the log and you adjust the engine to be centered, once centered you move on to your face to face which normally should be .003 or less....but i shoot for .000 IN THE WATER, your waisting your time on land
 
stuckinforward said:
In the water!!!!! after at least 24 hours! leave this up to the service manager, let him do it on land and then check it in the water and if it changes you dont have to pay for his days labor. a 20 foot boat is rigid and that will change in the water, you cant build a 30 ft rigid enough so that it wont change, the titanic was an unsinkable ship,
if the boat is on 4 stands you take the boats weight and divide it by 4 and thats how much weight is resting on the stands, this dramatically changes when in the water...as an example it may go from 10000 psi down to 100 psi equally when set in the water because hydraulic theory kicks in and every square inch supporting the boat is now equal in the water.
I/O's are more resilant to MA, because normally the back of the engine rests on the gimble ring mount and has a tendency not to move as much
Inboards are to seperate entity's and are not connected physically, good alignment starts at the strut, it must be centered there and thru the log and you adjust the engine to be centered, once centered you move on to your face to face which normally should be .003 or less....but i shoot for .000 IN THE WATER, your waisting your time on land
Click to expand...

I hate to beat the dead horse, but this is exactly what I was told by my service manager. He waited to do my boat and she was in the water over a week before it was checked, and found to be out a bit. He said the same thing, target is .003 or less.
 
24 hours may work for little boats, but the boats we are talking about here, 34' and up, they need to rest on their own bottoms 3 days or longer before attempting alignment.
 
NorCal Boater said:
Well the shaft alignments were checked to day and they were dead perfect. That's the good news.

Now I need to find out where the vibration is comming from.
Click to expand...

A worn bearing is obvious so I'm sure that's already been checked for "play". Any noise from the tranny on that side?

Any possibility of a loose engine mount? I've read reports of alignments that were fine at the dock, but when under load the engine could shift ever so slightly enough to cause an issue. Just a thought...
 
tobnpr said:
A worn bearing is obvious so I'm sure that's already been checked for "play". Any noise from the tranny on that side?

Any possibility of a loose engine mount? I've read reports of alignments that were fine at the dock, but when under load the engine could shift ever so slightly enough to cause an issue. Just a thought...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the ideas. the boat was out of the water late last year and at that time I had both props scanned. The yard says they checked the shafts and bearings. The yard manager told me yesterday he would haul the boat at no charge to check the props, shafts and bearings. If he doesn't have to block it...no charge.

There is no tranny noise from the SB side where the vibration is coming from. Ironically, the port tranny has made noise from day one.(the boat was originally owned by Scott Samuelson of Swim Platforms. He said it made noise when new and no one could ever find anything wrong.) No vibration from the port side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,248
Messages
1,429,275
Members
61,128
Latest member
greenworld
Back
Top