Hit a mooring, shaft is wobbling

[notlaw]

4 weeks ago, we hit an un-marked mooring while in gear (no throttle, 700 rpm ish). Heard/felt a decent bang, took it out of gear, waited a min, then we were clear of it and we continued on. I kept an eye on the bilge and noticed one of the shaft seals (tidesmarine "dripless" sureseal) started leaking on the port side. Continuing on our journey, it gets worse and worse, to the point that we need to pull the boat out. Disconnect everything, inspect / analyze props (they're fine), but the port side shaft is out 30 thousandths. We straighten it then check coupler for trueness, install new seal, back in water. 20 minutes of running, bam, seal goes again. I ask mechanic if they checked water flow, they didn't because the bent shaft was so obvious, we take the water line off the exhaust and the elbow is completely clogged, no water flow. Just before we're about to put the boat back in the water, they notice the shaft is pitted right where the seal sits. I decide to get a new shaft machined, then we install everything again, back in water. Before launching they mention there is a bit of play in the shaft strut, but that the cutlass bearing felt good and tight. When I fired up, there was zero leaking, but the shaft wobbles. You can see it visually and you feel a "cyclical" vibration at planing speed. At this point everything is going through insurance, so I really don't care what else needs to be done to finalize fixing this issue.

My questions are:
1) is it more likely that the shaft strut bolts are loose or that the strut itself is bent?
2) if it's bent, how big of a job is it to straighten it?
3) the tidesmarine system seems crazy flawed compared with a PSS style setup, but I don't have enough room to install a normal PSS unit (the pro version looks like it gets me another inch when it's compressed, but I still may need to cut the stern tube a bit), has anyone done this, or should I just stick with the tides system?
4) Has anyone experimented with double lipped / higher temperature seals in replace of the tides ones?

 

[douglee25]

Are you sure the strut isn't aligned properly and that's what's causing the run out or whipping motion of the shaft?

 

[notlaw]

Are you sure the strut isn't aligned properly and that's what's causing the run out or whipping motion of the shaft?

That could very likely be the case. Also - I found out today the mechanic mis spoke, the cutlass bearing is pretty worn on that side (which could be contributing as well). What procedure should I follow for re-alignment?

 

[douglee25]

I've seen multiple ways to realign the struts to the drive. Everything from lasers to jigs. You'll have to inquire with your marina to see what they use.