sterndrive - freeplay good or bad ?

D

dgiles

New Member
Nov 30, 2007
11
Hi Folks,

First time for me posting here. Took our new 200 Sundeck out for it's second time this weekend and sure enough stuffed up. Not new to boating but new to our Sea Ray and what follows really hurts. We took the boat to a new ramp that we hadn't been to before and found that it wasn't a real steep ramp and so by the time the trailer was practically fully submursed the boat itself wasn't in the water. So (all brains me -not) I lowered the sterndrive - it was in enough water to provide lubrication and motored our way off the trailer, only problem was as the stern dropped into the water the sterndrive was too far down and the skeg took a big hit (twice) on the ramp. The skeg is very very slightly skewed to the left so it needs replacement, hopefully just the lower unit itself. Any ideas on cost (?). However, the other thing I've noticed is there is a little freeplay in the sterndrive itself - I can move it around half an inch or so left and right - is this normal ?

Thanks,
Darren.

(a little annoyed at myself)
 
D.
I did a similar thing several years ago and the skeg took a similar curve off to one side. With a block of wood and a well placed smack with heavy mallet I straightened out the curve (bend, call it what you like). I might add the skeg was only bent a little, no pieces missing. A 1/2" of free play is normal. Take a tour of your local marina and you will find few if any lower units that do not have some "freeplay" side to side.

dave
1998 230 BR Signature
7.4L BIII
 
dgiles said:
it was in enough water to provide lubrication
Click to expand...
Not really lubrication, but rather water flow for cooling purposes.

A slightly bent skeg is nothing to worry about and its very unlikely that you'll even notice it. I assume its bent to one side so it still 'points forward'. When you find out the cost of replacing the lower unit housing you will not be pleased. I'd try it like it is.

As for the slop - this is likely in the gimbal bearing. If you are getting about 1/2 inch at the farthest point on the drive that is a pretty small amount and is not uncommon. I doubt your ramp experience caused this - just made you look closer at it.

Bottom line - you probably hurt your pride a lot more than your boat.

It would be helpful if you would include your boat info in your sig and/or profile so we'd know how old your 'new to you' boat is, btw.
 
Hey thanks Dave, good to know the freeplay is pretty standard. This is my first sterndrive, I've only had boats with outboards prior to this.

I was a little concerned by the amount of weight that the skeg took when it hit too, not to mention the hurt pride as those at the ramp watched me bounce my way off the trailer :smt009

MLauman: Yes the freeplay is at the farthest point on the drive - there appears to be no movement at the gimbal itself.

Here's a photo of the skeg
skeg.jpg


Cheers,
Darren.
 
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D.
that is far less than the bend I had! I might have second thoughts playing with it for the pic shows very little curve. A block of wood and a tap would probably do. Freeplay usually reflects wear. The gimble supports the input shaft and would not effect the freeplay. Touch up the scrapes with some black merC paint.

dave
1998 230 BR Signature
7.4L BIII
 
Oh that's not a scratch on the prop - it's just a salt water streak - it's 12:50 AM over here (in Oz) so the photo is taken with a flash and it shows up every little water stain.

I've embedded some more photos that may show the damage a bit better. Let me know what you think - and thank you !!

skeg4.jpg

skeg3.jpg

skeg2.jpg
 
dr.j said:
tap her straight, file the rough nice and smooth, prime and paint. The original finish is the best so I wouldn't take the entire skeg down to bare aluminum, just the damaged area.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave (dr.j). I'll follow your advice and feel a little better about things :thumbsup:

Cheers,
Darren.
 
The picture is hard to tell, but it looks like it's bent pretty far to port side. I'm kinda guessing as I said it's hard to tell.

If you look at the tiles, lets assume they trailer is straight back and use the grout lines to see how straight the skeg is. Looks pretty bad.

Now lets assume the trailer is not straight back by looking at the back of the trailer it still looks pretty far to port.

EDIT: Ok you added more pictures before I finished my post but still kind of hard to tell in my opinion.
 
I'm no expert but shouldn't he be adding some more anti-fouling paint to the bottom of that skeg where the metal looks exposed now?
 
Morpheus said:
The picture is hard to tell, but it looks like it's bent pretty far to port side. I'm kinda guessing as I said it's hard to tell.
Click to expand...

Hi Morpheus,
Actually it's not that bad at all. You have to look very closely at it to notice the bend. I had to look twice after I pulled her out of the water to be sure of it. Feeling it by hand it's very difficult - it's not until you get completely behind that you can notice it. It is quite hard to capture in the photos.

Morpheus said:
I'm no expert but shouldn't he be adding some more anti-fouling paint to the bottom of that skeg where the metal looks exposed now?
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what dr.j (Dave) suggested, file the base clean, prime and paint with Merc black (no antifoul though).

EDIT: hang on a sec - am I missing some sarcasm here ? :smt043

Cheers,
Darren.
 
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So tell us where you boat at and what ramp this is so we know.

Couple of questions:

1. Tide was it in or out? If it was in and you had this problem, what if you came back and it was out. Oh boy the fun atleast you have a 200 sundeck. Looks like you might have rollers and not bunks so winching it on would be ok.

2. Could you not just back down farther? Believe it or not the ourdrive if it had to be replaced could be as much as replacing your trailer.

We have some short ramps here. One I didn't realize how short and before I knew it the trailer was off the end of the ramp but the boat was floating. Coming back though, winching a sundeck 240 onto a bunk trailer even if it was only 1-2 feet to the front was A LOT of painful labor. I've gotten much better since then. I normally don't have to power the boat off the trailer but I always power on to save from killing myself.

As for backing the trailer down since I do have a bunk trailer, I go all the way in till either the back tires of the truck are just before the water or the boat starts to float whichever comes first.
 
fwebster said:
I'm curious.....how does the gimble bearing affect the play in the steering on a sterndrive?
Click to expand...

Hi Frank,

I haven't noticed any freeplay in the steering (at the wheel) - only 'slop' or what I called freeplay in the rearward most end of the sterndrive itself. After I 'discovered' it, I did a quick search on google and came up with this link: http://www.outdriveshop.com/steering_play.html that discusses freeplay in the sterndrive and at the gimbal ring itself. Note that I don't have any movement at the gimbal itself.

Cheers,
Darren.
 
Morpheus said:
So tell us where you boat at and what ramp this is so we know.
Click to expand...

Hi Morpheus,

I'm in Australia, the boat ramp is at Putney (some call it Ryde). Here's a pic of the ramp.
ryde_ramp.jpg


The ramp extends a loooooooong way into the water and there appeared to be no end to be concerned about.

The trailer has electric over hydraulic brakes and the battery is down on the trailer, not up on the post so I couldn't get in any further less I risk the battery terminals being exposed to salt water and I wasn't keen to short the electrics either. As it was I had the trailer to the point where the battery case was just touching the water - and with waves from passing boats was partially (50%) submerged at times.

I normally am fine with the 4x4's tyres just at the water's edge, generally this is the point where the stern starts to float - but in this case I had the 4x4's tyres into the water and still the stern wasn't floating, not even nearly!

Hindsight's wonderful, but seriously I should have swallowed my pride then and there and just headed to a ramp that we knew instead, but with kids in the car and the wife giving me stern looks all I could do was try.

The tide was in on entry and out on return, getting it on was easier than I'd suspected. Trim all the way up (not to trailer setting) and butted the bow up against the trailer. Then had the wife walk down the trailer plank and attach the winch strap and we hauled her up - not overly difficult as it's a two speed winch.

Who knows, I may be able to claim a new lower unit on insurance, it's always worth the question. I had been suspecting in the order of AUD$2000 for the unit plus labour, which is 2K I'd rather be spending on something else if possible :wink:.

Cheers,
Darren.
 
My question was really relative to the comment that the play is cause by a bad gimble bearing and my difficulty is understanding how the gimble bearing, which is what keeps the drive shaft aligned to the drive, can cause steering play. The drive does pivot in the gimble housing on vertical pins as your link shows, but the bearing is well inside the housing and shouldn't be affected.

While the gimble housing may have play in it, more than likely the play you notice is a product of the the steering cable, its ends and various adjustments. Its been a long time since I've owned outdrives, so I can't tell you what is normal, but 1/2" total side to side doesn't seem out of the ordinary to me as long as it isn't in the gimble housing. If you are worried about the play, check with your dealer since an '07 should still be in warranty.
 
The gimbal bearing is not related to steering as Frank states. There are two items that are, though. Between the gimbal ring and the gimbal housing, on the upper swivel pin is a metal bushing. On the lower swivel pin is a nylon bearing. I suspect these are what MLauman was referring to.

If the boat has power steering, then I don't see how it is possible for play in the steering cable, its ends, or the helm for that matter, to cause free play in the outdrive. The power steering cylinder should hold the forward end of the outdrive steering arm firmly in place, and does not depend on the steering cable. You can remove the steering cable, and the outdrive will still be prevented from turning by the PS cylinder.

That is how mine works, I would assume the new ones are the same.
 
Darren,

Dont feel bad it happens to the best of us. I had a Regal 2200 for a year never made a mark on the prop or skeg. When I traded the boat in the drive looked brand new not a mark. The first trip on our 07 230 select I told my wife to take the helm. She was reluctant because it was a new boat and she was not quite used to the Sea Ray like she was with our Regal. We were in a narrow channel and a jet ski came around the corner, as my wife moved to avoid the jet ski, the water depth went from 8' to 2' in seconds scraped the skeg and nicked the prop. :smt089 Second trip on a real windy day we were at our favorive area on the river which is surrounded by large rocks on the shore. All the kids were in the water and swinging off a rope swing and the anchor broke loose. Since the kids were all around the boat I was not able to crank up and move the boat. With combination of the current and high winds I has in the rocks in no time. I had to use a hook I have on board like a push pole off several of the rocks. No major damage just scratches on the lower unit.:smt013 My boat only had 5 hours on it at the time. Anyway re: the lower unit on my Sea Ray (Alpah 1) and my Regal (Volvo)had a little side to side play on both units even when they were brand new.

Good Luck
 
Thanks Jarwood, I know exactly that feeling of having a boat for years without a mark and still looking like new; only to take out the new new boat and second trip take a hit :smt021

Anyway I'm towing the boat to the dealers workshop tomorrow for them to have a look and give me an idea on what to do.

Cheers,
Darren.
 
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