Rebuilt lower unit

Hey Guys and Gals,<br /><br />I'm new and have searched with no avail for some rebuild info for my lower unit.<br /><br />It's on a 1995 johnson 200. I tore it down to find a failing pinion gear and pinion bearing.<br /><br />I have priced the pieces and was prepared to put it back together if I found a resonable price on a gear set.<br /><br />When weighing the cost advantages of this I have seen rebuilt units and "new " aftermarket units for what I feel is an unusual discount from OMC retail (3400 vs 1500). <br /><br />What's the word on these rebuilds? Are they still using spec bearings etc so that the unit is serviceable in the future, or are they sub standard units?<br /><br />Thanks in advance,<br /><br />Les

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

Welcome Les!<br /><br />You'll find a lot of Texican's on the forum....just pay a visit to Dockside Chat.... <br /><br />Have not heard good or bad about the "new" aftermarket units. Personnally, and this is just my opinion, I would wait to hear more about them....don't know what they are made of.....junk material from across the pond or good "stuff". From the prices I've seen, I can't believe they would be the good quality specs of OEM parts.<br /><br />I have on the other hand used rebuilt lower units from Flagship in Florida without complaint. You might also check out iboats lower unit prices....see the icon at the bottom of the page.<br /><br />No doubt gear sets are expensive. Good quality gears can also be bought here on iboats or from a vendor that handles Sierra products.....NAPA stores do.<br /><br />I'm sure others here will chime in with their views so don't let lone opinion be the deciding factor....... <br /><br />Again....welcome to iboats and Good Luck on your project.

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

Yep, <br /><br />Those are some of the units I'm talking about.<br /><br />Those along with Tri-state out of chicago (ebay)<br /><br />Les

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

I found a gearset at a good price.<br /><br />They appear to be a glm marine set.<br /><br />Anyone have any comments on GLM quality?<br /><br />Les

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

WOW!<br /><br />I guess I should have done some more seaching. AFTER getting my unit together I find all kinds of negative comments about GLM gear.<br /><br />Now I'm scared!<br /><br />Les

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

Twice now I've started to write a long explination about gears and where they really come from and who has what. <br /><br />Lets just say that lots of companies are caught up in this frenzy of manufacturing for less. Thats OK to a point. But when the stuff gets manufactured overseas, quality suffers. And they (overseas manufacturers) couldn't care less about warranty.<br /><br />My best guess is that if you got the gears directly from GLM lately, youre probably OK. If you got them from a distributor that's had them on the shelf for a while, it may not be so good. <br /><br />If you had a dealer install them, you'll have some slight recourse if anything happens. If you installed them yourself, you're most likely out of luck. Especially if you dont have the shim tools.<br /><br />If it were mine, I'd use the best full synthetic gear lube I could find. Like the Merc Hi-perf lube. It may not make any difference but it cant hurt.

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

Well I think these were fresh gears so maybe I have that going for me. <br /><br />I did order the shim tools and was dissapointed to see them backordered. I took the old stack and preloaded it to about 5 lbs and compared it to my new stack. .0004 difference! <br /><br />So I put it back with the shims it had. Maybe that was a dumb move, but I'm assuming the original was in spec.<br /><br />We'll see.<br /><br />Les

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

Les....you really need to wait for the shim tool or take it to a dealer who can shim it correctly. The shim tool preloads the the assemably with the pinion gear attached to get the correct measurement. Don't take any chances this far along.

Re: Rebuilt lower unit

While I understand what the tool does, I do have a nice shop with the proper tools to make an precise measurement. <br /><br />With both stacks preloaded, (nut torqued, all bearings and washers, etc with 5lbs of load to take out the slack)the new gear/shaft setup is exactly .0004 longer (to the back of the gear) than the old one.<br /><br />As I havn't seen any posts here to reshim if the components have not changed on the shaft, I feel certain that IF the old unit was correct from the factory, it's correct now.<br /><br />Yes it would have taken less time to do it with the tool, but it is quite possible to make good measurements in comparison to a good length. <br /><br />If I'm in error, which I can be, on either the gears or depth, the results being simular I suspect, you'll be the first to know! <br /><br />But I'll blame the gears! <br /><br />Les