How do these u-joints look to you?

Howdy y'all,

Sx outdrive a little noisy. Is there some way to test the u-joints?

They look ok and move freely

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

You can't tell by looking at the outside of them. Was there water in the bellows? If so, you need new ujoints and gimbal bearing.

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

Thanks Don,

There was a little water in the driveshaft bellows. Should I replace anything else?

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

The bellows

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

This is a picture of the bellows



I was laying on my side when I took this picture of course!

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

I would change it !!!

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

Sourced the gimbal bearing and the driveshaft bellows locally. I probably paid more than I should have but I was anxious to get started. I bought a set of "Rear Axle Bearing Pullers" from Harborfreight and http://www.harborfreight.com/rear-axle-bearing-puller-set-66380.html and rented a slide hammer from Autozone.

The gimbal bearing popped right out with just a few gentle taps with the slide hammer. I was relieved after reading http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=364003 this post about replacing gimbal bearings. If you are thinking about doing this yourself, reading this post first will make it a lot easier.

This is a picture of the old and new bearings with the slide hammer and the bearing puller:


Getting the new one in was a little tougher. I fabricated a driver from a 3" diameter piece of PVC pipe and carefully seated the bearing and then drove it all the way in with a series whacks with a hammer.

Next was the drive shaft bellows. Thanks again to Don S and his excellent advice about disconnecting the water line and the exhaust bellows and shoving the new one in from the bottom. Saved me a ton hassle.

Here it is assembled with the new bearing and bellows:


Notice the fresh grease oozing from the bearing. Make sure you test that you have it lined up with the grease extension tube from the grease fitting on the starboard side of the housing before you slap it all back together.

Re: How do these u-joints look to you?

I tried to put the outdrive back on without an alignment tool (because I did not have one) and it would not go on.

I found one on ebay, ordered it and started waiting. I got it Thursday, but was out of town all weekend so I did not get to use it until last night.

Once again with some excellent instructions found on this forum (http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2971085#post2971085) , and a few taps of a mallet on the alignment tool, the drive slid on easily.

Alignment tool in gimbal housing:



I bolted everything back up and ran down to the 360 Bridge for a quick lake test. It was amazing the difference replacing the gimbal bearing made, it's like a brand new boat. All I can hear now is the purring of the engine and the whirring of the outdrive.

Loop 360 Bridge on Lake Austin: