Bad Gimbal Bearing

[beanz2166]

well I got the boat back from the mechanic today, and he says that I have a gimbal bearing thats going bad. He says that I could use the boat the way it is, but I will want to get this fixed in the near future. Question, why/what causes the bearing to go bad? I know usually its water, but if the bellows are sound could water be the cause? what are some other reasons these fail? I have been reading online and they seem like an easy fix (provided I get the right tools.) Am I ok to run the boat knowing that its going bad, or should I hang up the keys until I get it fixed?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Bad Gimbal Bearing

get it fixed

 

[frantically relaxing]

Re: Bad Gimbal Bearing

Lack of grease, water, or an alignment problem can cause them to go bad.

The other thing that causes them to go bad is just plain ol' wear -n- tear. It's always spinning the same speed as the engine, without benefit of continuous lubrication. We put oil-bath axle bearings on our trailers these days because we don't trust 'static' grease to keep our 800 rpm axle bearings lubed, but that's exactly what's keeping our 3000 rpm gimbal bearings lubed!

I guess they're easy to change, but that's one of the very few things I've paid a mechanic to do.