Gimbal Ring/Swival Shaft Bolts

[profade]

I battled keeping the slack out of my steering, seemed it was always loose a little around the swival shaft. I torqed the bolts to 55 ft/lbs several times this year and it would tighten it up for a day out, but would be loose again soon after. I have an Alpha one/gen 2 behind a 4.3, its a 95 so I know the gimbal ring is wore a little there but could not justify the time and money taking it apart to repair/replace when everything else was working fine. I ordered new stainess bolts a few months ago only to find the new ones were a little shorter, I concluded these are stretching as I keep torqing them. I figured I would try coated grade 8 bolts, I had to drill out the holes just slightly for the new bolts since I stepped up one size bigger and tightened them to 60 ft/lbs, after several trips to the lake its still tight and no problems!

I realize this will not work for everyone, I had about 2 inches of side to side movement at the prop. I trailer my boat and use in freshwater, also that the proper fix would be a new or repaired gimbal ring with new swival shaft. I think the new stainless bolts might have worked for awhile but I would fatigue and stretch these over time just like the others, maybe stepping up to the next size stainless bolt would have done the same thing, I just felt better going with grade 8 with the extra torq and since I am in freshwater they should be fine.

I thought I would share this info since I was pleased my drive was still tight as I was wintering it yesterday.

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Gimbal Ring/Swival Shaft Bolts

I don't think your bolts are stretching, at least they shouldn't with 55 lb. of torque. It is more likely that your ring is worn enough so that even though it is tight initially it works itself loose after a short time. The good news is that you managed to get it tight with the new bolts. Just be careful not to overtighten the bolts to the point where ring will crack. A great example of why you need to retorque the gimbal ring clamping bolts every year (I learned the hard way). If the bolts are properly torqued and the ring tight on the swivel shaft it should never wear.