Re: Comments on Renken quality
My family had a brand new 1984 Renken I/O with an OMC stern drive, don't remember the model. It was a 16 or 17 foot bowrider. The block was a Chevy with 125 ponies, same as they used to use in the Corvair. Nothing was ever wrong with the engine. The hull was near perfect from day one. It got regular washing and wax jobs every season. It was stored outside in-season on a covered lift, and then winterized and covered up, stored outside, through the LONG, COLD northern WI winters. <br /><br />The seats rotted out and were replaced. The tilt on the stern drive jammed frequently. That was an OMC design issue. They used a worm gear on a spindle and a toothed arc gear for trim/tilt. The lube for the thing was always leaky. You hit the switch, the worm gear moved the drive. Bad design. Mercruiser's hydraulic systems are much better and easier to operate. <br /><br />The boat was tough. We routinely pulled 4 or 5 adult skiers with it. Good torque. Decent speed. Foam filled hull was unsinkable (though we never found out for sure
) <br /><br />In 1998, one of the pistons broke apart in the cylider and she never ran again after that. But she was a good boat. Replaced with a used Larson runabout with MANY more issues.
