Gimbal bearing tight!

[thekirkwood]

Had noise coming from drive.
Just changed UJ`s and gimbal bearing.
Almost got it assembled but appears shaft can`t fit all the way through the gimbal bearing. Got the bearing from a merc dealer so assummed it was the right one.
Now to make matter worse have got the shaft stuck in the bearing and cant get the drive to go in or out.

Any ideas

motor is a 165hp in line 6. 1975

Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

Ayuh,... The Bearings are all the same,...

Did you Align it,..??

 

[thekirkwood]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

when I removed the drive it slid out without any trouble so I assumed (perhaps wrongly) the engine alignment was good.

I am now thinking that the bearing may be ****-eyed.

So what I'm thinking is that I should get my hands on an alignment tool, check engine alignment, check that the bearing is centered, remove excess grease and try again.
I removed the o-rings on the shaft to see if it was getting stuck on the new orings but that wasn't the case and that is when I got the shaft stuck in the bearing (i think).

Where is a good place to rent an alignment tool?
Just need to try and get the drive back out now, any ideas?

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

Yeah, alignment is a MUST when you replace the bearing. Should do it every time you pull the drive, even if you don't touch the bearing.
Where to rent tool, I'd have no idea. Merch dealers and other repair shops usually don't rent their tools- they'd rather do the work.
You can get an extremely inexpensive alignment tool on Ebay- made in USA, even. Too cheap not to have one if you do your own drive work.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

Ayuh,... The Idea of the bar is to align the motor to the gimbel bearing...
You Replaced the Gimbel bearing,...
That's 1/2 of the equation...

 

[thekirkwood]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

Ok, will have a look on ebay.

Any ideas on how to get this drive off now.
Seems stuck on there pretty good.

 

[L8-Again]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=444271&highlight=remove+outdrive

Here is a thread about removing a stuck drive. There are several others and I know yours is not rusted, but some of the techniques may be useful.

Do a search for stuck drive and read through them. I remember seeing a video on youtube or something that showed how to use the 2X4 but couldn't find it.

 

[90stingray]

Re: Gimbal bearing tight!

Even if the alignment is spot on... and you are sliding the drive back on, you will have to bump her a little at the end. But yes, check your alignment. Otherwise you could smoke your new bearing and other parts. That will cost you $$$.