Well, I bit the bullet, bought a 1995 Sea Ray 180, with the Mercruiser 4.3LX. It was Horribly Faded, so I bought the Meguiars kit, and shined it all up. Bought the needed tools to do the Motor oil, and leg oil, and did the fluids..
I'd Never owned a boat before, but had been on many, and hauled bigger loads...
Get the boat about a half hour from the chosen lake, and, going down a hill, the trailer kept swinging right...accelerate, it'd go left...It got so bad the boat was swinging the truck around. eventually found the ditch, where the boat broke the transom straps, and bent the winch... off-loaded and skidded down the ditch.
Turns out, only the right Surge Brake was connected on the trailer, with the left pinched off, causing the swing to the right on deceleration.
Now the poor boat has a broken lower leg, broken Gimbal ring, broken steering arm, and badly damaged gel-coat.
What a great first post.
Good news is, the gel coat is fixed, the previous owner bought me the parts, and all I have to do now is change them. Have the Gimbal off, bell housing off, old lower leg dis-assembled and new parts await install...
Now, Here I am, in my quest for Knowledge about the repair, and, boating in General. I'm in Northern Alberta, Canada....
Oddly, I think the boat may have sunk if I'd hit the water...The bilge plug was out, (I didn't know it existed at the time) and the Bilge pump had disconnected at the discharge line...how fast would this thing have sunk with no pump and a 1/2" hole in the transom?!
I'd Never owned a boat before, but had been on many, and hauled bigger loads...
Get the boat about a half hour from the chosen lake, and, going down a hill, the trailer kept swinging right...accelerate, it'd go left...It got so bad the boat was swinging the truck around. eventually found the ditch, where the boat broke the transom straps, and bent the winch... off-loaded and skidded down the ditch.
Turns out, only the right Surge Brake was connected on the trailer, with the left pinched off, causing the swing to the right on deceleration.
Now the poor boat has a broken lower leg, broken Gimbal ring, broken steering arm, and badly damaged gel-coat.What a great first post.
Good news is, the gel coat is fixed, the previous owner bought me the parts, and all I have to do now is change them. Have the Gimbal off, bell housing off, old lower leg dis-assembled and new parts await install...
Now, Here I am, in my quest for Knowledge about the repair, and, boating in General. I'm in Northern Alberta, Canada....
Oddly, I think the boat may have sunk if I'd hit the water...The bilge plug was out, (I didn't know it existed at the time) and the Bilge pump had disconnected at the discharge line...how fast would this thing have sunk with no pump and a 1/2" hole in the transom?!
