Tilt Bolt Adjustment

[yorab]

Motor in signature, though this thread could relate to many models and years.

There's been a few threads on tilt bolts lately and it got me thinking about mine. How tight should the spring and nut be? If I'm thinking of this correctly, then there are 2 things to consider:

1. Being able to manually tilt the motor from inside the boat (no tilt assist)
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2. Keeping enough tension so that the motor doesn't "hop off of" the trailer lock when trailering
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For #1, the tilt bolt/nut should be a loose as is reasonable. For #2, the bolt/nut should be as tight as is reasonable.

How to reconcile these two conditions?

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Tilt Bolt Adjustment

Torque spec?

 

[oldman570]

Re: Tilt Bolt Adjustment

Transom savers work wonders for your problem and should be used if travling more than a mile or so.

 

[yorab]

Re: Tilt Bolt Adjustment

I don't have my manuals with me, but I don't recall ever seeing a torque spec for that tilt bolt/nut. What I have always done was to tighten the nut just to the point where it affected the raising/lowering of the motor and no more. This kept the nut from simply vibrating off the bolt and at the same time made it easier to tilt while inside the boat.

As far as "hopping off" while trailering is concerned, I always ran a bungee cord around the lower unit and attached the ends to the trailer. This held the motor down tightly on the trailer lock.

However, this is something that I sort of came up with without really knowing all of the variables and without really knowing the recommended method. Hence, this thread.

 

[yorab]

Re: Tilt Bolt Adjustment

Oh, a promotion.

This calls for a beer when I get home from work

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Tilt Bolt Adjustment

Oh, a promotion. This calls for a beer when I get home from work

Congratulations and have two! I quit drinking so you can have mine.