Alignment

if you hit something that hard a bent shaft is inevitable, i would pull the shaft also and have it checked

Steve, you can tell if the resistance is the propshaft packing by taking off the hose clamps and sliding the whole packing assembly up the shaft a couple of inches. Then this wont be part of the equation. Then if you take a couple ore minutes and remove the four bolts hlolding the shaft to the trans you cann determine really quick how well you are aligned. It takes longer to remove all of the interior than it does to check all of this. Actually alinging it as Eric said could take a while. Took me about an hour of nudging this way and that. Thats not counting removing the interior and dissasembling everything and doing the reverse. I didnt have a helper so I was in and out of the boat a hundred times. Get a helper.

Ok I will put it on the "to do" list. This damn thing keeps getting longer but it's almost time to SKI.

Should be using shim tabs to shim the strut, I would think washers would be way to big.

I had to use two hands to turn mine before, now I can turn it with one strong finger. In fact, if I flick it it almost spins another quater turn upon release. I could have made it spin even easier but the propshaft started getting close to the log. I am thinking its O.K. that its a tad off center. I might need to adjust my strut.

like its been well foreplayed... of coarse the cutlass bearing needs to be lubed, sometimes the rubber causes tightness but it turns pretty easy.

alignment really is a crucial part of maintanance, it is as important as changing oil and include as a routine as if you were changing oil. Its funny how the transmission always is overlooked ill ask a guy about changing oil and he'll tell me yeah 2 times a season.....on the motor, what about the trans? he'll say he didnt think he had too

Thanks to this post I realligned my boat this past weekend. I thought the prop was hard to turn so I wanted to investigate. Sure enough, as soon as I detached the propshaft it was obvious that it spun easier when it was about 1/4" higher and 1/8" to the right. I moved the motor up and over and use paper as a feeler guage. I used a dial caliper and the paper was between .003 - .004. I played with it for about an hour and got it to where I pretty much couldnt get the paper in between the propshaft and transmission flanges anywhere around the whole circumference. Id say its within .003 is that close enough. Also, my shaft is now not perfectly centered in the log. It doesnt look like it will rub or anything. I have about an 1/8" clearance, but the prop spins much easier now. Is that O.K. ?????
Thanks for this post Eric, very helpful.
P.S. all my motor mounts were kinda loose, you guys should all at least check that. If they are loose you could be out of alignment.

I thought mine ran smoother when I did it,but that might be like taking a sugar pill,it can't hurt.I can't imagine checking it every time it's lifted,my lift uses cables and straps, no bunks.

Eric, Those type of pics and instruction are great for us newbie CC owners. I will check my alignment this weekend. When I bought my 85BFN in December, I noticed that the prop/shaft turned harder than I thought it should. It turns consistantly hard all the way around. The previous owner said that he just repacked the shaft. Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should check in regards to the shaft.
Again, thanks for the schooling.
Steve

might wanna start disconnecting hoses look up inside..i heard that small pieces will eventually burn up, again i was told this.

never knew that and have never check it..i guess i might give it a shot seeing how for some reason i have some feeler gauges lying around here somewhere..

I'm not a gambling man, but I'll say 0% of owners on this site check it ever time the boat gets lifted or trailered.

If you can't even check your own impeller how you gonna check your alignment!!!

todicus wrote: Another question......... when checking the alignment, should you remove the bolts to the shaft first?

As I understand it, it should be checked with the bolts out completely, just holding the couplings together with hand pressure.

Eric,

Should shaft alignment be done in the water or is it OK to do it on the trailer?
How often should this be checked?

keep the collar an inch or so closer to the seal but not touching, it so if the shaft lets loose you wont jam the prop into the rudder, thats why its always a good idea to check for a nice tight fit at the coupling... make sure it isnt wore out, I'll lock tite them and tighten by hand for the most part, but normally they are torqued to a 7/16 bolt.
For years I had a coast guard inspector looking over me and torqing bolts... Its a feel thing