Cutlass Bearing/Strut Allignment

[exsailor]

During storage we noticed my port aft V strut cutlass bearing had worn enough that you could move the shaft (have had no vib's). All others are still tight. To the best of my knowledge none of the bearings have been touched for at least 5 yrs. After removal, I noticed that even though there is rubber all around, you can tell the shaft is rubbing high on the rear and low on the front. There are no signs of grounding or any other rework or damage. Is this serious enough to remove and shim or rebed the V strut? I would think that with my low hours every year, the new bearing should last me quite a long time.

 

[saltshaker]

Check your engine mounts to see if they are sagging. Depending on your engine beds, you may be able to compensate by adjusting the engine alignment. If all is fine, I would align the strut now. How does the intermediate strut look?

 

[Nonchalant1]

Because you said that all the intermediate bearings were straight and tight (NOT worn at an angle), you might get away with it. When the boat is just hauled and all the bearings are still wet, is it reasonably easy to turn the props by hand? Do both props turn by hand with the same amount of pressure? If yes, it may be an old hit to that strut. When you put a new bearing in, it will start wearing like that again, but if it's not bad and the shaft is straight, you might get away with it.

Check the old bearing to see if it was in straight and not loose. If the bearing is in wrong, it'll wear wrong, but they fit so tightly that it's hard to get one in wrong. There are mounting screws that simply push against the bronze bearing side through the side of the bearing bore to keep it in place.

Check the strut mountings to see that they both look tight and no breaks in the hard sealant used to seal and mount the struts to the hull.

If all the wear is at the top in front and bottom at the rear, it sounds like the shaft itself is straight. You can check that by taping a long sharp pointed shaft or stick to the rudder with the point going right to the center of the shaft end at the prop, but without touching the shaft. Then turn the prop by hand and watch the point versus shaft to see if there's any variation.

Doug Shuman