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Another bravo one gimbal ring solution...

ndaniels

Well-known member
My new to me Superboat had a gimbal ring that was in real bad shape, so I started to look around and read about solutions... came across Ron Bender's name on offshore only (www.jrmarine.com). I talked to one of my Superboats previous owners and he repaired a twin engine boat with Ron's way- both sides... he said it worked great and waaayyy better than pulling the mota.

I called Ron, talked to him about it- decided to have him do it. I brought the boat up to him...he is just east of Cleveland, 3hr drive for me... he replaced my gimbal that was cracked in 3 places, swivel shaft, tiller arm, swivel pin, bushing, seals, etc. He did great work and was quick... found a few things I might have overlooked- like the loose/worn tiller arm.

Here are a few photos of the old ring- pretty scary:
 

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Photo of the swivel shaft, and tiller arm- you can see where the tiller arm was not contacting it squarely.
 

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What the repair ends up looking like:
 

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Hopefully this info will end up saving someone on here some money when it comes time for gimbal ring repair... I know it did me!:bigthumb:
 

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make sure you keep those two nuts torqued to spec, that's how the gimbles start to wear in the beginning.
 
so, what exactly did he do thats different, im not too up on the gimble repairs/replacements.
go photos though
 
He cuts a hole in the outer transom assy to acess the nut on the swivel shaft... there is a template that goes on to guide you... you can see what you're doing and get wrenches in there... mercury uses a couple of holes on the side and a hammer/punch along with a specially designed nut that goes on with a punch... you're working blind that way... the other way to acess it is to pull the motor and remove the transom assy... big $$$$. Also Ron will repair you're old gimbal ring, as long as its not cracked like mine was... and its a repair that will last.

Couple of pics from the instructions:
 

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