Another bravo one gimbal ring solution...

[ndaniels]

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:

 

[ndaniels]

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

 

[ndaniels]

What the repair ends up looking like:

 

[ndaniels]

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!

 

[Chris E]

make sure you keep those two nuts torqued to spec, that's how the gimbles start to wear in the beginning.

 

[boatn70]

so, what exactly did he do thats different, im not too up on the gimble repairs/replacements.
go photos though

 

[ndaniels]

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:

 

[boatn70]

cool, that explains it all!

 

[ndaniels]

make sure you keep those two nuts torqued to spec, that's how the gimbles start to wear in the beginning.

Yup- 53ft. lbs. Believe me, I'll check it quite often- I think merc says 2wice a year, but more can't hurt.

 

[Big Red]

That is one of the worst gimble rings I think I have seen. The guy did a nice job on repair.