Outdrive Side to side play

[Powerquestboy]

I have a Bravo 1 outdrive that has maybe 1-2 inches side to side play in it. The mechanic told me not to worry about but I'm not sure I agree with that. They said next year we can either drill the 2 holes and replace the bearings or take the drive off etc. I am no outdrive guru but isnt there a way to tighten this to eliminate some of this side to side action. I never like to roll the dice with outdrives since 99% of outdrive problems are very very expensive. Any thoughts? Thanks

[Mr. Crusader 83]

my dads Hallett has the same problem. And his tech told him not to worry about it.

[Mr. Crusader 83]

but i have seen other outdrives that dont move at all. and they do not have external steering.

[H20 Toie]

The play in mine was from the gimbal housing, replaced them no more play

[SinCity]

I don't know that much about it but was told the Gimble bearing might be bad. I have the same problem and am doing the research to figure it out.

[Mr. Crusader 83]

The play in mine was from the gimbal housing, replaced them no more play
it was the gimble housing or bearing

[scarabrick2]

Gimble ring pivot pins/bushings have to be replaced i believe. been a while so I think thats correct. they can drill a hole in the housing and replaced the bushings then they cap the hole. Pulling the drive is more expensive. shouldn't have that much play. replace the bushings and add a single ram steering asst so it will help with the wear.

[voodoomedman]

Why would you want to drill holes in your drive and do it the chintzy way when you can pull the drive off and have it done right. My drive is pulled off every year to check for alignment anyway. Some people have theirs pulled off all of the off season when they are winterized. I guess I'm just funny in that I wouldn't want unnecessary holes drilled into my 5 thousand dollar drive unit.

[mjc]

I had this happen twice to my old boat. The steering arm is a square pin in a round hole at the top of the gimble ring and the hole wears out causing slop in the steering. If you take the steering wheel and it moves without moving the drive this is what has happened and you can use it this way without any problem other than sloppy steering. One of the causes of this i found out is beaching the boat and letting the drive bounce off the bottom it put lots of pressure on the upper piviot this way. I ran mine this way for about 3 years with no problem

[mjc]

to replace the gimble ring requires pulling the engine to get the transom assembly off

[Racey]

If you have internal steering its probably the tiller arm on the swivel pin that goes into the gimble ring, its a square type fit between the pin and tiller arm, they eventually wear loose and are alot of work to replace. This is yet another reason that external steering is so much superior even if you aren't running a hi-per application, this can't happens with rams.
We just had the trim pins between the ring and gimble housing go bad on a 30 hallett with eternal steering which wasnt too bad to replace to the heavier duty pins, just pull the drives to change those. But the boat is 12-13 years old and runs about 85-90 with a couple big Brummett Motors, so it has been under alot of stress.

[Run_em_Hard]

It is either going to be your pivot pin or your gimble ring. The pin could be loose. It would have to be real loose to show that much slop. If you have a merc manual it shows your how to tighten/remove this pin. There are two ways that this can be accomplished.
1-throught the engine compartment, which means that you need to pull the motor. There should be a small notch right above the transom assy. You can feel in there and feel a nutt. That is the nutt that holds the pivot pin on.
2-your can drill a hole on the backside of your transom assy that allows access to this nutt. You might want to look and see if there is a hole already there. They even make bushings for this that cover the hole when complete.
The piviot pins aren't cheap.
But my guess would be that you could use a new pin or gimble ring.

[Run_em_Hard]

to replace the gimble ring requires pulling the engine to get the transom assembly off
You don't have to take the transom assy off to replace the gimble ring:confused:

[BDMar]

The gimbal ring pinch bolt is/has been loose. If it has been loose for a while the gimbal ring will probably have to be replaced. If you drill the holes in the housing to access the bolt, tighten it and it is still loose, replace the gimbal ring. The ring can be replaced without removing the engine and gimbal assy IF the transom cutout leaves you enough room to access the steering pin nut. Usually not, but you might get lucky.