Wondering if you guys could tell me what you would do in this case:
I hit something last year and had my Stb strut straightened, new cutless bearing and alignment on both sides. Shafts are both centered in the shaft logs.
In the process of aligning the port side engine and getting the shaft centered (it was way off, almost touching), the shaft became a lot harder to turn by hand. It was probably like this for years and the alignment caused the shaft to wear in a different part of the bearing.
After putting about 40 hours, it's loosened up quite a bit but it's still tighter than the Stb side. I don't have any play or vibration. By "tighter" I mean a good one handed pull on the prop. I pulled both props off and can rotate the shaft with my hand on the Stb side but can't on the port side. With the prop installed, I can. I'm assuming the new bearing vs old probably accounts for some of the friction as well.
By the book, I think the strut needs to be ever so slightly adjusted and then I would install a new bearing at the same time. I really wanted the shaft to be centered in the log and could probably adjust it closer if I was willing to have it off center.
With no play, would you guys leave this alone and maybe deal with it next year?
Bob
I hit something last year and had my Stb strut straightened, new cutless bearing and alignment on both sides. Shafts are both centered in the shaft logs.
In the process of aligning the port side engine and getting the shaft centered (it was way off, almost touching), the shaft became a lot harder to turn by hand. It was probably like this for years and the alignment caused the shaft to wear in a different part of the bearing.
After putting about 40 hours, it's loosened up quite a bit but it's still tighter than the Stb side. I don't have any play or vibration. By "tighter" I mean a good one handed pull on the prop. I pulled both props off and can rotate the shaft with my hand on the Stb side but can't on the port side. With the prop installed, I can. I'm assuming the new bearing vs old probably accounts for some of the friction as well.
By the book, I think the strut needs to be ever so slightly adjusted and then I would install a new bearing at the same time. I really wanted the shaft to be centered in the log and could probably adjust it closer if I was willing to have it off center.
With no play, would you guys leave this alone and maybe deal with it next year?
Bob