I got to thinking about how everyone gets their panties in a bundle when someone runs their out drive on youtube tilted all the way up. I got to thinking, well I think turning it all the way port or starboard puts it at the same angle. Opinions?
To some degree (pun intended), that is true!
Just my thoughts, cause I noticed a slight hum when I was at the dock and looking back and saw my outdrive turned all the way to one side almost. I put it in the middle and the hum was gone. Keep in mind I'm paranoid, so the hum wouldn't be remotely noticeable to the average joe. I just thought i'd put out my opinion on the matter. So if you're at the dock and you have the engine idling (ujoints turning) try and keep the outdrive straight ish if you can, especially if you're like me where you like to leave the engine running while you grab the truck.
The good news is, you are typically at low engine RPM while doing this!
Here's my take regarding bearing crosses (aka U-joints):
They are designed and intended to be articulated.
In other words, while under load, the needle bearings should move back and forth across a certain area the trunion surface.
When we run our stern drive for hours with it aiming straight forward and trimmed "in", the bearing crosses are articulating very little.
This point loads the needle bearings against the trunions.
Constant point loading causes the needles to wear into the trunions more so in one tiny area as apposed to a car/truck drive line's bearing crosses.
(this is also why greasing them only offers that "feel good" feeling only.... since we can't stop point load wear with more grease!)
Also, with a stern drive, since there is no "coast" side thrust, they only wear on the "drive" side, leaving the "coast" side basically un-used.
This is what makes them feel OK by hand, when they may not be OK.
With a car/truck drive line, the articulation angle at the transmission and the articulation angle at the differential unit are nearly the same.
(many Engineers will suggest a 3 degree angle)
This gives them a longer life span than that of a Marine stern drive universal drive shaft.
Next time you change your stern drive bearing crosses, pull a few bearing caps off and look at the trunions.
Most likely you will see a small wear pattern where the needle bearings have been riding (point loading) on the "drive" side areas of the trunions.
Compare that to your car/truck drive line bearing crosses.
Bottom line.... keep doing what you are doing, and you will be OK.