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cutless bearing - possible to press out a brand new one?

B

bobct

Advanced Contributor
My newer (2 years) Stb cutless bearing is bulging out in opposite corners and I can see the rubber rotate a hair when I rotate the shaft. The engine must have shifted at some point because it's closer to the edge of the shaft log.

My plan is to remove the strut, install a new bearing, center the shaft in the log, replace all four engine mounts and start from scratch. I have a brand new strut with a cutless bearing already installed. Can I press that one out and install it in the old strut? It's the opposite side or I would just install the whole strut.

Is it possible to remove one w/o doing damage or should I just leave that as is and get a new bearing? It's never seen water so corrosion won't be an issue.


Bob
 
I would think a hydraulic press with the correct drift would cause no damage, other than some harmless scrape marks on the brass. Since you have the strut off the boat, it should be a 10 minute job in the right hands. There are a few struts in the world (old racing struts?) that do not allow a press all the way thru, but barring that, you should be ok.
 
I agree with Dave - just make sure the set screws are out before applying any pressure.

With most V-bottoms, the struts are side specific so installing a spare from the "other side" isn't likely to be a viable option
 
I pulled the strut off yesterday and brought it home. I have a "C" clamp ball joint press in my garage but the jaw isn't big enough. Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to by a small hydraulic floor press which I could have used many times in the garage for wheel bearings, control arm bushings etc. Mark, I'm just trying to swap the bearing itself, not the strut. It'll save me the cost of the bearing plus I already have it on hand.

In looking at the bearing, I noticed the rubber can easily be peeled away from the bronze tube. That seems odd to me regardless of the alignment being off. If it weren't for the slight bulge I might have not even noticed. The rotation by hand felt fine. It was actually the rubber rocking back and forth that caught my eye. This after being on the hard for a few days so everthing was dry and the shaft "grabbed" the rubber enough to see movement.

Is that normal or was this a defective bearing or does a mis- alignment cause the rubber to seperate?

Bob
 
What I do is insert a hacksaw blade into the bore and then install the frame.-----------Split the old bearing and it falls out.---------Then clean the bore in the strut and pull in the new one with threaded rod and some adapters.
 
bobct said:
I pulled the strut off yesterday and brought it home. I have a "C" clamp ball joint press in my garage but the jaw isn't big enough. Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to by a small hydraulic floor press which I could have used many times in the garage for wheel bearings, control arm bushings etc. Mark, I'm just trying to swap the bearing itself, not the strut. It'll save me the cost of the bearing plus I already have it on hand.

In looking at the bearing, I noticed the rubber can easily be peeled away from the bronze tube. That seems odd to me regardless of the alignment being off. If it weren't for the slight bulge I might have not even noticed. The rotation by hand felt fine. It was actually the rubber rocking back and forth that caught my eye. This after being on the hard for a few days so everthing was dry and the shaft "grabbed" the rubber enough to see movement.

Is that normal or was this a defective bearing or does a mis- alignment cause the rubber to seperate?

Bob
Click to expand...

I've had a rubber liner separate from the brass. The replacement has gone thousands of miles with no issue, no alignment issue. I'd say it was just a "bad adhesive job". It did run for a few hundred miles like that even.
 
racerone said:
What I do is insert a hacksaw blade into the bore and then install the frame.-----------Split the old bearing and it falls out.---------Then clean the bore in the strut and pull in the new one with threaded rod and some adapters.
Click to expand...


Exactly what I have done...gave the threaded rod to the mechanics at my marina but................................... I can use it whenever I want !!!:eek:
:eek:
 
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