Alignment/coupler

Thanks Pete, I was looking at the link you sent me earlier about shims. Is there a particular thickness you buy or do I just need to buy a bunch of different widths? Wasnt sure is there was a general order. My boat strut is recessed in the hull. I know you said to bend the tab to make the shim you pictured work, didnt know if you preffered a different one if the only boat you are aligning is recessed. I realize for you with as many boats as you align, it is probably easier to buy just the one type of shim.

That is a good thought. By the time I shipped the thing down there and bought a new coupler, I would only be saving a couple hundred dollars. I just need to quit being cheap and pull the trigger on the A.R.E

While I am not the best communicator and usually post while I am frustrated, I do understand the concept.

I have made a lot of rash decisions in this project and posted things I should have thought about before just posting. I didn't have a prop puller, so I was trying to shim the strut with the prop on the boat. I finally decided to go out and borrow another prop puller and pull the prop.

After pulling the prop I removed the strut and soon realized why my problem has been so bad. While you couldn't tell it by looking at the back of the strut, the strut was bent and twisted. The cutlass is showing a little wear as well.(dryrot- 15 yrs old.)So, I am ordering another strut, I know you can bend struts back and shim them to fit, but me being a rookie, I want to know that the part is right from the start. I am ordering a new one when everyone opens back up after the hollidays.


Thanks for everyone's help and patience. Happy Hollidays
I am also going to pull the shaft and put a dripless shaft packing in it. I am leaning to the PSS over the OJ (any recommendations would be great) I am sending the shaft out to make sure it is straight and having it matched up with a new coupler by the guys down at General propeller down in FL. After that, it should be all good and I can align it with everything known to be straight. May be overkill, but I don't want to mess with this again.

Ok, I will disregard the rudder and see if it lines up at the coupler now. I will let you guys know how it goes later today.

I think I've read where the struts are sometimes adjusted on the boat during initial set-up. That is to say that a rail straight strut may not be necessary.

If the forward section of shaft isn't "hanging" with it's own weight, then Tim's statement below is correct.

TRBenj wrote: If the above picture shows the shaft as its aligned to the strut (not sitting under its own weight) and it has more than 1/8" clearance to the log all around, I would personally not mess with it. Align the motor to it.

If the above picture shows the shaft as its aligned to the strut (not sitting under its own weight) and it has more than 1/8" clearance to the log all around, I would personally not mess with it. Align the motor to it.

If the strut were already off and shaft apart, thats another story... but if you'll be pulling the strut off and resealing it, not to mention pressing the coupler off the shaft to get it apart, thats not a fun job.

Maybe if you needed to replace the strut bushings at the same time, it would be worth considering. Or if youre a glutton for un-fun projects and have some free time on your hands, ha. Definitely consider replacing the strut bushings while you have the strut off, if you decide to go down that road.

You might want to lube the bushing or it might feel tight no matter where the shaft is.

Finally got the hose off using a non correctcraftfan approved vise grip.

Here is a picture of the shaft in the log. It looks to be centered ok. It is not perfect, but it is definetly not touching on the sides.

I checked the rear of the shaft for straightness and it is not bent there either.

Where would you go from here?

Would you even mess with moving the strut? Where can I buy the zinc footballs spoke of earlier?

Yeah, I downloaded the manual from Walters. I loosened up all the bolts holding the v-drive in place as they suggest and moved the engine/vdrive around for 2 days while it was loose and no luck lining it up.


Is there a particular dripless packing that everyone usually goes with? I wasnt sure if OJ and the one from Correct Craft are the same. I only ask because I think I am about to destroy the hose I have trying to remove the packing nut and if I am going to go through the trouble, then I might as well do it right.

I had to reinstall my prop the other day and was able to get a good look at the shaft alignment through the hull just by crawling under the boat and shining a light at the point of entry.

I dread having to re-do the packing glad as I am sure I would run into the same problem with the hose.

Also, I noticed you were not able to get left to right movement for aligning the couplers. Have you looked into how the v-drive is supposed to be aligned? I have the same set up and the v-drive was bolted down to the mounting brackets. There are left to right and up and down adjustment screws on the v-drive mounting brackets.

When aligning it, am I checking to see where it is centered from the picture I posted or where the shaft goes through the hull. Because, the pic I posted shows it being pretty evenly spaced by the eye.

Nautique Fan wrote: . From the schematic Pete posted it looks as though there is a tube under the (hose) that the hose is clamped on to?

That "tube" is the log. It is what you need to align the strut to when the shaft turns the easiest in the strut cutlass bearing.

When talking of the log being centered. Am I trying to center the shaft where it goes through the packing nut or the hull? I have been unable to pull the tube/(hose) forward to see where the shaft goes through the hull.

From the schematic Pete posted it looks as though there is a tube under the (hose) that the hose is clamped on to?

I will take it apart and check it out when I get back to the house in a couple of days before I tear in to it to make sure I am not making this in to a bigger problem than it needs to be.