possible slop in prop shaft

Ben,
.010" is too much.

The prop guys will be by shortly or you could use the search feature here on the site. There's plenty of information.

EDIT: That .010 is total or .005 per side.

Its very unlikely that Id recommend a 4-blade prop for your boat. Give us some more info. I assume you have the base (240hp) 351w and 1.23 tranny? How do you use the boat? What are your goals? What prop is on it now, and what are you getting for max performance (WOT RPM's and GPS speed)?

First of all, I assume you have a Ski Nautique, correct? Which OJ Legend- 3-blade or 4-blade? The 14x16 Federal would have been original, so it sounds like somebody swapped it out. I assume youre not running much above sea level in FL? Getting baseline speed and RPM numbers would be best, but Im reasonably confident that either the Acme 470 or 1442 3-blades would be the hot ticket for your boat. We get a discount from Delta- check the Links page.

Oh, and dont say the "tubing" word too loud around here! Welcome to CCF.

benrankin33 wrote: I have more than that, guess its time to replace, problem is , never done one. Any advice?

There are some threads on it but here's the procedure.

With the prop shaft removed from the boat, the easy way is to cut the old cutlass bearing out. If you have a Sawsall,it makes it easy. If not, insert a hacksaw blade through the center and then reassemble it into the saw frame. Cut through the shell of the cutlass relieving the pressure and then the bearing will usually almost fall out.

Pressing the new one in is even easier. A piece of threaded rod through the center of the strut and the new bearing, a fender washer (the big diameter ones) on each end and a couple nuts. By tightening the nuts, the bearing will be pressed into the strut.

Have you ever removed a prop shaft?

also do the cut in the deep part of the strut at the top in case you go a little to far, once all back together go to the alignment thread which is copyrighted, and cant be re-produced.
Pete, im sending out a new input shaft out today, its snapped in half from MA. i could see the bushing burn on the broken side, some guys just dont listen, i told him at the least send me the planet and i would install the bushings for him...my crystal ball says i will see this one in the future

possibly, some are offset and will slide by the rudder. at this point its a good time to v-block the shaft for straightness and to figure out why the strut bearings are wore out....you may want to consider a double taper shaft after done and said