Strut Bushing Replacement AKA PITA

My strut bushing swap to XPC bushings and an XPC Shaft Seal has actually hit my limit of what I would consider "fun" working on the boat. It's miserable. It took me several hours of turning wrenches to extrude my single-taper shaft from the coupling, even stripping out bolts in the process as it fought me so hard. Multiple trips to Ace Hardware ensued. Finally, I got that part separated. Then came the rudder- the packing is so tight that it took about a half hour of wiggling the rudder back and fourth to get it out. I couldn't loosen the rudder packing nuts because they were locked together so tight I thought I'd break the housing off if I turned the wrench any harder.

Now, I'm on the final "middle finger" from the boat, trying to hacksaw out these strut bushings. The technique sounded peachy in all of the posts I read about it but it's a total nightmare in reality. It's near impossible to see how deeply you are cutting into the bushings, as each one is a mega 3" long and looking at the cut brass looks exactly like the strut, so I don't know when to stop cutting. The human eye can only see so far into a tube to check the progress. Anything to look out for in this process that might help me along? I'm completely at the end of my rope with these ***************g bushings. I'm trying to pry a cut corner of them out with a punch and I just don't like banging on the strut to any degree. Help.

Joel, It's really not any different than working on a car. Frustrating at times and things never seem to go as planned! Actually it is easier than a car or truck. When I'm stuck working on ether,(car or truck) I always remember to precut my hands and prebust my knuckles!!

The cutlass doesn't have to be cut completely. Once you get it almost cut, a punch can be used to curl up the bearing inside it's self. grab it with some needle nose vice grips, twist and pull. You need to keep your mind on skiing and boating while working too. It will help!

8122pbrainard wrote: Joel, It's really not any different than working on a car. Frustrating at times and things never seem to go as planned! Actually it is easier than a car or truck. When I'm stuck working on ether,(car or truck) I always remember to precut my hands and prebust my knuckles!! The cutlass doesn't have to be cut completely. Once you get it almost cut, a punch can be used to curl up the bearing inside it's self. grab it with some needle nose vice grips, twist and pull. You need to keep your mind on skiing and boating while working too. It will help!

Ok, so some tapping with the punch to curl itself in won't hurt the strut?

Also, the strut is Nibral and the bushing is brass so they look nearly identical when trying to gauge how deeply I've cut.

I've successfully removed one bushing, the rear-most one. The forward bushing is a whole other ballgame. I have to saw diagonally down, lying on the ground under the boat in an extremely uncomfortable position. There is very little "meat" on this end of the strut since the outside of the strut is actually tapered, or bullet-shaped (which is pretty neat in itself). To top it off, the bushing on this end is inset about 3/4 inch into the strut so I can't get to the lip of the bushing to pry it up. I actually had to throw in the towel on this one after over an hour of sawing. What a PITA! Never again. If I ever have to do this again, it's going right to the dealer!

M3, Did it really need to be replaced? Your boat's pretty new isn't it?

Riley wrote: M3, Did it really need to be replaced? Your boat's pretty new isn't it?

I could probably go another 5 years and it would be fine. There's actually plenty of meat left on the old bushings but they are worn unevenly. The boat drives like a dream but I was able to wiggle the prop shaft up and down, as in there was up and down play in the strut bushings. To me, it was an opportunity for a project, plus I thought I'd do the dripless shaft seal too so that was an added bonus. Of course, my old packing made a ridge in the shaft so I'll have to position the lip of the new seal on unmolested metal. The up and down play in the shaft, as minute as it was, was enough for me to start up a new spring project. I had no idea what a PITA this would be- it's not that I bit off more than I can chew but I bit off more than I want to chew at this point in time!

Maybe I'll try that socket/extension tapping trick. I just don't want to beat the strut too much, although I guess it typically harnesses ~400 ft/lbs of rotational torque so it's probably not going to mind a little tapping.

Did you get the XPC bushings direct from OJ?

Ok, the old bushings are out and the new bushings are in. Turns out you can kinda "feel" when the hacksaw gets through them because the resistance increases on the blade as it gets through that last couple thousandths of brass.

I was practically giddy as I used the threaded rod w/fender washers trick to press the new bushings in. That basic gadget worked wonders and was a nice contrast to the rest of the project.

I have a quick question though- the factory bushings were flush on the stern-facing end of the strut and inset about 1/2 or 3/4 inch inside on the leading or bow-facing side of the strut. Should I inset the replacement bushing on the forward side or does everyone typically leave them flush on both ends?

I just put new bushings in last fall. the old ones were flush on both ends so I put the new ones in flush on both ends.

This one I can't answer Joel. When I changed the bushings, I had the tranny out when my damper plate puked on me. I was able to slide the shaft forward enough to clear the strut and then replace the bushings. I figured I might as well do it everything while I had the tranny out so I wouldn't have to mess with the coupler. Someone else will have to respond to answer your question for sure.

By the way, I was amazed when I changed my bushings. I loosened up the set screws and both of them pulled right out with my fingers. The new ones slid in the same way and I just snugged up the set screws. It was super easy. The old bushings still looked pretty good too considering they had about 700 hrs. on them. They could have certainly gone for a while yet.

M3Fan wrote: Then came the rudder- the packing is so tight that it took about a half hour of wiggling the rudder back and fourth to get it out.

Hollywood wrote: M3Fan wrote: Then came the rudder- the packing is so tight that it took about a half hour of wiggling the rudder back and fourth to get it out.

I'm not going back to read the whole thread again so if I repeat something all ready said DEAL WITH KEVIN.


Joel, just turn the hammer sideways and hit it on the side of hammer, your just tapping it anyway so you don't need much throw to move it. If you have the dipples in the shaft and set screws just remove the set screws and look through the taped hole until the dipple is lined up with the hole and then stop and your good to go.