cutless bearing

[deniseO30]

On looking at my CB noticed some frayed rubber at the forward edge of the bearing. Other then that it's snug and doesn't seem to have any play in it.
replace? I saw set screws on the side of the strut so I guess it's not a press in type. I'm planning on changing out the old ("strongseal" dripless)seal for a new stuffing box this winter anyway.

thanks all

[Idiens]

CB s are usually a tight fit, even when retained by screws. The usual removal trick is to use a hack saw to cut a grove along the length of it.

[Driver]

Good question. I noticed the same thing on ours after haulout. A rubber piece that looks to be cracked right where the shaft exits the boat. The vessel is seven years old and I'm guessing the piece is original. Need to make the trek down there to look at the owner's manual I suppose. Not much else to think about when there's an inch of frozen slush on the ground outside.....

[Freesail99]

On my boat that frayed rubber that is packed around the outside of the bearing is nothing more then boatlife. It has nothing to do with the operation of the bearing. It just aids in making a water tight seal on the outside against the boat.




The lighter colored area was boatlife

[AjariBonten]

If you are going to pull the shaft anyway; go ahead and change the cutless bearing. You've already done the most expensive part of that repair.

If it's snug, I would not change it if that was the only reason to pull the shaft.

[HoffaLives]

i wouldn't replace it if it's tight. tight is a universal good, for reasons i won't get into here. the fraying could be caused by some junk you picked up at some point; it's the inner diameter where you want to look out for wear.

what looks like a small repair can easily end up going sideways and costing a lot more in the long run.

having said that if there's absolutely nothing else on your boat that needs work (hah) and you have time and money to kill, at least it keeps you out of trouble.

[Driver]

Owner's Manual says to grease the seal annually but doesn't say what kind of grease to use. Any ideas? The seal looks dry and brittle. I don't know much about 'grease' but suspect that petroluem based products aren't great for rubber seals.

[IslandRaider]

CB's are designed to be water Lubricated this is why there are grooves in the rubber. As long as there is no Lateral play I would not worry about it. most CB's come standard 5" long and depending on the boat you can trim off the excess after installation. easy way to remove the old CB is to slacken/ remove the grub screw and drive the CB out with a 1" diameter brass drift pin