TX H210SS wrote:
What i dont get is why would the gimble bearing be out of alignment?...is it that fragile of a connection. If so, I fear knocking it out of alignment during the shaft stab.
the gimble bearing does not get out of alignment per se. What can happen, is that either the engine was not properly aligned when the boat was built, or the engine mounts settled a bit and that changes the aligment of the rear of the engine and the gimble housing. That then puts stress on the coupler because the driveshaft not in it straight and true but at a slight angle. So when you align the engine what you are doing, is making sure that the inner splines of the engine coupler, are lined up with the gimble housing so that when the driveshaft passes through the gimble bearing, it goes 100% straight into the coupler.
The way it is checked is to put grease on the smallest part of the alignment tool. You then slide the tool all the way in, and pull it out straight. The witness marks on the tool (which will show a pattern of the inner splines of the coupler) will tell you if its aligned or not. If the marks look the same all the way around, you're good. If not, then you have to figure out whether the engine has to be raised or lowered to make it right. It can be confusing, on the forums at iboats, there are some vids that show how its done.
I check mine every time the drive is off, have not had to change it all this time, probably because my mechanics got it right when they set up the Cobra for me way back in '04. Lucky its stayed the same all this time.
Aligning the gimble bearing itself is only done because it makes it easier to get the driveshaft into the coupler when you re-install the outdrive. The gimble bearing like an eyeball socket is free to gimble, to allow movement that is necessary when trimming the drive and steering.
So to be clear, what you are doing with engine alignment, is aligning the coupler inner splines with where the driveshaft will pass through when you install the drive. The closer it is to perfect, the less stress on the coupler and the longer it will last. And the way it is done, is to either raise or lower the front of the engine, using the front engine mounts.... which will change the angle of the inner splines in the coupler, vis a vis the gimble housing.
If you ever replaced a clutch on a manual trans car, its a similar concept. You use a clutch alignment tool, so the clutch plate splines will line up with the transmission input shaft when you install the transmission after replacing the clutch plate. If the alignment tool is not used, you will have hell trying to install the transmission.
I assume we need to disconnect the bellows and shift cable beforehand.
Only the shift cable, the drive just slides off the pivot housing. The bellows is attached to the gimble housing on the fwd end and the pivot housing on the rwd end.