www.iFourWinns.com

My father and I are both long time boaters. Over the Thanksgiving holiday we discussed the preferred/recommended position of the outdrive when the boat is docked at the marina.

He says to always lift the outdrive when done with the boat and docked.

I never have. And, even if I lift the drive it's not completely out of the water anyway so I see no real benefit.

I told him I'd poll our group to get a general consensus......

Thoughts?

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Vic
"Byte Me"
1989 Vista 245
Lake Norman, NC

Always down, otherwise the driveshaft bellows are under constant stress.

Graham

I'd say down, even if you raise it I believe they will fall by themselves slowly over time anyway.

Always down. On year #5 with same bellows, no signs of replacement needed yet. Boat is in the water 6 months out of the year, and has been since new.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

+1, always down.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Down when in water or stored.

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1997 225 SD 5.7 VP Aqua/White

Always drive down as well, to keep bellows as neutral (strait)as possible. The only reason I could see for wanting to tilt up is if there is not much water under the boat at the dock.

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2009 H180 w/3.0 Merc
Homebuilt Minimax Hydro
2011 Zodiac Cadet 310

Down unless tides mean your sitting near the bottom

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Regards
Beyond the Blue

"If we improve with age I'm now excellent"


Ex 1998 238 Vista 5.0Gi SX DP
Lexus RX300

Down here also.

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Troy
2008 Centurion Avalanche
1994 Four Winns Horizon 180 SE 5.0L OMC Cobra (Sold)
2002 Ford F150 Harley Davidson Edition (http://www.nhtoc.com) 378 hp & 465 tq at rear wheels
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Nav

Stern drives: Down as much as draft allows for the reasons listed above
Outboards: Down in fresh water, Up in salt water

+1

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Thanks for all the replies... wow! Good to know.

Out of curiosity, why is the rule different in salt water for outboards only?


Stern drives: Down as much as draft allows for the reasons listed above
Outboards: Down in fresh water, Up in salt water

_________________
Vic
"Byte Me"
1989 Vista 245
Lake Norman, NC

Because, unlike a sterndrive, an outboard can be raised completelly out of the water to drain the cooling system and flush with fresh water. By leaving the outboard up you avoid recontaminating the cooling system with saltwater and you preserve your anodes. No use for that in clean fresh water, so it's better to keep it down to reduce the strain on the tilt system.

To make your dad feel better on the numbers, count me as up.

But I always have them down.

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1992 Baja 38 Special Twin 502 Mags

03 Stingray 3.0
88 261 Liberator 460 King Cobras
95 Bayliner 1850 3.0
77 Fiber Form 20ft 350/385hp
70 Wescraft 1800 SS 455 Jet

Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of the Way!

our boat is stored on a trailer, so to put it down requires some work. When stored for winter I try to put drive down, but 90% of the time its up.

Now if it were easy to lift up/down on the trailer without climbing aboard, I would always store down to preserve bellows life. I assumed everyone knew that, I find it interesting that there are some (out in the real world, not on this board, we are smarter than most boaters ) that would think that drive up would be better.

My laziness costs me a new bellows every 2-3 years at $35.

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
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