Trojan Boat Forum

Hey guys I may have me a rather dumb question but I am fixing to try and replace my new cutless bearing for the second time. The first new replacement went in through strut about 3/4 way then stopped. Nothin would get it further or even back out. So I ended up having to cut it and sorta peel it out like I did the original that had been in there. Now the dumb part. I have a Duramax Marine cutless and it has a small red dot on one end, just like the other new one had. Could this red dot indicate a specific direction it is supposed to go in through strut, as in red dot is supposed to be facing facing forward or aft??? I can not see any difference in either end even with my glasses on. As you all know buying new cutless bearings once a week can add up quick. The new cutless is the correct size. I was thinking about getting a wooden dowel and wrap some sandpaper around it to get as close as possible to the interior size of the strut and give it a good sanding maybe taking off a mere thousandth of an inch so cutless would tap in easier. Before I even started on replacing the first new one I tried the old heat and cold trick I had read about. I heated up the strut real good to (in theory) expand it some and I put the cutless in the freezer to shrink it some. Even had a puller apparatus rigged up, nothing worked. Any thoughts??

You did loosen or remove the Allen screws right ? and clean the bore ? It can take a good amount of force to get them in .

I have found that putting the bearing in the freezer before install shrinks it a few thousandths of an inch and helps considerably.

Noticed you mentioned making the bore bigger--- maybe not a good idea as the bearings are designed to be installed with a certain amount of press--that being said make doubly sure the bore is free of all nicks however small---do you have the installation type tool which will press into place --- measure od of bearing on each end to see if there is a taper----the heat and cool thing usually works--- I know there is not much here you probably don't know,but it is usually the small stuff---Mike

Use a scotch pad to clean inside the strut bore, not sand paper unless you're confident in what you're doing so you don't remove strut material and change the ID. Consider all of the above, and also ensure that the strut's bore is completely round. A previous impact may have changed that.

There is a tool for this. Its not cheap, but if you have ever used one or seen one used you will likely not want to go any other way in the future. Strut Pro I think its called. Anyhow, I'm gonna get one. I saw a fella using one recently and decided there really is no other tool you can use to do the job so effortlessly. I was pretty shocked when he put this rig up under there, gave it some cranks, and it spit the bearing right out of the strut. He then made some adjustments, loaded the new bearing and pressed it right in as fast and easy as the one he pulled out. The whole process couldn't have taken him 10 minutes.

Great tool, wouldn't do it any other way and running the risk of ruining the bore.

Build your own press with a threaded bar from home depot, some large washers, and two nuts. As shown in this article:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/replacing_a_cutlass

not sure about red dot. I put four in as described in article and had no problem at all. Didn't even have to bother with the freezing/warming trick.

Thanks for the replys. Got new cutless in this time without no problem. I built that homemade press tool with threaded rod. Also put cutless in freezer overnight this time and heated strut again. Slid right in with minimal pressure. Don't know if the freezer and heat thing helped that much but I was not taking any chances.

Great tool and it makes one of the easiest jobs.