Trojan Boat Forum

Can someone measure their prop shaft struts please?

At some point, God knows when, one, or both, of the original struts were replaced. Currently I have 2 different length struts, and I have no idea which one should be replaced to make them both the same.

The only difference, between the two, is approx. 1.5" in length.

Have you tried contacting Beacon? They may have original specs on the OEM struts.

I will measure mine as it is on the hard today and get back to you. I do know they have 1 1/4 hole and shaft is 1 inch.

Hi Heefus,

I measured both of mine and they are the same sized:

Forward measurement from bottom corner of bolt flange to bottom corner of hole for cutlass bearing is 7 7/8 inches.

Aft measurement from bottom corner of bolt flange to to of cutlass bearing hole is 7 1/4.

If you would like me to draw what I described, send me an email and I will pdf it to you.

Others were asking about the strut bolts, mine has bronze carriage bolts.

larryeddington wrote:Hi Heefus,

I measured both of mine and they are the same sized:

Forward measurement from bottom corner of bolt flange to bottom corner of hole for cutlass bearing is 7 7/8 inches.

Aft measurement from bottom corner of bolt flange to to of cutlass bearing hole is 7 1/4.

If you would like me to draw what I described, send me an email and I will pdf it to you.

Others were asking about the strut bolts, mine has bronze carriage bolts.

Thanks Larry.

Could you paint me a picture please? I am a visual kinda guy

I re-measured today, and they are only 1/4 different in height.

Just a thought, maybe you should dismount the struts. I bet they are the same. If so remount using shims to adjust.

I had them both off, last season, and took measurements then. I had been troubleshooting the shaft wobble issue at the time. Right now they are "off", I am putting in new reinforcement planks inside the hull, and measured them again.

While the difference is negligible, it concerns me that they are different lengths. It has not had any impact on performance, or handling, that I can tell. I just like everything to be correct.

Heefus wrote:I re-measured today, and they are only 1/4 different in height.

Put them both on a bench .... now use a dowel/stick same size as bushing/shaft hole and put one in each. What you want to see is that they are the same angle and are the same height from bench when they exit the strut. They may be closer now due to changes in the casting.
You can repeat above test by adding a 1/4" spacer under the short one to see what the changes are.

If all you are seeing is a 1/4" on outside height of strut you may well find that the difference to the shaft positions may well be less and if so I would not worry about it.... the original 1 1/2" you quoted was a concern, 1/4" much less so and the above test may reduce that further.
Let me know what you find......

ready123 wrote:

Heefus wrote:I re-measured today, and they are only 1/4 different in height.

Put them both on a bench .... now use a dowel/stick same size as bushing/shaft hole and put one in each. What you want to see is that they are the same angle and are the same height from bench when they exit the strut. They may be closer now due to changes in the casting.
You can repeat above test by adding a 1/4" spacer under the short one to see what the changes are.

If all you are seeing is a 1/4" on outside height of strut you may well find that the difference to the shaft positions may well be less and if so I would not worry about it.... the original 1 1/2" you quoted was a concern, 1/4" much less so and the above test may reduce that further.
Let me know what you find......

That is a good idea.

I misremembered, the amount of difference, off the top of my head from last season. I will check it out when I go back to the marina.