TRS Gimbal Ring "slop"

[jwright]

I was in a slightly paranoid mood... and got thinking about the slop in my steering of my boat. It is a 1976 TRS drive and appears to have the splined gimbal ring. It also has the plugs in the housing indicating that a repair may have been done in the past. What are some thoughts on how much movement is normal and is it with trying to tighten anything?
Thanks in advance!

[BigGrizzly]

Thoes holes were to service the tiller arm with out removing the transom plate. Both Forest and the Poodle have experience with these holes.

[Rodger]

There should not be any play between the tiller arm and the verticle shaft that goes down into the gimble, but it's likely that there is some. Especially if you the the old splinded arrangment. Don't be fooled by play inside the engine compartment in the mechanism before the tiller arm. Your right about the holes there indicating it has been worked on before, but I have seen the holes on original equipment but not often. I converted to the newer square style tiller arm about 6 years ago and it's still free of play so far. If there is play, I'd be concerned. I've seen standard 330 TRS setups break at that point and the boat will violently turn before the driver can react.