Just changed the gimble bearing

[Planetwarmer]

I bought a new bearing from a guy for 50.00. I took the drive off, went to oriely and borrowed a slide hammer, pulled the old bearing, bought a 2 foot long piece of 3" PVC and a cap, hammered the new bearing back in place (with the hole pointed towards the grease port), greased and inspected everything, and threw the drive back on. I guess the previous owner installed new U joints, because they look new. The project took a couple of hours.

Saved a couple hundred $$$.

[fogducker III]

Good on ya........see, doing it yourself ain't so bad....:wink:

[Pismo]

what drive?

[brwn234]

I'll be doing this at the end of this season. Thanks for the tip on the PVC pipe. How much more involved is it to do the bellows while your there?

[Planetwarmer]

I'll be doing this at the end of this season. Thanks for the tip on the PVC pipe. How much more involved is it to do the bellows while your there?
It is so easy to pull the drive (5-10 minutes max), I wasn't concerned about the bellows now. That looks like a more troublesome task. I doubt it would take more than an hour or 2 though. It is all fairly simple, as long as you keep everything in order. i changed all of the seals and impeller last year myself. It wasnt hard to do either.

[Planetwarmer]

what drive?

Alpha 1.

I doubt there is too much different between an Alpha 1 and Bravo 1 (except price on all parts).

[tmh]

I was of the impression there was complexity and/or special tools and skill to take the drive apart and put it back together. I'll try to reseal mine if it is straight forward. Is this something I can realistically do in the driveway if I pay attention and follow the shop manual, without unique tools or presses and alignment problems or reassembly difficulty?
T.M. Hayes

[gcarter]

I was of the impression there was complexity and/or special tools and skill to take the drive apart and put it back together. I'll try to reseal mine if it is straight forward. Is this something I can realistically do in the driveway if I pay attention and follow the shop manual, without unique tools or presses and alignment problems or reassembly difficulty?
T.M. Hayes

Hi TM;
If the leak is in the driveshaft (input) shaft seal, if you pull the drive (easy to do) and find there's oil in the bellows, you will need a special wrench to remove the input shaft bearing carrier nut. You see them on eBay frequently. A seal shouldn't require any settings to be changed, so it should be straight forward.
Many parts are interchangeable between Alphas and bravos. For instance, the gimple bearing and universal joints.
Bellows are pretty easy to remove and change.
The main thing is to buy a manual and get familiar with the components.
If you set yourself a small budget for tools etc., you'll find you can do most normal service yourself.
I would definately reccomend a drive stand. You see a lot on eBay. It will make R&R of the drive very easy. They cost around $80.00-$100.00.
Yes, you can do w/o one, it just makes life easier and almost eliminates the chance of the drive falling over and being damaged.
But first, buy a manual!!!! :)

[Planetwarmer]

Hi TM;

I wopuld definately reccomend a drive stand. You see a lot on eBay. It will make R&R of the drive very easy. They cost around $80.00-$100.00.
Yes, you can do w/o one, it just makes life easier and almost eliminates the chance of the drive falling over and being damaged.
But first, buy a manual!!!! :)
Or smashing the crap out of your foot.

You can search online and find manuals for just about everything. Another thing I do is youtube projects before I start them.

[Planetwarmer]

Oh! I did a sea trial today, and it made all the difference. No more vibration.:shades:

[FISHIN SUCKS]

Or smashing the crap out of your foot.

+1

Almost did that this spring. I use my engine puller with a 3' wide tie-down strap to pull my drives with. Everything was going well until I bumped the the chain on the puller and almost dropped the drive on my foot. Live and learn:wrench::)