Sheared Propeller Shaft

[kevbo5566]

I'm not sure how it happened, but after losing propulsion and assuming it was a transmission issue, it turns out my propeller shaft sheared in half directly in front of the strut. I haven't hit anything in over a year, so perhaps a small nick in the shaft eventually led to a stress fracture.

In any event, any suggestions on where to buy a new propeller shaft from? I've only ever bought parts online from skidim.com, but it doesn't look like they sell them.

I've got to replace the strut as well, which was bent when the shaft sheared. Hopefully, by getting a new strut and there shouldn't be any alignment issues. Any tips/tricks for this repair?

[docdrs]

Aquamarine of anderson indiana. Ron Hasting is the owner , im sure he could hook you up

[CornRickey]

Skidim. com. Great people. Something else...... Claim it on your insurance as a prop strike. Give them a quote with labor do it yourself and pocket some had money or upgrade your shaft seal. . With strut your probable looking @ 1500 in parts.

[Salty87]

struts can be straightened if not mangled too bad. is there a prop shop near you? shipping something like a strut will be costly.

nettles marine in austin is a fantastic shop. they'll ship stuff but...

[CJD]

Interesting that the strut is bent. I bet you did hit something, as a simple shaft failure shouldn't have any affect on the strut. Even if the prop moved back and contacted the rudder, the strut should be strong enough to take it.

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Odds are the last time you hit something, you bent the strut. Bending the strut will cause the shaft to be out of alignment, eventually causing it to snap.

Skidim has struts http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1124
As well as shafts http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1160

[kevbo5566]

I don't know what happened, but it didn't sound or feel like I hit anything. Perhaps the torque released during the failure of the shaft bent it over, but as the picture shows, it's certainly bent.

IMG_7097.jpg

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Sorry, I didn't explain my post well enough. You could have hit something and bent the strut a long time ago. The bend puts the shaft out of alignment which would cause this type of shaft failure when run long term. Don't feel bad, run an inboard long enough, and it happens to everybody. Here's a pic of the last one I bent.


You can't just bolt the strut up and stick the shaft in, the bolt holes in the hull have enough wiggle room for the strut to be misaligned. I wrote a post years ago on strut replacement and making sure it's lined up. Let me see if I can find it.

[loopmaster]

My shaft has failed twice from not perfect alignment on it. So it does not take much misalignment to do this. My prop looked perfect, but when I measured, I was off slightly on the strut and that caused the second failure.

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Here's the post, almost 10 years ago. https://forum.supraboats.com/showthr...=3747#post3747

Once you get the old strut off (let us know if you need help on that one, it's a challenge in and of itself). For purposes of alignment go ahead and bolt the coupler to the transmission output flange without the shaft installed in it. Apply your liberal coat of 3M 5200 sealant to the mounting flat of the new strut and loosely bolt it into the boat. Now, with the strut still loosely attached, insert the shaft through the strut, through the shaft log/stuffing box and into the tapered hole on the coupler. You can now tighten the nuts holding the strut on and your alignment should be pretty close. Once you have the strut secure, you can the remove the coupler from the transmission and properly fit it to the shaft.

Note: this will get your alignment pretty darn close, but I would still double check it before reattaching the coupler to the transmission.