DIY Fresh Air Exhaust system - 1987 TS6M

[rludtke]

I guess my follow up on the performance of the new pipes will have to wait one more weekend. I had a hub fail on my trailer on the way to the lake today. I put off doing my bearings until next week, and, well you can guess the rest. Parts on order...

[mapleleaf]

Ah Rick sorry to hear that... You're not the only one eager to hear( pun intended) how the DIY FAE works..... If you had a hub fail, Is it also gonna run you a tire??? When my wheel came off it cost me a tire, U BOLTS AND lugs ( try drifting them in on the side of the highway!!!!!!)

[rludtke]

Wow, that sounds like an adventure! Fourtunatly, my hub didn't separate, but it was well on it's way. We noticed a squeeling sound as we pulled out of the gas station, and I decided to pull over to check it out. Sure enough, the rear axle on the right side. My trailer has tandem axles (it isn't matched to my boat, I think it was designed for something about 21 feet long), so I pulled the wheel off the bad hub, and slunk home slowly on the back roads with three of four wheels, dragging the cage occasionally. At the time I noticed the failure, the bad hub was smoking hot (not surprisingly), but the remaining three seemed perfectly normal temperature wise. I stopped occasionally to check their temps on the way home, and they seemed to do fine. Don't quite know why one decided to let go. I pulled the opposite hub off the axle once I reached home, so that I could get the bearing number (the damaged hub didn't have any parts of the bearings left big enough to hold a number), and those bearings looked just fine. Go figure.

[rludtke]

Well, I am fresh back from my inagural cruise. The good news is the boat ran really well. No more carb issues (at least for now). The hull leaks I experienced at the end of last season seem to be gone (I fiberglassed the transom drain closed, and rebored a new hole for a theaded plug with oring).

The bad news is the Fresh Air Exhaust creates noticable drag behind the boat, and disturbe the wake more than I can tolerate. I am going to remove it and rethink the solution. I could probably drop down from 4" to 3" or 3 1/2" pipe, and use only one tail pipe on centerline. I also want to figure out how to form the ABS with heat to flatten the tailpipe into something more hydronamic.

I'll get back to it after I return from my vacation.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Rick - glad to hear she is running better. You ideas for improving your custom FAE sound good. The FAE found very little backpressure during testing. I would drop to one pipe and I would make the whole thing 3.5" or whatever size your stock exhaust pipes are. I think if you have the single exhaust outlet that is right in the propwash, the water is already disturbed and very aerated which should make for less resistance. I'm very glad to hear nothing broke! Did you try it at cruising speed? For the price you should measure up the one for sale here and see if it might fit. Great price. Someone needs to scoop that up.

[Hematoma]

Well, I am fresh back from my inagural cruise. The good news is the boat ran really well. No more carb issues (at least for now). The hull leaks I experienced at the end of last season seem to be gone (I fiberglassed the transom drain closed, and rebored a new hole for a theaded plug with oring).

The bad news is the Fresh Air Exhaust creates noticable drag behind the boat, and disturbe the wake more than I can tolerate. I am going to remove it and rethink the solution. I could probably drop down from 4" to 3" or 3 1/2" pipe, and use only one tail pipe on centerline. I also want to figure out how to form the ABS with heat to flatten the tailpipe into something more hydronamic.

I'll get back to it after I return from my vacation.

Get a heat gun and put the down pipe in a vice, start heating it and start to squeeze it. Once you get it how you like it cut it off at an angle.