Cutless bearing replacement

[Navman]

I am intending to replace the cutless bearing on My 1986, E38. I had made a pusher/ puller for the bearing so I would not have to drop the rudder. I sanded down the strut to find the set screws and found NONE! When I tried to push the bearing out (pushing toward the aft end) nothing happened. It did not budge. The pressure applied was such that it bent my 5/16" steel plate. Does anyone have any idea what could be holding the bearing in place?

 

[Afrakes]

Apply some heat

Use a torch to gently and evenly heat the strut around the bearing and try again.

 

[gadangit]

When I replaced my cutlass bearing I ended up cutting it out. Obviously you can't do that with your shaft in place.
When installing the new one I put the bearing in a bucket of ice water and heated up the strut. Still had to encourage with a hammer.
I guess what I am saying is that thing is in there pretty good and you might need to commit to a bigger project.

Chris

 

[footrope]

I ended up cutting and chiseling mine out, too. I used a hacksaw blade and it looked like several previous bearings had been cut out in the past. There were no set screws. I added set screws but they really weren't needed on my strut. They seem to sell these in 4" lengths and I installed just one 4-inch bearing, flush at the aft end of the strut. That was 2009 and no problems since but I fear it will be time to replace it again soon.

Good luck.

 

[tenders]

With the shaft still in the boat, you had only one course of action to replace the Cutless bearing...and you took it, didn't work.

Maybe if you borrow or have a pro use their commercial puller, you can get that sucker out of there, but maybe not.

I'd concede that your low-risk approach didn't pan out, and pull the shaft, clean up the couplings, and examine the shaft for trueness in the course of replacing the Cutless bearing. My further sympathies if the rudder has to be dropped too to get the shaft out, but there is no other way.

 

[Navman]

Cutlass bearing

I have ordered a thicker series of steel plates and a more robust "push tube". I am going to fabricate the puller this weekend at home. I will try out the new system while adding heat to the strut. As the bronze heats up quicker than the SS shaft, I am hoping that the differences in heat absorption will help a little bit. I might be down but I'm not out yet. I am super reluctant to drop the rudder as I have just completed a below decks autopilot installation which includes through bolting the rudder shaft as well as the rudder position indicator which will all have to be removed before I even think about dropping the rudder. To drop the rudder I will need to have the boat lifted in the slings and digging a 6' deep hole is not an option. Then there is always the issue that if I drop the rudder, what else will now be added to the list of...while I'm at it and the rudder is off.......... I Don't want to go there unless absolutely necessary or there is no other option. I am guessing that once heat is applied there is no going back because the rubber portion of the bearing will be melted which may (I hope) assist in the removal. In theory it should be a doable project. I hope to post an update in 2 weeks when I go down to the boat next.

 

[toddster]

I feel your pain, but it seems as if you're getting to the stage where there is more time and energy in trying to avoid the disassembly than in Just Doing It.
This from someone who spent Xmas week changing BMW bearings. Twice, because one was ruined through use of homemade pressing equipment. The second and third times get easier...
The cutless bearing was child's play by comparison.
Scratch that - come to think of it, that adventure ended up with unanticipated replacement of the shaft, the coupler, the prop...
Oh well. Sometimes you just lose.

 

[MarineCityBrian]

I had success in replacing the cutlass bearing on my 35-3, but not without removing the prop shaft (which require removing the rudder). In my case, I welcomed the removal of the rudder to replace the lower grease zerk and in general check the condition of the shaft and be able to sand and fair the rudder while much closer to the ground. Plus I was able to paint those elusive gaps with bottom paint. It honestly wasn't the most ridiculous thing to do - we set up a stack of concrete blocks with some scrap lumber on top just slightly to one side of directly beneath the rudder, and then used a ~4' long piece of lumber to act as a lever to easily prop the rudder up while I was inside the boat removing the cross-bolt through the steering quadrant. Once removed, one middle-aged man and one certified senior citizen were able to remove the rudder without too much difficulty and set it on my cradle. Putting it back in I did employ the help of a fairly sizeable friend of mine who heaved it back into place with relative ease while I made the cross-bolt...
For bearing removal I was able to borrow a bearing puller from a friend of mine who both sails and is an avid waterskiier. Many of those ski-tow boats are inboards and have the same 1" shaft and cutlass bearing our boats have. He had a friend who took a course in machining, and needed something to make. So he drew up plans for this cutlass bearing puller, the friend made it to-spec, and it worked like a charm. Similarly, my bearing had no set-screws.

As an alternative, there's a company that makes a fairly expensive puller specifically designed to remove bearings while the shaft is still installed. I believe merely searching "cutlass bearing puller" on any popular search engine will pull up the source. If I recall they were 3-400 dollars however. That's "just pull the rudder" kind of money to me, but we're all different.

 

[Navman]

I see that this thread came up again. I was successful in my removal and replacement of the bearing using my reconfigured puller/ pusher. I did take a video and am in the process of loading it in hopes it will help someone else out.

 

[MarineCityBrian]

I see that this thread came up again. I was successful in my removal and replacement of the bearing using my reconfigured puller/ pusher. I did take a video and am in the process of loading it in hopes it will help someone else out.

Great! Plans and parts-list for your puller would also be appreciated. There's a huge community of inboard boaters who would benefit from that!
Thanks for the update, and looking forward to seeing the video!

 

[hodo]

Are you sure you would need to drop the rudder. On my e38, there was enough offset, that it would pass the rudder, with the prop off.

 

[kapnkd]

I am intending to replace the cutless bearing on My 1986, E38. I had made a pusher/ puller for the bearing so I would not have to drop the rudder. I sanded down the strut to find the set screws and found NONE! When I tried to push the bearing out (pushing toward the aft end) nothing happened. It did not budge. The pressure applied was such that it bent my 5/16" steel plate. Does anyone have any idea what could beView attachment 25961View attachment 25962 holding the bearing in place?

All of the reply postings offer some great information and sympathy as most have previously gone through the pain and trauma of replacing that €>{?¥+€!^*** cutlass bearing.

We’ve replaced ours three times over the years including actually replacing the strut once. (A story in itself!)

No matter what we do, the next replacement finds that #%}{££¥*** bearing as stubborn as ever to remove.

We found that inserting a hack saw blade upside down through the bearing hole so as to be able to carefully cut the bronze bearing length wise creating a small open gap that allowed enough compression to slip free with the use of a prop puller device to bring a strong leverage advantage.

All in all - LOTS of patience and LOTS of determination...not to mention the occasional “Miller Time” break with a few sympathetic sailor buds to get you through it all.

Keep the faith and determination as YOU WILL PREVAIL! Remember YOU too will soon become a fraternal brother of the “Society of Cutlass Bearing Replacement Survivors”.

Keep the Faith!

 

[Christian Williams]

Say, fellows, let's get together and make our own cutlass bearing.

And the Delrin sleeve, too.

It's easy!

Then, boring the Delrin

 

[garryh]

"Still had to encourage with a hammer. "
never ever, ever... like, ever... start banging on it with a hammer. You have a world of hurt waiting for you if you dislodge the strut.
Use pressure only.

 

[garryh]

"The pressure applied was such that it bent my 5/16" steel plate. "
Navman, that takes a serious force. My first thought is to make sure that in your sanding you have not sanded over and concealed a set screw(s)
ok, now I see it is a revived old thread... withdrawn

 

[Navman]

No set screws on the strut. I sanded the strut prior to beginning and was very surprised that there was none. The tolerances on the bearing is so tight that no set screw was deemed necessary I would guess. The bent steel plate was replaced by a thicker plate of better metal. It also bent slightly during removal but I was eventually successful in the removal.

 

[garryh]

from the pics, there was an allowance for a set screw but was not installed. That makes more sense now, initially I assumed from the above that there was no allowance which was surprising.

 

[Navman]

No hole was originally present. The photos shown are pushing the new bearing into the strut. This was after bearing removal when I drilled and tapped for the cupped type set screw.

 

[garryh]

ahah I see : )
Very strange no accommodation for a set screw and definitely a good idea to install on regardless of how tightly the bearing fits into the strut. Just good practice.

 

[Kevin A Wright]

Without pulling the shaft your only other option is to apply a hot wrench (torch) to the strut and trying your puller again. Don't be shy with the heat, you'll need oxyacetylene and wrap a wet rag around the upper strut. If that doesn't work, time to pull the shaft and get the hacksaw blade out.

Kevin Wright
E35 Hydro Therapy