Fantasia all rubber strut cutless bearing replacement

[bemarek]

Hello,

I need to replace the cutless bearing sitting in the strut of the prop shaft. This bearing is all rubber. I did not find any instructions how to do it and I am seeking any advice on that. Currently my thoughts go around the following procedure:

1. remove the prop

2. somehow remove the bearing without dismounting the shaft

3. install new bearing just by sliding it (pushing) along the shaft into the strut

4. install the prop

As i can imagine that point 3 would be rather easy with the help of some soapy water, I really don't know what to expect with the removal of the bearing. Here is the picture of the shaft, strut and propeller:

I'd also appreciate information about the dimensions (metric) of the bearing.

Thank you for any help,

Marek

POLAND, Warsaw

[sitara]

Hi Marek,

I did this job a few years ago on my SO29.2. The P strut and cutlass bearing looked just the same as yours. Removing the prop was the most difficult part, you will probably need a good puller. The cutlass bearing is held in its mounting by two short screws, I think they were nylon. The whitish patch in your photo is probably one of them. Once they were out the bearing slid out easily, it was all rubber with the same lip as yours. Make sure the shaft is clean before inserting the new bearing, in my case there were calcium deposits on the shaft which had damaged the bearing. I got my replacement bearing from Clarke and Carter in the UK.

Good luck.

Rob

[bemarek]

Hi Rob,

thank you for your valuable input. Could you describe how you did cleaning inside of the strut? I was wondering earlier that this should be done as good as possible, but to me it looks quite difficult to clean the area between shaft and the inside of the strut.

Do you know how to get the exact measures for the bearing apart from doing the measures myself and making an error? I'd rather want to use what Jeanneau recommends.

Marek

[MickeyB]

The sizes are pretty much based on 2 items if I recall, the shaft diameter (mine is 25mm) and the length of the tube required.

Everything else is standard based on those two numbers.

I am not sure where you are trying to clean (inbetween the rubber and housing??) - if yes then mine is clean - nothing grows there.

Only thing to consider is that when you pull the rubber out, the shaft is no longer supported.  It simple slides out without too much force so have the new one to hand, manually hold the shaft roughly center to stop it dropping and pop the new rubber in.

It is one of those jobs which is easier to do than explain - taking the prop off however is a-whole-nother story.

Mike

[sitara]

Hi Marek,

I don't remember cleaning the shaft as being difficult, the deposits flaked off easily. There is enough clearance to get a rag/cloth into the gap to clean and also to inspect. I did not worry about the shaft dropping to the bottom of the P bracket, it was only a few mm and I felt the engine mounts would have enough flex to cope. Another option would be to disconnect the shaft from the gearbox and then slide it out enough for the bearing surface to clear the P bracket

 The cutlass bearing was ordered from Clarke and Carter and they supplied the correct one. I did give them boat model and shaft diameter (hull identification number would be handy too). The good thing about the rubber cutlass bearing is that it can be slid out easily.

Good luck, Rob

[bemarek]

Thank you all for help. I hope that as Mike wrote "It is one of those jobs which is easier to do than explain
".
Will share the results ... if I won't forget.

Marek

[sailbleu]

I removed my initial post completely as I previously missed the part where the TS mentioned the cutless bearing is all rubber .
To be honest, I wasn't aware these types existed.
Live and learn.

Regards

[ianf]

There is a thread here which may help. I made up a tool (see pic) which pulled the prop and then the cutlass bearing and then pulled the new metal one back in. Most boat yards should have something similar I would have thought.

link

[bemarek]

Hello again,

as promised reporting how it went: after dismounting the prop, removing the bearing was very easy. The little trick was to pull the bearing while gently turning the shaft in one direction.

For the record: the bearing sizes are 25 x 36 x 80.

Thank you all for help,

Marek