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Old 01-10-2018, 04:07 AM   #13
Keysdisease
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City: South Florida
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 1,088
As others have pointed out, your driveline is a couple of steps above the typical thrust taking direct drive system found on most boats in the size range of our boats.
Many consider the "thrust bearing" drive line (similar to the mentioned Aqua Drive) to be the second quietest of the yacht drive line configurations, the quietest being an oil bathed shaft system which is quite complex. One step below your installation would be a remote gear taking the thrust the way your thrust bearing does, and the gear would be connected to the engine with a cardan shaft. The noisiest driveline is the simple direct coupled drive line you see most often.
As mentioned, alignment is not an issue, everything aft of the thrust bearing will always stay in alignment because its fixed, and everything forward is connected with U joints. The engine can be mounted on non thrust taking mounts which will reduce vibration into the vessel. Thrust bearings are very robust and reliable, and wear on any cutlass bearings or shaft seals is significantly reduced due to the fixed alignment.
Peeps telling you to change anything just don't understand how it works, this isn't a bandaide fix because of engine placement, but a well designed driveline for a quiet yacht.

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