Californian 34LRC SHAFT SAVER

Knot Salted · 06-06-2023, 12:39 PM

Hi All,

Knot Salted has twin Perkins T6.354M4 hooked to Velvet CR2 trannys. Shaft savers are bolted onto the back of the transmissions.
Were shaft savers/dampers OEM on these?
Mine are failing, and I am wondering about deleting them.

Comodave · 06-06-2023, 03:16 PM

Our last boat had them. They made engine alignment difficult or impossible. I got rid of them and had Spurs make spacers to take up the missing drive savers. They were pricey but they made them exactly as I specified and they fit perfectly. Finally was able to align the engines and quite a bit of the vibration went away.

Knot Salted · 06-06-2023, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comodave

Our last boat had them. They made engine alignment difficult or impossible. I got rid of them and had Spurs make spacers to take up the missing drive savers. They were pricey but they made them exactly as I specified and they fit perfectly. Finally was able to align the engines and quite a bit of the vibration went away.

Thank you!

Knot Salted · 06-09-2023, 07:28 AM

Don’t ask me how, but over two days, I managed to coax out the shafts and props.
Going with solid couplings as Comodave suggested.
I am slso going to try the “new” UHMW cutless bearings which by-the-way are 2 inch by 4.75 inches on my Califonian 34LRC. They are just a solid white part, with no casing. Made here in Michigan I understand.
I know that UHMW is not tolerant of UV light, but in this spot that is minimal, and only on the very ends of course.

Seems like they would be much less expensive than bronze/rubber, but not so.

They should be much easier to install, and may peform better. Being so solid, they may transfer more vibration to the struts….We’ll see unless someone talks me out of this.

The manufacturer recommends against using set screws as they can deform the tube. I will definitely use set screws, but will drill indents in the plastic so the set screw can prevent the possibility of lateral movement of the bearing without deformation. Red locktite will keep the screws in place.

Thoughts?

Comodave · 06-09-2023, 08:08 AM

Please let us know how that bearing works out. Curious…

Pete Meisinger · 06-09-2023, 08:28 AM

I have never heard anything good about shaft savers. If the shafts were not shortened at the installation I would get rid of them. If they came from the factory (doubtful) your shafts could be too short.

pete

Comodave · 06-09-2023, 11:04 AM

Yes, the shafts in our last boat were too short to just remove the Drive Savers so I had the spacers made by Spurs. They were about $500 each but they were very nicely done and fit perfectly.

alfamike · 06-11-2023, 11:04 AM

Red Loctite is a very difficult item to undo. - go with blue instead.

You will thank me later.

DennisB1 · 06-11-2023, 09:41 PM

I had a saft saver on a prior boat. I was able to slide the two flanges together when the saver was removed. Using the two machined surfaces of the coupling I aligned the engine. I expermented with the saver on and off with the aligned shaft flanges. I found that the vibration was less noticeable with the drive saver installed. When the boat was rolling there was a slight increase in vibration as when the engine deflected the engine mounts less with the drive saver. It seems IMO that it is important to have the engine aligned with the couplings before installing the drive saver. If your shaft is too short a machined spacer could be installed (same dimensions as drive saver) to allow a proper alignment. I continued to use the saver after my experimentation. With the engine properly aligned you should get a good life out of the drive saver.

Datenight · 06-12-2023, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfamike

Red Loctite is a very difficult item to undo. - go with blue instead.

You will thank me later.

+1
Loctite had an issue years ago with customers complaining about how difficult fasteners were to remove. So the product manager brought in a test plate with various size nuts and bolts into the lab. He had all the salesmen install said nuts and bolts with red and green Loctite. After a time he said remove them. After listening to a lot of moaning and groaning he said "Follow the specifications, use the proper product for the application. Feel their pain!"

Use the blue.

Rob