Drive shaft damage?

On our NEW Tige 22-I, I ran into a sand bar last night. During today's inspection of the boat, as I rotate the prop, it's VERY snug and sqeeks/make noise during the rotation. The noise is constance with a full revolution. This sound is from the rear shaft guide? I'm taking the boat in for its 20 hour maintenance, and will have them check it out.
There are two small allen screws?????? are these oil fittings?
Do you think I bent the shaft or got debris-sand into bearings?

We have our annual Houseboat trip in 12 days.....

The prop is suppose to make that noise when out of water. The water is what lubricates the bearings on the prop.

If it is snug when you rotate your prop, then you bent your shaft strut(what you refer to as the rear shaft guide) You should be able to rotate it by hand fairly easily. You can replace it yourself easily if you have access to the bolts. Usually there is a floor pannel that comes out you will see where the bolts are. Pull your prop, unscrew the bolts holding the strut and then replace it. I did mine this spring after running into a sandbar last season. DO NOT run the boat with it bent. You will cause damage to your tranny. Also, It only takes a very small tweek in the strut to make it out of whack. They have a very small tollerance. Mine looked fine, but the prop was hard to rotate by hand. Once I replace it, I measured the bent one and it was only a little off, but was bent none the less. With the new strut, I can rotate the prop by hand easily. Before it was hard to rotate and made that horrible squeeking noise. Still squeeks a bit, but not that shrill you are hearing.

(Message edited by colorider on June 17, 2004)

I doubt you bent it hitting a sand bar, soft stop = no damage, hard stop = big damage. My buddy took his Malibu to the end of the river full speed and ended up on a sand bar. It was at night and yes, he is an idiot. The boat spent the night on the "beach", the next morning we could walk between the boat and the water, it was classic. We had to divert the river and dig, three hours later after spinning a 180 in the sand I pulled him hour with my Nautique (full throttle with a houseboat rope). After all this his running gear was completely intact, he skied the rest of the weekend, it never missed a beat.

the allen screws hold the bushing in place in the strut. the bushing is made of rubber and will grab the shaft unless you've lubed it up...not ky, water or windex work good.

you must have run it home after the sandbar...was there any vibration? you would have felt it if there was damage. you would have also probably messed the prop/shaft up if you hit hard enough to bend the strut.

tell the dealer to take a look but don't get railroaded into repairs. if there's no vibration, there's probably no damage. if the dealer wants to change any parts, you definitely want to keep the old parts to inspect.

After bending my shaft strut, the boat did not vibrate. You need to take it to a dealer and have them check it for you. Or simply measure yourself. Take a measurement from the base of the strut to the shaft. Do this at the front and the rear on the left and right sides. IF they dont match perfect, it is tweaked.

UPdate

Ryan, your right. I talked w/ a few Pro's today (Thanks, Daniel @ Corona Tige) and they said the same thing.

Thanks Guys

(Message edited by rmarion on June 18, 2004)

Richard, just curious where were you when you hit the sand bar?

River @ Blythe, Ca

Between Riveria & McIntyre

FYI… On direct drives, if you ever knock a shaft strut out of alignment or replace one, then it becomes necessary to do an engine to shaft alignment.