[Txtruckerpaul]

Maybe one of you guys that has pulled a gimbal bearing before can give me a few pointers on this. Trying to pull the old gimbal bearing out of my bravo three. I have a puller, the type that has the steel plate that fits around the gimbal housing outdrive bolts and has a draw bolt that you turn to pull the bearing. I have beared down on this thing with everything i have and the bearing wont budge. Am I missing something here? I dont want to keep putting brute force on the thing for fear of breaking my gimbal housing. As you can see in the pics below, the bearing itsels doesnt look good. When I took the pic, I had taken the puller off and removed the gimbal bushing bolts to get the bellows out of the way. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hudson River Steve]

I've done a few of these over the years using the same type of puller. Looks like you have rust/corrosion that is holding the bearing in the gimbal ring. Clean all the grease off the aluminum gimbal ring, then use a fine wire wheel on the end of a cordless drill to clean any corrosion off the aluminum. Get as close to the steel bearing as possible. Next soak the area with PB Blaster or other penetrating fluid WD-40. Let it sit a bit and hit it with PB Blaster again. Take a large screw driver or bar and a hammer and smack the outer race of the bearing a few times being careful not to dig into the aluminum of the gimbal. Reinsert your puller and it should break free. This usually works but if it does not you may have to use a little heat from a propane tourch as a final pursuader. If you still can't free it you may have to shift to a slide hammer puller.
From the looks of the bearing you had water intrusion, carefully check your U-joints for signs of corrosion and replace your bellows. Good Luck!

[Txtruckerpaul]

Steve,
Thank you for the great info. I will try your approach to this and hopefully it will come out. I'll post what I had to when I get this thing out of there.

Paul

[ColoradoDiablo]

Steve hit it right on the head.
PB Blaster is my best friend in situations like this.

[Txtruckerpaul]

found a tiny crack in the u-joint bellows too, so that would explain the uglyness of this thing, plus the gimbal bearing itself was dry. doesnt look likes it's had a shot of grease in a long time.

[Txtruckerpaul]

Ok, cleaned it up real good and shot it with some stuff called deep creep oil and let it sit all day. It pulled right out with some effort. Got the oil seal out with some big channel lock pliers, piece of cake. Thanks, Steve, for the advice! Larry, took the outdrive to the merc dealer and they're doing the prop seals, will be done in a week. Meantime, my upholstery man will be done with the inside stuff Monday. This thing should be lake ready in a couple of weeks. Just in time!

[ColoradoDiablo]

Dang ...........if your board..........I got plenty for ya to stay entertained!
She ought to be set for the summer Paul

[Txtruckerpaul]

I think I have plenty to keep me from getting bored around here (never ending honey do list), but the fiancé and I have talked about visiting Colorado sometime. I'll bring my tools, haha

[ColoradoDiablo]

Deal Paul
Heading down there the first of May to catfish on the Brazos river , and play on Possum Kingdom Lake with buddy of mine who lives in Breckenridge , West of DFW.
Can't wait!
BTW , how ya feeling now?

[Txtruckerpaul]

Sounds like fun! Haven't been by possum kingdom in a long time but it is a very nice area. I'm about a hundred miles on the other side of dfw. Feel great! Recovery was fast. Dr let me go back to work, but doesn't want me lifting over 30 lbs for a couple weeks. Thank for asking