Bent shaft and skeg on MasterCraft!

[R Lacey]

While driving our 1986 MC in shallow water, my brother hit bottom.
Afterwards, when I drove the boat I noticed a lot of vibration. I also
noticed that when I let go of the steering wheel the boat took a sharp
turn to the right. The mechanic who serviced the boat (there is no MC
dealer in Mississippi that I know of) straightened the shaft and performed
other necessary repairs. He informed me that tournament boats are
supposed to pull hard to the right. Now that I think about it, maybe it
did always pull to the right. Anyway, when I took the boat out to test
it, I couldn't tell that any work had even been done. I know it had,
because the mechanic is very honest, but I just couldn't tell.
My questions:

1) How much is the boat supposed to vibrate? When I look in the rearview
mirror, the objects in the mirror shake a good bit.

2) Is the boat supposed to pull to the right?

Experts, please respond as I don't even have any friends who know anything
about tournament ski boats. I sick of fooling with this mechanical
stuff. All I want to do is ski!

Thanks,

R.Lacey

ps. please post here because my e-mail is broken too

[Delta Charley]

R Lacey <rr...@AHS.Aberdeen.K12.MS.US> wrote:

>My questions:

>1) How much is the boat supposed to vibrate? When I look in the rearview
> mirror, the objects in the mirror shake a good bit.

>2) Is the boat supposed to pull to the right?

>Experts, please respond as I don't even have any friends who know anything
>about tournament ski boats. I sick of fooling with this mechanical
>stuff. All I want to do is ski!

-
You should not have very much vibration in your boat.
A light buzz at speed that you can just feel with bare feet
on the floor is all that should be present.
-
You may have a bad recon prop, try another.
Or the shaft may still be out of spec.
-
Try riding in another boat (same model) and compare.
-
About the pull, it's a workaround for a poorly designed steering
system and you will need it if you run the course.

-- (Delta Charley)
You might be a hacker if, you try to alter the
sound files on AOL loaded computers to say:
"YOU'VE GOT WELCOME, BYE-GOOD". :-)

[TJSSKIER]

Dear R Lacey,

Its rare that a shaft can be strightened enough to be re-used and
not have some vibration. Use a dial-indicator on the taper of the
shaft with the prop removed. If it is more than .003 out...get a
new shaft.

Next check for proper alignment of the engine.....again no more
than .003 tolerance between trans coupler and prop shaft coupler
You can use a "feeler gauge" to accomplish this

Make sure you have a good prop rebuild. After doing the above
put another prop on the boat and see how it works....then put
your old prop on and if your shaft is good and your alignment is
good ....You should be good to go!!!

While your doing this also check your "strut bearing" for wear. Also
direct drives are very easy to work on but should still be repaired
by somebody that understands direct drives....not an auto mech or
a stern drive mech.

All Master Crafts pull right. That along with the "Hook" in the back
of the boat help make them track better in the course. If you don't
need that good of tracking you can grind a bevel on the TRAILING
LEFT EDGE of the rudder and make the boat steer more neutral.
Grind a little at a time until you get the desired affect.

Good Luck
TJSSKIER
Cal Correct Craft.

[Rhys Duggan]

R Lacey wrote:
>
> While driving our 1986 MC in shallow water, my brother hit bottom.
> Afterwards, when I drove the boat I noticed a lot of vibration. I also
> noticed that when I let go of the steering wheel the boat took a sharp
> turn to the right. The mechanic who serviced the boat (there is no MC
> dealer in Mississippi that I know of) straightened the shaft and performed
> other necessary repairs. He informed me that tournament boats are
> supposed to pull hard to the right. Now that I think about it, maybe it
> did always pull to the right. Anyway, when I took the boat out to test
> it, I couldn't tell that any work had even been done. I know it had,
> because the mechanic is very honest, but I just couldn't tell.

> My questions:
>
> 1) How much is the boat supposed to vibrate? When I look in the rearview
> mirror, the objects in the mirror shake a good bit.
>
> 2) Is the boat supposed to pull to the right?
>
> Experts, please respond as I don't even have any friends who know anything
> about tournament ski boats. I sick of fooling with this mechanical
> stuff. All I want to do is ski!
>

> Thanks,
>
> R.Lacey
>
> ps. please post here because my e-mail is broken too

I had the same problem on my '89 Nautique after a buddy clipped a rock in
shallow water. As the other posts have mentioned, it could be the shaft,
prop or coupler. My advice, start working on these items one-by-one,
starting with the prop and using the process of elimination to identify
which of these items is the source of your problems. Also, make sure
you're dealing with someone who knows how to straighten props, or even go
with a new on right off the bat. It took three trips to the shop to get
our prop back to straight, in the interim we replaced the shaft and the
coupler. If we had made sure the prop was repaired properly the first
time, maybe we could have avoided replacing the shaft, etc.

[KGreenspan]

Sorry to hear about your boat. I have an 89 Prostar 190 and it doesn't
vibrate or pull to the right. I think you need to find a mechanic
experienced with tournament boats.
Kevin