Over the past six months I have known that my mounts were bad and kept going back and forth from buying R&D or Stock Yanmar. I could not find any reviews on the R&D so I figured I would post it here for others.
The change out was pretty simple, took about four hours to do the mounts and alignment. I removed all the mount hardware, disconnect the shaft, and then used a five foot 2x4 as a lever under the oil pan to remove the mounts. I did them one side at a time so I could slide the back motor mount in place from the front.
Once the mounts were in, the longest process was getting the engine aligned port to starboard in the shaft log. Since the boat is in the water and has a dripless log this took many adjustments that needed to be confirmed by a jump in the water. I still need to do some final alignment but right now it is within 0.007 which is within the 0.010 required by my R&D flexible coupling.
I did not notice anything severely wrong with the old mounts except that they were covered in oil/diesel and I could shake the engine 2-3 inches in any direction. With the new mounts I can only move the engine about 1/2". I purchased the mounts for $475 with shipping which is about $100 less than Yanmar. The main reason I went with the R&D is that they have the metal shield to protect the rubber insert from oil/diesel. My boat is too old for it to be worth fixing all the minor oil and diesel leaks.
Results. Before the new mounts I had vibration at RPM and a loud knocking around 1500 RPM (I think it was the shaft hitting the log). There was also a loud bang and associated vibration when shifting from forward to reverse. This was in addition to significant motor movement that made me uncomfortable motor at higher RPMs. Based on the limited test drive I took today the vibration transmitted to the boat is minimal and does not bother me. I would imagine that new Yanmar Mounts would transmit less vibration. The engine is solid when motoring and the shifting from forward to reverse is smooth. All in all I would recommend the mounts.
The change out was pretty simple, took about four hours to do the mounts and alignment. I removed all the mount hardware, disconnect the shaft, and then used a five foot 2x4 as a lever under the oil pan to remove the mounts. I did them one side at a time so I could slide the back motor mount in place from the front.
Once the mounts were in, the longest process was getting the engine aligned port to starboard in the shaft log. Since the boat is in the water and has a dripless log this took many adjustments that needed to be confirmed by a jump in the water. I still need to do some final alignment but right now it is within 0.007 which is within the 0.010 required by my R&D flexible coupling.
I did not notice anything severely wrong with the old mounts except that they were covered in oil/diesel and I could shake the engine 2-3 inches in any direction. With the new mounts I can only move the engine about 1/2". I purchased the mounts for $475 with shipping which is about $100 less than Yanmar. The main reason I went with the R&D is that they have the metal shield to protect the rubber insert from oil/diesel. My boat is too old for it to be worth fixing all the minor oil and diesel leaks.
Results. Before the new mounts I had vibration at RPM and a loud knocking around 1500 RPM (I think it was the shaft hitting the log). There was also a loud bang and associated vibration when shifting from forward to reverse. This was in addition to significant motor movement that made me uncomfortable motor at higher RPMs. Based on the limited test drive I took today the vibration transmitted to the boat is minimal and does not bother me. I would imagine that new Yanmar Mounts would transmit less vibration. The engine is solid when motoring and the shifting from forward to reverse is smooth. All in all I would recommend the mounts.
