I have a 1987 Morgan 41 Classic and been having problems with a prop mid shaft bearing. It looks like the previous owner had replaced the bearing with something that is not to be used. Does anyone know what the original bearing was? I called down to Largo and they told me it was an RCJ 1 1/4 Flange mounted bearing. I can see how that would be the case but... The stringer that the bearing is bolted to is about 10 degrees out of alignment with the proper shaft. That would mean the bearing would need to rotate 10 degrees off center! I have not found an RCJ 1 1/4 bearing that could do that. Any help out there?
Mid Shaft Bearing
- Thread starter Second Wind M41C
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A mid shaft bearing needs to be so carefully aligned that it should have shims under it. It could never come out right bolted directly to something like a fiberglass structural stringer. The stringer should be low enough that there is room to install a metal foundation bolted to the stringer and the bearing would then be attached to that. It would be fairly simple then to accommodate the misalignment of the stringer.
A long shaft with mid bearing such as on the Morgan 41 is a complex alignment problem which is beyond the scope of a forum. You should seek on site, hands on, professional help getting this shaft line set up properly. Doing it right involves things like calculating the weight of shafting and couplings, hanging the coupling with a scale reading the proper amount, etc.
The shaft is already aligned and the bearing is mounted on the stringer as originally designed by Morgan. So everything is running well now except the bearing is getting old. The alignment is so good I can literally loosen the set screws holding the current bearing to the prop shaft and pull out the prop shaft without any problems. I need find out which bearing to use to replace the existing. I really don't think the current bearing is what should be in there. I will take a picture and post it.
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