Adding a Tie Bar

rmrstlmo

My 390 (496's with Bravo 3's) is going to be out of the water for a swivel seal repair.  One of my dock buddies suggested having a tie bar installed while it is out.  I've been researching and it seems like a good idea.  Is there any downside?  Any recommendation of which one to use?

skennelly

Agree good idea.  It takes stress off of the gimbal.

Michael T

.....and if there is any indication the your drive caps are heating-up (white chalky appearance) then a couple of drive showers is a good idea too.

mattie

Gonna follow this thread. Looking at doing the same. Quite a number of drive showers avail for B3's. Tie bar seems logical as well.
Some of the drive showers are pretty gawdy looking. Low key kinda guy here.

Most of these parts are obviously on higher speed boats - might be overkill for dayboating/cruising......but they make a lot of sense.

Michael T

A big cruiser with 496s or 502s (my 2014 EC 360) can actually benefit more from a drive shower as much as the fastest high performance boats as the load of wrestling a cruiser onto plane and keeping it there can generate a lot of heat. There are a number or single arm drive showers that can be installed in 30 minutes that are not gaudy and make a tremendous difference to the cooling of your drive. On every boat I installed them on (mine and friends) the difference was immediate. No more chalking and heat indication on the caps and upper drives and noticeably cleaner drive oil at drive lube changes. A drive shower is not a notice-me toy for go fasters it is a very important safety factor for your drives.

YYZRC

Why does engine size matter? RPM would dictate heat, no?

mattie

@Michael T any recommendations for drive shower manufacturers?
I remember seeing Simrek & Hardin websites for showers.... Does Mercruiser make anything similar?

Michael T

I have used Simrek, Hardin and Gill Offshore. I have installed single and dual solid arms and braided SS line. Some of the newer designs have a cap at the top above the drive with downturned fins that put a lot of water on top of the drive cap. My last drives were B lll X drives and they had massive caps. The gentleman who bought the EC 360 from me @bry1429 installed drive showers which I was about to do before I sold the boat. he may chime-in. My drive caps didn't show signs of chalking but then i used the boat very gently getting onto plane etc. I was going to install them as they are the cheapest and best insurance available against drives overheating - particularly at the top of the tower where there is tremendous heat.

rmrstlmo

Thanks for all the inputs.  The previous owner installed drive showers so I don't need to worry about that.

Dream_Inn

Interesting. All these years and I've never heard much about tie bars.  I'll have to look at my neighbors 420. I don't remember seeing them there, but I trust Al that they must be.  I know my friends 390 with Volvo diesels have one.  So, why would I benefit after all these years of not having one?  What does it really do?

randy56

https://rinkerboats.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/9554/bravo-iii-alignment-every-year