Outdrive nuts, torque or not?

Liberty44140

hi guys, I believe that the "right"
thing to do is to make sure these are torqued to around 55lbs annually. Boat is new to me and they have not been torqued in at least 4 years or over 100 hours. i am worried about breaking the bolts if I torque. What is recommended here? The drives were painted years ago and it's starting to chip. I am going to re paint this year and hope to remove and completely refinish in the next couple of years. 

Black_Diamond

Checking the torque should not be an issue at all. If they break at the set torque then they were going to fail. 

Liberty44140

Got it, will torque. Any idea what the spec is on an 06 bravo 3?

Liberty44140

Found the spec, 55lbs. They torqued just fine yesterday. All good. 

raybo3

Awesome.... Good news.

craigswardmtb

Yep torque them every year.  I replaced one of mine when I did the swivel shaft repair.  They actually made the Ubolt thicker in later years and I found out the replacement Ubolt that was specified for my serial number did not actually fit through the gimbal ring.  My drives are from 05.  Not a big deal but it did require slightly drilling out the gimbal ring Ubolt holes. 

I have read of people breaking the Ubolts by torqueing after never being torqued previously.  Perhaps that's why they made the Ubolt thicker...