Boat "wobbles"

[Goalie30dad]

Wife and son have been out for like 14 hours on the 20V the last two days. Hopped on after work last night. Noticed that at around 1000 RPM - heading into the dock slowly - there seemed to be a shimmy or wobble to the boat. Could see the tower rock a bit as well. The steering wheel was rock solid - could not feel the shimmy there.

Previous owner did tear up a prop - but said that he had it checked out and nothing else was wrong. Did not feel it in the test drive.

Bent propeller shaft? Looked pretty straight to my crooked eye.

Love this boat.

[skippabcool]

I would check the prop. If you take it off you should be able to lay it flat without it wobbling if you press on the sides. If it was bent and he "fixed" it by himself chances are it is not balanced. If the prop is good then you can start to look at the shaft.

[Goalie30dad]

Prop

Forgot to mention that he put a new prop on it.

[skippabcool]

Forgot to mention that he put a new prop on it.

How do you know it is new? I would still at least check it, pretty easy to do. Then you can for sure eliminate that and move on.

I thought the one that came on my boat was good and looked new. Come to find out the shop that worked on it before I bought it put a prop on that would've come on a Nautique and it was bent.

Do you have any play in the shaft?

[talltigeguy]

I hope this works out for the best for you. Start with the prop and work your way up the drivetrain.

I worry a guy hits a rock, totally folds the prop, buys a new prop and sells the boat once he finds more damage up the line that is going to cost a few thousand bucks to fix. He only reveals that 'it has been checked out'.

With any luck, he took it to an incompetent shop and they eyeballed the prop shaft and assumed it was straight. If that prop shaft is less than a millimeter bent, you will get what you describe. Same with the prop, only a tiny bend will create vibration.

[Wakeman22]

My prop just had a small bend in it and it did he same thing. Do like others say and start with the prop and go from there.