Hyperryd

It was time to replace my PSS seal on my 2011 B52, so I searched the threads to find the best option to use for replacement. Surprisingly there is a lot of opinion and not a lot of facts out there between the PSS, the OJ and the Glide Bearing Seals. After reading what I could I felt the best option might be the Glide Bearing dripless seal. I called them up and ended up speaking with the owner Tim. Tim's a great guy and truely a boat fanatic. After a good discussion I decided to try the GMSS SC Pro Kit. The SC stands for Split cap and the Pro designates the kit also has the strut bearings that I wanted to go ahead and replace since I was pulling the shaft anyways. The split cap set up is new. It is pretty sweet in that it includes a spare seal that rides on the shaft in front of the housing. When the seal does eventually need replacement, you simply remove the split cap, pry out and remove the old seal and then slide the seal that is already on the shaft down and replace the split cap. Essentially you get two seals for the price of one and you don't have to remove the shaft from the coupler to do the second seal! This is a great seal upgrade for any brand of boat inboard boat. Out of the box, the pro kit looks like this. It comes with the seal body, install tool pre installed, the spare seal, hose & fittings to supply water, and the strut bearings. The first thing I did was to remove the propeller. Then I needed to remove the shaft and PSS seal. The coupler was a real pain since it is a reverse coupler and I didn't have the special tool. I removed the shaft nut, the coupler bolts and the shaft set screw. I then used a couple of box wrenches between the coupler and the V-drive and reinstalled & hand tightened the coupler bolts. I then tapped on the front of the shaft with the side of a hammer. There isn't a lot of room so I wasn't a lot of impact. After the third tap the shaft popped loose and I removed the coupler. With the shaft out I loosened the hose clamps on the PSS seal and pulled it out of the boat. I then had to take emery cloth to the area on the shaft where the PSS set screws set against the shaft. You don't want anything to make a break in the new seal. The last piece of demo is to remove the strut bearings. This turned into a bit of a chore on a 108 degree day. I used a hack saw blade to cut the existing rubber and metal bearings. I kept stopping to see if I was cutting into the strut. It is hard to tell what is bearing and what is strut. In the end after stopping 10 times I was able to make two cuts in the bearing and then use a screw driver to pry them out. This was probably the hardest part of the whole job. If you just do the shaft seal this isn't neccesary. I wanted to just be fresh all the way through. Warning, this can turn your Snap On screw driver into a snap off screwdriver! Now that all of the old parts are out, it was time to install the new ones. The strut bearings are to be put in the freezer the night before. To install you just insert them into the strut with the splines of the bearings configured the same on the front bearing and the rear. It was so hot the day I installed them that about half way in they got stuck and I had to use a piece of wood and a small hammer to get them all the way in. According to Tim they normally go all the way in and then expand as they warm up. Wait about 15 minutes and then you can reinstall the shaft. Next up is the seal kit. The kit comes complete with the seal housing, bellows, and spare seal all preinstalled on the install tool. Just slide the bellows over the shaft log and tighten the clamps. Then slide the shaft through the housing and V-drive. The install tool will be on the end of the shaft. Remove the tool and reinstall the coupler. Slide the spare seal down to about 2" above the housing cap. It will stay there until you need it. The last thing I did was to install the water line. The kit comes with all of the clamps and fittings to tie into the raw water intake after the v-drive. I decided to instead run the 3/8" line to a port on the raw water pump. I didn't get any pics of that, but it is pretty straight forward. Remember to tighten everything up and reinstall the prop.When I took it to the lake it worked perfectly with no leaks. The low speed growl in turns and a slight vibration I had at idle speed were gone. At full throttle I'm still pretty loud, but that really increased when I went to the 15" prop and didn't change with the new kit. Overall this is a very nice kit. Without the strut bearings it probably would have been around 2 hours. This isn't an easy job, but it isn't so hard that you need to pay the dealer ungodly money to do it!The standard GMSS SC kit goes for $195 and the SC Pro kit with the strut bearings lists for $255. Talking with Tim I found out that he designed and builds the OJ dripless seal for them. He came up with his improved design with the new Glide Bearings seals. OJ also distributes the GB kit to most of the manufacturers. That is why there is confusion as to the OEM seal being a GB or OJ. They are GB distributed by OJ. The new split cap isn't on the factory boats. They still sell the regular cap version, but I don't know the price. In talking to Tim he is working on a discount for Wake Garage members. I will let you know as soon as he figures it out. For now you can PM Tim@Glide on this site. He will help you figure out what you need for your boat or just answer your questions. He's a good dude. You can also go to their website at www.glidebearings.com and find their contact info or get the link in the Wake Garage Resource Portal. They don't have an online store yet because there are so many size options they want to confirm what you need before they sell it to you.So far so good. I think I made the right decision with Glide Bearings and I hope this thread helps you guys make your decision. It's also to show that you can do this yourself if you don't want to pay the dealer labor rate!