What does the thrust bearings do?

[NorthernBoater]

What does the thrust bearing do? I have never used any in my boats, is this something that I should be doing?

[Raydee]

Yes you should use one. It basically takes the pressure off the motor bearings that is coming from the prop thrust. Some motors don't have the rear end caps secured with screws and have been know to get pushed off in turn causing the winding to hit the can and make a nice charcoal mess. Even with motors that are pinned the pressure on the rear bearing can cause it to fail before its time.

[62 bugzilla]

thrust bearing

The thrust bearing is mounted between the coupler and the motor mount so the prop shaft can not put pressure on the end bell of the motor . When you drive a boat it wants to move the flex cable towards the front of the boat under acceleration and the force of the water on the prop and if you don't have a thrust bearing the end bell of the motor has some pressure on it along with the bearings and the thrust bearing stops all that. Hope this helps.

[Doozie870]

The real question (to me), is to stop the thrust at the motor (in some cases several inches from the transom), or to stop it at the strut. Keep in mind this is the drive point, or push for the hull.

[Mich. Maniac]

Perhaps both... good question. Specially when using flex shaft the binding or tightening it does could be helped with one at strut and also like you say the "push" point is at the strut. at the strut would be best. Maybe Jay Turner, or Darin Jordan would have some actuall answer to this to help. would also be a good one for tips and info portion.

[NorthernBoater]

Thanks for all the input. It was always been unclear to me what the function was for and what it prevented.

[motoxbob11]

The real question (to me), is to stop the thrust at the motor (in some cases several inches from the transom), or to stop it at the strut. Keep in mind this is the drive point, or push for the hull.

I have wondered about this exact question. If prop drive dog is a slightly behind the strut to avoid binding, where is the boat being pushed from? Where the prop is or the endbell of the motor? And does it make a difference??? It sure seems like it would.