Lutefisk:
I had a squeaking sound from my mirage drive for a couple trips out. I thought the cables were either too tight or too loose. So I adjusted them once, twice, three times, still squeaking. I finally put my ear up to the drive and found the squeak coming from the inside bearings. So I tore apart the drive and found that the bearings had been so dry that the plastic pieces had wore down (pict below). I ordered up 15 new plastic bearings for the front end of the spine and I am going into Portland today to pick them up. I was thinking that I would grease up all of the bearings used inside the spine with marine quality grease (pict below). Good idea? Bad idea? Do people just spray a WD40 type lubricant up in the bearings? The Hobie Owners Manual recommends using a lubricant on the chain cables only. So maybe this is a warranty issue? Anybody have any other recommendation?
hdpwipmonkey:
I was hearing a grinding noise from my MD180 drive so I tore it down and saw a lot of sand in with those needle bearings. They had grease on them and all the sand from beaching my kayak with the drive in had made its way in there and was grinding away at the plastic. I cleaned all the greasy sandy stuff off and and put a thin layer of grease back on (more to help hold the bearings in place than anything) and put it all back together. Just realize if you use grease it will hold onto sand and grime and you'll have to be vigilant on doing your drive maintenance.
INSAYN:
I would suggest not using grease, but instead a good dose of silicon spray. I will dry leaving a slick surface void of squeaks and won't attract sand. 8)
Shin09:
Recently noticed a squaking form my MD180 drive and found this thread through a search. How did you feel about taking your MD180 spline apart? I know hobie says not to....