Gimbal Bearing Puller Installer Alignment Tool For Mercruiser Alpha Bravo MR OMC

Item Description

What this is

An aftermarket steel gimbal bearing service set for sterndrive work: a threaded puller/installer body with a base plate and T-handle, plus a two-piece engine-coupler alignment shaft. It is used to draw the old gimbal bearing out of the bell housing, to check that the engine coupler and the gimbal bearing line up, and to drive the new bearing home.

in plain terms

We opened the carton, photographed it and put it back. The tool was never unwrapped - it is still in the maker's moulded black foam channel with the steel parts sealed in bubble wrap. That means it has not been assembled, not fitted to an engine, not tested, not powered and not measured by us beyond weighing and measuring the closed carton.

The contents of the carton are not guaranteed. We have not counted the pieces by hand. The one supporting fact we can offer is weight: our scale reads 20 lb 1 oz for the closed carton against a published complete-kit weight of 19.81 lb, which is consistent with a complete kit but is not proof of one.

What the auction house said, and where we disagree with it

This came out of an auction lot. The auction's own attribute chips read Quality: New, Functional, No Damage, No Assembly Needed, In Package and No Missing Parts. We do not pass any of those chips on to you, and three of them are contradicted by the auction's own listing or by our own handling:

• "No Assembly Needed" - the manufacturer's own instructions show a three-step assembly (attach the base plate, insert the T-handle, screw the two alignment shaft halves together) before the tool can be used, and the auction's own description calls it a tool that "includes a working side and handle". The chip contradicts the listing it sits on.
• "No Missing Parts" - nobody could have checked this. The tool was still bubble-wrapped when we photographed it, and it still is.

Two further conflicts we will not paper over. The auction quoted an Estimated Retail of $129.99; the maker's own current list price for this exact item is $109.99, so we did not use the auction's retail figure for anything. And the auction's description calls this a "two-part tool", while the manufacturer's own photographs show at least eight separate components. We have followed the manufacturer's contents list below, and we still do not guarantee it.

Fitment - three sources, reproduced separately

The maker's own sources do not say quite the same thing, so here they are one at a time rather than merged:

• Manufacturer's compatibility graphic: MERCRUISER - Alpha, Alpha One, MR, Bravo. OMC - Cobra. VOLVO (no models named).
• Manufacturer's feature text: "Compatible with Volvo Mercruiser, OMC, and Cobra bell housings."
• The auction listing's description: "designed to remove and install bearings on Mercruisers, OMC, and Cobra Bell Housings" - Volvo is not mentioned at all.

All three agree on Mercruiser and on OMC Cobra bell housings. Volvo appears in two of the three and is never tied to a model number, so treat Volvo fitment as unconfirmed and check your own bell housing before you buy. We have deliberately left eBay's vehicle compatibility table empty rather than make a fitment claim we cannot stand behind on a drive-line part.

Manufacturer's published component list and sizes

These figures are the manufacturer's, not ours - we did not open the wrap to measure anything.

• Puller / installer body - 15.75 in overall, 7.63 in of thread
• T-handle drive rod - 17.31 in
• Alignment shaft, stepped half - 12.63 in, 0.88 in diameter
• Alignment shaft, knurled half - 12.31 in, 0.88 in diameter
• Slotted base plate - 7.06 in x 3.30 in
• Bearing driver cup - 3.38 in
• Locating pin - 3.19 in; hanging eyebolt - 2.19 in
• Material: steel, per the manufacturer

Weight and size

Our scale and tape on the closed carton: 20 lb 1 oz, 25 x 5 x 4 in. The manufacturer publishes 19.81 lb and 25.2 x 5.2 x 3.9 in; the auction's manufacturer data block says 19.85 lb. All three agree to within a quarter of a pound, and we ship on our own measured figure.

About the photographs

Every photograph in this listing is a manufacturer stock image. No photograph here shows this individual unit. The only two pictures that exist of it are our intake shots: one of the closed carton with its auction barcode label, and one of the carton opened onto foam and bubble wrap. Neither shows the tool, so neither is included. Nothing staged in the stock images beyond the components listed above is included - no bearing, no engine, no boat.

Aftermarket, not OEM

This is an aftermarket service tool sold under the brand VEPURLT. It is not a Mercury Marine, OMC or Volvo Penta product, we have seen no OEM markings on it, and it is offered here as a replacement tool only.

Specifications