Mirage Drive adjustment holes stripped and skipping.

Hi,
I have noticed other posts where the adjustment holes of the Mirage Drive have stripped. replacing the damaged part did not stop the adjustment pin from jumping out and continueing to skip over the adjustment holes. I too have stripped out the right side adustment holes and have sent the entire drive back to Hobie via my dealer. I beleive the stainless adjustment pin wears its' hole through the aluminum crank arm egg shaped, which lets the pin get out of perpindicular alignment with the adjustment hole.
I don't believe just replacing the plastic piece with the adjustment holes is going to be a good fix.
I think the crank arm/adjustment pin area of the aluminum crank arm has to be redesigned, maybe drilled out and a stainless liner pressed or glued in to keep the adjustment pin from wearing the aluminum hole in the crank egg shaped.
I noticed this by comparing the backward and forward slop between the pin and the crank arm of the right and left arms.
I am a big guy (60 yrs.) and use the turbo fins but, the problem arose after only about 10 hrs. of use.
Hope this helps for a fix... I looked, hope I didn't miss a fix in a prior post. Thanks, JIM

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2006 Outback SUV

now that i think of it, the old Mirage Drive units, which were made of cast metal, were stronger, and, the adjustment system was more foolproof (it had a locking latch instead of a handle) unfortunatley, it was a royal pain to change settings.

i have reverted to using the old pedal system, and have put turbo fins on it, i haven't tried it yet, but it should work better.

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If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it anyways!

Z

That happened to me also several months ago. It seems to occur if there is a gap between the drum (where the adjustment holes are located) and the crank arm, causing the adjustment pin to not fully seat into the drum.

If yours is still skipping, it doesn't sound like it's been fixed completely -- either you have a warped drum or a problem with your crank arm. You may want to take it back to the dealer and have him compare your Drive with another one -- have him check out that pin wobble while you're there.


I converted both my old drives to the current pin system -- much easier and faster adjustments and absolutely trouble free! You shouldn't have any problems by converting. You can also get some hole-numbering decals for easy hole identification.

unfortunatley, i only have one old mirage drive, does anyone know if you can still buy them (the old ones) anywhere???

thanks

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If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it anyways!

Z

Many parts are still available for your old drive. To buy an old drive, you can check e-bay, advertise here on the forum, or buy an older boat used and resell it with the newer drive. You also have to know what you're buying. For instance, there are aluminum as well as plastic frames with stainless sprockets. Condition is important. You can also convert your new drive to stainless sprockets. The conversion requires several parts though, like bushings, sprocket guards and cotter pins.

Any overly cautious use on the newer Drives is, IMO, is a disservice to yourself. The new drives have had some problems, but they haven't been that common. There are a couple of areas where they are superior to the older drives, like solving the chain skipping issue. If your new drive is still under warranty, you're much better off using it if there is a choice -- if there are any problems, you can get them fixed under warranty!

My new drive has been excellent lately. I use the Turbo fins 22 to 28 miles per week and push them hard -- sprints, boat wakes, etc, they get no concessions! The Drive, adjusted and lubed, runs just as smoothly as the old ones -- like soft butter. Most importantly, it gets inspected after each outing; problems are pretty easy to spot before they happen in most cases (once you know what to look for). Mast mounts for your fins and adjustment holes on your drums typically show wear well ahead of any failure. That's the best time to address the problems. Truly spontaneously failures can happen, but they are pretty rare.

Check the kayak FAQ section here for more maintenance / adjustment info:
http://www.hobiecat.com/community/viewforum.php?f=21

thanks for all the advice, i just have one more question, is it possible to get one of the new units with aluminum frames? they seem to work better than the plastic ones...

thanks

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If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it anyways!

Z

I decided to use stainless washers, bolts, and lock nuts and make a more permanent arraignment. After all, once you set the peddles there should not be any further need to adjust them.

This set up prevents the pin from sliding out, or causing an the hole to become oblong.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7 ... mzFizcN2Ng
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7 ... mzFizcN2Ng

The aluminum frames have been gone for a long time. I don't know why you'd want one though, except for nostalgic reasons. As you can see, the newer composite frames are more corrosion resistant, more robust, more streamlined and (unlike the aluminum frames) will accommodate the pitot tube speedometer, which I consider an indispensable instrument for pacing as well as detecting tides and currents. Consequently, though my old drives operate flawlessly, I regularly use the new model.


In my experience, both frames are 100% reliable. Any Drive problems that I've read about have nothing to do with the frame.

unless you only have two boats and a three person fanily

i swich off with my parents (even though it's usualy just my dad and i that use the islanders) sometimes friends, family... want to use them...

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If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it anyways!

Z

My drive broke yesterday the same as others in this post. I looked at it and found a gap between the drum where the adjustment holes are located and the crank arm, causing the adjustment pin to not fully seat into the drum as Roadrunner states. I sent my dealer a e-mail with pictures asking to replace the drum.

I noticed others mentioned that it was the right side that skipped> mine is also right side???

My question to this group is should I asked for a new drum and replace it myself or should I ask for the entire drive to be replaced? I can replace the drum myself but am now wondering if the crank might be twisted.

I have the ST fins on this drive but not over 10-15 hours as I spend a lot of time on the rivers. I don't use the drive in the rivers (too shallow).

It looks like we're all right footed!

From what I understand, this was likely caused by a warped drum. Take a look at your left drum while you're at it and make sure there is no heaving or stress marks. With the drum off you can check the frame against a straight edge, but it should be fine. The Drive consists of over 75 parts, so I suspect it is appropriate just to replace what's broken.

If the dealer has a shop and a good technition, you might want to ask him to replace the part and adjust the drive, but if you're handy, you may prefer to do it yourself.

Thanks for the info Roadrunner.
I will take a close look at it. I have two drives as I have two Hobies. One thought I had was to put a cable tie around the crank to hold it against the drum. If I needed to adjust (for someone else to use) I could cut the tie and put another one on later.

I'm not sure what the dealer has for a shop or technician but I will be finding out.

If that zip tie doesn't work out for you, you might try a bolt (close to the pin diameter as possible) to keep things from slipping until your new part arrives.

i know that everyone's saying the new adjustment system is foolproof, but i still want to try and find the old style latches... from the really old drives, they mar have been harder to change, but they stayed in no matter what...

if anyone knows where to get these, or if hobie still sells them, please speak up...

the nice thing about them, is that they lock closed, but are still adjustable (with some effort) and don't restrict pedal setting changes to home beach...

thanks

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If it isn't broken, take it apart and fix it anyways!

Z