REPLACING the TRIM UNIT

[Iamonia]

Recently, my trim unit started to go out. It unexpectedly started acting slow and erratic before it finally quit. However, thanks to MB, Glen, and my dealer team.....Todd Browning and Chad LeCompte...... I soon received another unit and did the replacement. A++ customer service all the way! The older "Bear" unit was replaced with the more reliable "Thompson" unit, and I beleive I now have even more range of "throw" or trim on the unit both up and down. The replacement is easy to do. While I was at it, I thought that I'd snap a few pics for a "installation tips summary".

I unpacked the box and inspected the contents to be sure that I had what I needed. My motor is a stock HD35 Lite, and the new trim unit required new stainless slides to be installed which were included. Also in the box were new electrical connectors and a nice piece of heavy duty heat shrink tubing to replace the one that I had to cut off the existing wire harness.

I started by disconnecting the starting battery, carefully cut away the old heat shrink around the wire harness connectors, and disconnected the connectors.

[Iamonia]

Next, carefull pry the rubber grommet out of the hole on the side of the motor mount, pull the old unit wire leads from the hole, and cut the wire ties that hold the harness inside on the pivot.

[Iamonia]

Next, remove the top bolt that holds the trim unit on its inside mount. Lower the unit, and then remove the lower bolt and the lower trim unit bracket assembly. Watch the bushings and washers, as they will fall out as you remove the lower trim unit bracket . Remove the "stop" cushion. (steel tube with rubber insert).

[Iamonia]

To remove and replace the slides, you may have to remove the slide mount bracket from the motor mount in order to get your socket wrench in place on the left side/ left slide. I had to do this. This is easy and only takes a few minutes.

[Iamonia]

By comparison, the new unit (bottom of first pic) is longer and the new slides (bottom of second pic) are configured slightly different to accomodate the new unit length.

Now, simply reinstall in the reverse order. Be extra careful when feeding the new wire harness back through its grommet hole so that the harness does not get pinched when the unit is raised or lowered. You will need to feed the wire through the hole first and then slide the grommet onto the wire before gently pressing it back into the hold. I used a large flat blade screw driver to do this. Use new wire ties to secure the harness to the pivot, carefully replace the grommet, slide the new piece of heat shrink tubing on the harness (do this before making the connections!!), make the connections, and secure the heat shrink tubing over the connectors. New unit pictured installed in third picture.

[Iamonia]

A couple of more suggestions..... save your back and get yourself a chair! ....... and a good spray lube/cleaner while you are at it. My motor has less than 12 hours on it, but most of that has been in salt water. I started spraying down the entire motor early on with Deep Creep, and the stainless parts still look 95% or better. The bolt in the pic. is the top trim unit mounting bolt and it did have some surface rust, but it had never had a good spray down. I let it soak in Deep Creep while I was working on the rest of the removal/replacement, wiped it clean, and reinstalled it. All the other hardware pretty much has had multiple prior applications of Deep Creep and looked great. It does a good job and even leaves an light oily film after application that stays on for a good while.

[NCorley]

Very nice! Thanks for the instructions - I'm in the same situation with my trim. Micah is sending me a new one as I'm still under warranty. Thanks for posting the pics and info, I will replace mine as soon as it arrives.

[Iamonia]

Originally Posted by NCorley

Very nice! Thanks for the instructions - I'm in the same situation with my trim. Micah is sending me a new one as I'm still under warranty. Thanks for posting the pics and info, I will replace mine as soon as it arrives.

You're welcome. It's easy and really no pics would be needed. I didn't have anything better to do last Saturday, so I took a 20 minute task and turned it into about 2 plus hours with taking pictures!