1997 Voyager trim tab planes

[SteveM]

Hello All,

I am staying busy trying to work the bugs out of my recently acquired 97 Voyager and one of the issues I have discovered is that my trim planes appear to be cupped and bent/ warped
The warping/ bent is bad enough that when fully raised, the planes remain below the planing surface of the hull and do so unevenly.
My planes are 12 x 8 1/2 which I do not see readily available for purchase at any of the multitude of vendors I have searched. I see 12 x 9's available, but I am not sure if I can use a 12 x 9 without altering my actuator mounting.
I am confident that my situation is not a first and am hoping someone here can offer some insight.
Thank you for any direction you may be able to offer.

An after thought...12 x 8 1/2 seems small for a 24ft, 4050lbs hull.

Steve

 

[seasick]

They do seem small for the hull. There are two approaches to the issue: Buy a new kit with the recommended size tabs or do a cheap fix to the old system.
If the bent tabs are curved outward, the center sticks out past the hinge and end sides, it may be that the hinges are binding. You can tell by unbolting the actuator and trying to manually move the tabs. If you cant, you can remove the tabs and try to free up the hinge. If than works you can then carefully straighten the tabs. Other than your time, some 4200 or similar sealant and probably a few new bolts, you can run the boat and see how the tabs perform without spending a lot of money.

 

[DennisG01]

Hello All,

I am staying busy trying to work the bugs out of my recently acquired 97 Voyager and one of the issues I have discovered is that my trim planes appear to be cupped and bent/ warped
The warping/ bent is bad enough that when fully raised, the planes remain below the planing surface of the hull and do so unevenly.
My planes are 12 x 8 1/2 which I do not see readily available for purchase at any of the multitude of vendors I have searched. I see 12 x 9's available, but I am not sure if I can use a 12 x 9 without altering my actuator mounting.
I am confident that my situation is not a first and am hoping someone here can offer some insight.
Thank you for any direction you may be able to offer.

An after thought...12 x 8 1/2 seems small for a 24ft, 4050lbs hull.

Steve

That's an odd one that I haven't heard of before. Maybe a pic would better show what's going on - before going down the replacement road. Meaning, maybe it's not as bad as you think. It would also help us in regards to what Seasick said about just fixing them.

Yes, the tabs are generally smaller than the "spec charts", but they'll still be very effective -- and pretty normal for what's put on production boats. I had tabs of 11-1/2" square on a larger/heavier boat and they were quite effective. That said, bigger wouldn't hurt - and span is more important than chord.

How much room do you have for more span?

Talk to Bennett directly - not vendors.

But, you shouldn't have to move the actuator attachment point on the transom to install bigger (especially only slightly bigger) tabs. However, it's hard to say without pictures.

 

[SteveM]

Thank you both...I will work on pics today.