Detwiler Hydro plate?

So far I have run into…….. 1. You may gall some bolts up on your transom removing them. Figure the hardest one to get to and change anyway..which I did, the one behind the battery lower so I had to cut it off which was no big deal but finding a 1/2 bolt stainless 4 1/2 inches long fine thread local was not possible, had to use a course thread. 2. The motor to jackplate will require 4 new 2 inch by 20 1/2 stainless bolts that will be installed from the outside in. Check for clearance once they are on but those bolts will not come with the Jack Plate or did not with mine. (read directions carefully ahead of time will prepare you for any hardware you might be missing. Also wiring the front to back green and white stripe and blue and white stripe will have spade connectors on one end and butt connections on the other. Directions show that as well. I had to convert one end to connect them. I have a call into Detwiler to see why. May be that some have to make extensions on their boats which will allow for use of both???? 3. Fishing the wires is a whole lot of fun. But you can do it with some patience 4. BIGGEST issue…I sent payment on the 20th of May and I did not receive the Jack Plate until Yesterday the 21st of June. Detwiler has an issue getting these BCB style Jack Plates if they do not have them on the shelf ahead of time. The company that makes it for them is small and if they get tied up you might have to wait awhile to get it. I had to make numerous calls on it, it appears that Detwiler is at the mercy of this manufacturer. This is the All in One with the Ex-zact dial… I will let you know about performance when I get it back on the water….Seems to be good quality and not a hard job but it can take a guy the good part of a 1/2 day to finish it all off if you stay on it steady.. The Ex-zact dial seems to be the cats meow. It is very sensitive as to change so just a small change so even a small change between numbers the JP reacts quickly. All up and running will test on the water this week…..Last edited by Mark5795 on June 22nd, 2009, 1:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

1. Instructions say to grease the 2 rams left and right BEFORE you install the outboard. OK so in talking with Detwiler they tell me that it comes all greased. Of course this is after I have followed directions and greased it. I did not see any grease on the rams prior to my greaasing and it says it might take as many as 12-13 pumps to fill. I used water resistant grease and a HAND grease gun and it took about 10-12 pumps before I felt any resistance. I would not suggest an air operated grease gun..My hope is that I didnt blow any seals. How can you grease before the outboard is put on if it comes greased to begin with…will have to keep an eye on that. 2. Being one to always check fluids before operation I SLOWLY removed hydraulic pump fill cap which released some air which would be normal but then got a splash of fluid before I could get the cap back on. It is a tight access to the pump fill cover and even with the front of my trailer all the way to the floor the jack plate does not sit completely 90 degrees to the floor. I am going to see what it looks like in the water but my fear is the pump will be under water so I am not sure how I can check the fluid without losing some and Detwiler says it doesnt take too much to begin with. So check it before you mount it and figure a way to monitor it from there.3. BCB seems to support the Mercury theory of 90 ft lbs for the outboard to Jack Plate bolts. I tightend mine to this spec even though Detwiler suggests 70 ft lbs which seems loose. Here it is a bit tricky. Detwiler wants you to install these bolts with the nuts on the inside and you have to on the bottom in order to get them in the holes and for clearance purposes inside the ram area of the Jack plate. BUT and this is a big But….then you cant get a 1/2 drive torque ratchet with socket on the nuts and they should be torqued on the nut side. So keep that in mind and adapt accordingly…I installed my top two from the inside out. Bottom ones were torqued with some creative thought. 4. I suggest you put your Jack Plate on your transom and tighten your bolts and leave them for a while and go back and torque them. You will find they will be looser then you thought you left them. Check them good and use high quality silicone on install of the Jack Plate. 5. On my boat I had to move the motor up a hole, I measured pad to prop shaft before I started to have a reference with motor full down and then after install I had to check if motor could trim beyond the tilt mark and it could not full down so I moved it up a hole and now I still get pad height but good clearance on the trim well into the tilt. I might still be thinking of putting a stop on it so as to not risk over tilt of the motor. 6. Stainless bolts are interesting the way they are identified. I suggest figuring out where you can get your hardware in advance. I ended up using the Grade 5 (F593C Series) if you will stainless which are around 100-150 KSI replacing the 304 series that are 85-100 KSI. You can get specialezed bolts if you want which have a wax coating and will not gall as easily. The plate comes with brass nylon locking nuts and it is recommended using those for your nuts with large stainless washers. 7. Almost forgot this one. Detwiler has a gray harness one of two that installs from the console to the rear of the boat. This one has spade connectors on both ends and runs a green and blue wire to the rear main harness to match up with a green with white and blue with white stripe. That one on the main harness has butt connectors on the end. This is also how it is shown in the instructions. You WILL have to cut one or the other and convert to the same to connect them. Now remember this is with the Ex-Zact dial so other set ups might come differently but it is not a mistake, that is how the directions and the wiring comes. I hope to have it on the water Thursday night and will let you know how it performs. Hopefully I have posted enough info on my install so that anyone that does this can be completely prepared when they start…..Last edited by Mark5795 on June 24th, 2009, 2:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

That is what was shipped with the plate and the seller sent a set as well with same. They are referenced as bronze and are copper or bronze in color so I can only assume they are such. In defense these nuts were sent for the transom mount in both cases but I assume it is the same issue there? I was able to reuse my transom bolts as this boat is very new and only one had to be cut off. The repalcement on the transom got the regular stainless nylon nut assuming that is the correct one to use? Thanks BCB for clarification……….