i have a prodrive 36hp fpr with manual trim thats about a year an a half old. about three weeks ago noticed when the motor was trimmed all the way up it wasnt as high as it once was, and when trimmed all the way down it was way down. took the motor back to paul at illowa,great people by the way, and he told me the control arms were bent and almost broken, which he said was very rare. it was a quick 15 minute fix and covered under warranty, so no big deal. that was two weeks ago. ive had the rig on the water three times since then, straight river running, no mud, logs, or stumps. noticed today the rpms werent as high as normal when trimmed all the way up,so when i pulled out of the water i looked at the control arms. it looks like they are bent again. since i havent hit anything on the water, i dont know if its a trailering issue or what. i run a strap from one side of the transom across the motor under the tension knob, and to the other side of the transom. then trim the motor up a few cranks. thats the way one of the crew at illowa told me a few weeks ago. now, im not bad mouthing the motor in any way, but seeing as paul is two and a half hours away from my house, and duck season is close, i dont want to be jacking with a broken motor. anybody ever have this problem, or does anyone have any idea whats up. thanx guys.

Never heard/seen of this and I have pulled my hull over 10,000 miles.
Post up a pic if you can. Also were are you located?

never seen that happen before. either ur putting way too much tension on it while trailering or u are pounding the crap out of it on logs and stuff.

it ain't supposed to bend.


i do know if u attach the strap from boat trailer-around motor- then boat trailer , u will tear it up just like u mentioned when boat moves around on trailer.


i don't strap the motor at all. works for me.


good luck.

We Recomend a tarp strap around tiller and anchored to bottom of boat to take shock out Trailer hitting bumps, feeding into boat and motor seems to help smooth out ride over rough roads.

If you attaching the motor to the chain & hook and then strapping the lower unit down to the trailer tight then all the force from the bounce is bending that bar towards the rear as mentioned. I strap mine down from the front to the bottom of the boat like DE posted. Also use trailer straps to tied down the boat to the trailer so they move together. If your boat hangs over the trailer bunks at the transom you could damage the bottom of your boat bouncing that much too if your load weight and Axel spring weight is mismatched.