Mercury Optimax Hubs

Selke79 · Post by **Selke79** » Sun Jun 07, 2020 5:57 pm

I have a 2006 Pro XS and when I was changing my gear oil I noticed the hub was basically falling apart. Specifically 4 plastic pieces had come loose. Some research led me to a discussion where people said you can glue or epoxy these “snubbers” back into place. Some said this was a common problem with that hub. Anyone else experience this? I’m wondering what caused it and if it’s an indication of a bigger problem. Thanks in advance!

gabuelhaj · Post by **gabuelhaj** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 5:14 am

Are you referring to the Flo-Torq hub? These are made of nylon material and can break down due to normal use of heat and fatigue depending on age. They are designed to protect the lower unit when involved with impacts. I don't believe they are serviceable so I wouldn't attempt to glue the pieces back together.... Should be inspected every year minimum and would be good to carry a spare.

Good luck!

drew · Post by **drew** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 7:40 am

Since it is a ProXs it has the high performance SST hub with rubber dampener strips. They always fall off. You can glue them on with 3m super weather stripping cement aka gorilla snot or use the 3m super duty double stick tape which is what I did.

Selke79 · Post by **Selke79** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:09 pm

gabuelhaj wrote:Are you referring to the Flo-Torq hub? These are made of nylon material and can break down due to normal use of heat and fatigue depending on age. They are designed to protect the lower unit when involved with impacts. I don't believe they are serviceable so I wouldn't attempt to glue the pieces back together.... Should be inspected every year minimum and would be good to carry a spare.

Good luck!

Thanks for the input. Here is a picture of the hub. Not sure if it's a flo torq or a flo torq 2.

Selke79 · Post by **Selke79** » Mon Jun 08, 2020 3:15 pm

drew wrote:Since it is a ProXs it has the high performance SST hub with rubber dampener strips. They always fall off. You can glue them on with 3m super weather stripping cement aka gorilla snot or use the 3m super duty double stick tape which is what I did.

Thanks for the advice. I ordered a new hub and will clean and glue the old one as a back up. Have you noticed that the 3M tape holds up quite a while?