Mirage Drive Rocking

I've been hearing this click since I started using adventure. I secure drive in as tightly as possible with knobs. And the think constantly loosens up.. I check it every half hour and usually have to tighten one up.

I took kayak out at night to try and pinpoint the noise source and detemined it was from the rocking of the drive---with the tabs on the spine tapping the hull-

My drive does not sit with all 4 contact points hitting at same time--only 3- which makes the drive rock. (The two metal contacts being the only two which are always in contact) I also think this constant motion is what it causing knobs to slip and loosen.

I placed some advesive rubber foam under tabs and the noise went away and the drive did not loosen after 4 hrs of pedaling.

Does anyone think the constant hammering of the the tabs on the hull is causing the cracking?

The contact points are designed to be a bit loose. The drive usually tips forward under load and that is it. I would not expect this to cause the cracking issue. Rather the drive slipping forward out from under the knobs is the most likely cause. You can pad the spine as you did to limit the tip. You can coat the inside of the hull (under the forward contact point) with shoe or marine goo. That would be the best insurance against a leak there. We should have a kit for this soon.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)