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Random Quote: Patty Hearst heard the burst from Roland's Thompson gun, and bought it.
I knowmany of you are familiar with some of the bad press that has been posted about Luhrs on a number of boating-related websites, including this one. To paraphrase some of the negative comments, it was stated by some boat owners that Luhrs management did not take sufficient care of them. My posting here is in no way an attempt to minimize the problems that any other Luhrs owner may have experienced, but rather to state how my own experiences with Luhrs have gone.
I purchased my 2004 Luhrs 38 Open from a local dealer in March 2006 as the first owner, getting a very good deal on the boat and new electronics. The boat had been used as a demo by my dealer and another dealer before them, and it had 150 hours on each engine when I took delivery. During our initial inspection, there were a number of "punch-out" list items, many of which were taken care of in a timely manner by the dealer. Some did take considerably longer than others, but most were completed satisfactorily.
The second time my wife and I took the boat underway, we were powering up to get on plane, when we heard a clunk, and the engine synchronizer disengaged. I powered down and after testing the transmissions, discovered that there was no propulsion from the port side. As a former outboard motor owner, I didn't know what was wrong, suspecting that there was a problem with the transmission. We returned to the dock, and got it into the slip (with some difficulty). We had a diver check, and he took pictures of our shaft that had no prop on the end. The shaft had snapped at 160 hours. During my phone conversations with the dealer, where he accused me of hitting something and explained that Luhrs didn't cover running gear, I explained very patiently that we hit nothing, and that Luhrs SHOULD cover the repair as I had done nothing wrong. To make this part of a long story short, Luhrs stepped up to the plate, and they paid for everything; the haul out, the on-the-hard storage, the TWO new shafts (a crack was discovered under the hub of the starboard wheel), a new prop for the port side, and the labor.
Roll the clock forward almost two years. Now I have on the engines almost 500 hours (340 hours I put on them since the shaft broke last time), and I'm heading out on a Saturday morning with a group of friends in early February to try for some striper. Upon powering up outside my inlet to get up on plane, I hear a clunk, the synchronizer disengages, and I power down. At this point, I knew EXACTLY what had happened, did an about face, and headed back for my slip. I was able to put it into the slip with MUCH MORE confidence and tied the boat up. I dropped an underwater video camera over the stern, and got confirmation that my port shaft had again snapped, and the wheel was gone. I contacted my dealer that day, and they contacted Luhrs on Monday. By Thursday, Customer Service at Luhrs was asking me where I wanted my two new shafts and new wheel shipped. No arguments, no fuss, no muss.
Even when I had to take my dealer off the case as far as completing the repair, Customer Service at Luhrs was extremely supportive. They covered the haul out and labor in addition to the two new shafts and new screw. This on a boat that I had purchased just shy of two years previously. Obviously there was an issue with the two sets of shafts that failed on my boat. But Luhrs recognized the problem, and got for me two new shafts from a different manufacturer, and I have been assured that there will be no more problems with these shafts on my boat.
With all the Luhrs-bashing out there, I wanted to relay my own story of how they supported me with my boat. My dealings with Luhrs corporate on these two occasions, as well as on a couple of other issues, have all been very satisfactory. Luhrs Customer Service has taken very good care of me. I for one, based upon my own personal experiences, would not hesitate to recommend Luhrs as a manufacturer to anyone. And before anyone comments, I am not, nor have I ever been, an employee of Luhrs. I am not receiving any compensation for these unsolicited comments. I am a satisfied customer.
I believe the failure happened in the same place (on all four shafts) is because the head of the keyway is where the majority of the stresses get focused. That's where the crack(s) begin and work their way through the shaft until it snaps when sufficient torque is applied. I have been assured by Luhrs and the (different) shaft manufacturer that the material used in these new shafts (22 grade) is harder than what was used before. The manufacturer of these shafts also assure me that their process for machining ensures that there is a better application of stresses throughout the shaft.
I am VERY lucky it occurred where it did as I was just outside my inlet on both occasions, and was able to get back home unassisted in a short period of time. I don't know what I would have done if it had happened offshore. I do carry an EPIRB, but unless sea conditions were bad and forecasted to get worse, I probably would have just taken a VERY LONG time to get in.
I feel your story has both positives and negatives aspects. Luhrs did screw by probably cutting corners and giving you cheap shafts to begin with, which is pretty bad. However, I guess they have stepped up and finally replaced the shafts with the right ones.
__________________ Jeremy
2004 38 Henriques convertible
An EPIRB is only used in a real emergency. A call to a towing service would be more appropriate.
I'm happy to hear that Luhrs stepped up for you. It's good to hear that they have some money to spend. I figured that given the current boat market they wouldn't have any money to spend and would fight you all the way.
What CMP said. I cannot beleive they did not realign after the first snap. Most new inboards should be realigned after the first 100 hours. This is typically a dealers responsibilty to inform the buyer. This exact same thing happened to friends 06 Carolina Classic . 10k later he got his boat fixed and neither the dealer or mfg. stepped into help. Not a big Luhrs fan but nice of them to fix it twice.
__________________ "God is not our side because he hates idiots" TGB and U
"There are 2 kinds of people in this world those with guns and those who dig..........you dig"
Yes, I would want to know the cause. Its nice Luhrs stepped up but you really need to be sure everything is done so this does not happen again. I am not an inboard engine kind of guy but that does not sound like a frequent event and for you to have happen twice in 300+ hours, something is wrong.
__________________ "I'm suing the THT and the guy that made it."
The shafts were aligned both with the boat on the hard, and in the water after 48+ hours floating. The alignment was done after my first replacement (two years ago) and this go round. Not sure about before I owned the boat.
The struts are just forward of the wheels (within 6 - 8 inches is my guess), and I'm guessing that my problem was not strut related.
The boat's original shafts and the first replacements were from the same manufacturer, and were as I understand it made of a material equivalent to Aquamet 19. These new shafts are from a different manufacturer, and are Aquamet 22. From the Boatdiesel.com website, the prop shaft calculator gives me a safety factor of 5 with 2" shafts, 500 HP engines through a 2:1 transmission and Aquamet 22 material.
I'm hoping that this is my last shaft-related incident.
I suppose calling this a "good news story" is all relative. I am impressed by your tolerance of their apparent poor workmanship, and I am happy that things have been corrected to your satisfaction. That being said, I won't be running to the Luhr's dealer anytime soon.
Read the thread that Ghostship provided --- send a private message to Jags --he seems well aware of issue (he is not involved with Luhrs but knows some people that are) I am very happy they took care of you !! The one thing I have learned from my situation --- Do not take Luhrs word for anything -- Hire someone that YOU pay and trust to look at it. If you let Luhrs control everything you may end up with a "band-aid" and not a correction of the problem --- Good Luck
grunthunter - 5/19/2008 2:53 PM
I suppose calling this a "good news story" is all relative. I am impressed by your tolerance of their apparent poor workmanship, and I am happy that things have been corrected to your satisfaction. That being said, I won't be running to the Luhr's dealer anytime soon.
As Luhrs didn't manufacture the shafts, I have no qualms about the (boat's) workmanship (the orignal and first replacement shafts are another story). The good news is that they stood by their product (the boat) and resolved my issue that was caused by their "subcontractor" (the shaft manufacturer).
Believe me, I was a VERY UNHAPPY camper when the shaft broke the second time. I was fully prepared to go to General Quarters with Luhrs, but was glad that I didn't have to. Also, with this interaction, and others with a number of other companies (not neccesarily boat related), I've found that I often get the results I want to see by being pleasant, calm, and logical.
When people get ugly early on, more often than not, the other party whether right or wrong dig in their heels and the results are not favorable for the consumer. Just my opinion.
Mr Sunshine, I'm glad that Luhrs (for a number of reasons), allowed me to have my mechanic do the shaft replacement and wheel installs. I trust my mechanic did the job right.
I also used the boatdiesel.com shaft calculator and confirmed the safety factor is 5 for my current shafts, and was 4 for the previous ones. I truly do NOT want to have to go though this again.
BTW, I did read the other thread, both today and when it was "active." I'm one of the boats that was mentioned early on.
Believe me -- I was pleasant, calm, and logical for more than a year with Luhrs (read my post on the first 2 pages of the other thread). The issues you have with the 38/40 Luhrs are not even close to the problems with 41 owners. As I said --I hope you have the problem corrected.
Good news story??? Good news would be I didn't break my shafts because Luhrs didn't cut corners and use cheap shafts or I broke my shaft once then Luhrs decided to use the more expensive and correct shafts. Instead of after I broke my second shaft Luhrs was so great to pay to fix them.
I guess when your buying a price point boat and know it up front you just plan on this stuff happening and expectations are lower.
A Luhrs Good News Story 
