Adding tilt and trim to 1979 vintage 55HP Johnson

cptdondo

Cadet
Joined
May 21, 2025
Messages
8
I have a 1979 55HP Johnson outboard. Runs great. But with the shallow lakes we have here I really need to add tilt/trim to the motor. How hard is it? I found several used units on FB Marketplace and Ebay but I'm a bit leery of the installation difficulty.
 

Harry1959

Cadet
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
25
I have the same old motor. I would like an answer too. I don't know if it matters, but trim was not a factory option on the 1979 55hp. I know one guy that mounted a CMC aftermarket trim unit to his 1979 55hp. I run across used ones on FB from time to time.
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
38,743
So many people are poorly informed.----Indeed a power trim / tilt 0172858 was an option for the 55 in 1979.----Post pictures of the ones found on E-bay.-----And they are easy to install.
 
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Harry1959

Cadet
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
25
I have never seen a 1979 55 Johnson with Trim and had no luck at all finding one with trim when I searched a few years back. I did read that the 55 didn't offer trim, I could have been misinformed, but again. I didn't find any factory trim of that model & HP back when I brought my old boat back to life. Found 2 local parts motors and neither had tilt & trim. I know 1979 50 &60 hp had trim option.
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 28, 2013
Messages
38,743
Trim was an " expensive " option in those days.-----Today you rarely see a big motor without trim.-----And you see 9.9 HP models with trim / tilt options.
 
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