will be putting on my boat this fall. who sells the best system for the buck? fit and finish always a plus. what system rates the best in your minds.... tia mark
Need a little more info, single drive?Bravo?XR? Do you want to go full hydraulic? Or just an add-on. If just an add on do you want a single cylinder or dual cylinder?
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There are no cons with hydraulic steering. Even the price makes sense after a few years of use, because of the reduced wear on the gimbal and steering bushings, saves you a trip to the workshop. I´ve run my boat with an Imco dual ram system for 200 hours (hard and fast, 25 foot boat running 80 mph) and there is absolutely no slack, no vertical or lateral wear whatsoever in the drive.
I chose Imco, and am 100% satisfied.
Dual ram is good because the support of the drive is symmetrical.
If you have only external hydraulics, you will still have the slack of the cable to the helm, but it is less apparent because the rams dampen the feedback from the drive.
Go the extra 1500$ and the full hydraulic to helm will just blow your mind (and have you wondering how you coped before).
Contrary to what I have seen on some other systems, the steering is light to operate, both at speed and at idle.
Boat will fishtail less in no wake zones, and hold its course at speed, with no correction at the wheel.
What may seem strange at first (with full hydraulic) is that the center position wanders with every correction on the wheel.
Fit a symmetrical wheel and forget about it.
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Stephen Murkett
`03 25 Outlaw, HP600SCi,
XR upper, Imco 2" shorty lower
Imco 12" x 3" extension box
& full hydraulic steering
EMI 24" tabs,
labbed Bravo 32"
Hardin, IMCO, Zeiger and others all have some great products.
I have NEVER heard of someone installing external steering and saying that they wish they had not.
I have a single ram Hardin (Mayfair) on my X-18. It is an add on. I like it and will probably upgrade it to full later. For now it does the trick on my little 70 or so mph boat. I am very pleased with it. It totally eliminated my chine walk. I did not need anything exotic and this worked great
I have an IMCO full hydraulic twin ram on the 26ZX. I am very happy with it as well. This boat is fast and really needs to full setup.
I would recommend either of these products.
I have noticed that most are going to a wing plate setup. Hardin has developed a very cool looking wing plate.
Mayfair byHardin Marines latest new Modular Wing plate Add-on steering system.This wing plate steering mount design incorporates dual side links and a single rear load cap that bolt together forming a strong bridge like cradle. The rear load cap bolts to and captures the outdrives rear end cap while the side links attach to the outdrives four mounting points at the Gimbal housing. This system eliminates the need to drill and tap your existing out drive for additional fastners like the current end cap systems sold today (Voiding Factory warranties). Best of all there is no disassembly of your outdrives rear end cap (again voids factory warranties) and these new systems fit all generations of Bravo outdrives including the new "Slope Back" style as well as come in different widths for multiple different transom applications. Buy the whole kit and you'll receive the one piece SS thru-hulls, polished SS rams, pre-made SS braided lines and SS fittings and more.
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