Hammer drunk at low speed
 

We traded our Fountain this past Christmas for a 2000 Baja Hammer with a 454 mag and Bravo 1. My question is why at a low speed like idleing through a no wake zone the boat pulls from side to side BAD. You actually have to drive the crap out of this thing. I have never seen a boat do this. I have tried trimming motor different and the trim tabs. I am running a 24p 4 blade. I have known this boat since 2001 and it had drove like this since then. Is it just a hammer thing or is there something I can do to correct this?

Thanks,

Not sure what causes it but mine does the same thing.

Its called the deep V wobbles.

most do it,

My 30 with twins did it. I had to constantly turn the wheel.

My 99 does the same, its a pain...

In pleasure boats, B3's cure most of it with the CR props. 4 blades also do a pretty good job at slow speeds, and tabs can help. Have you played with the tabs at all to see if it does help?

might try trimming up the drive a bit. It always helped mine some.

Speed up,:eek::party-smiley-004:

Actually in all honesty, I think it is bow steering at slow speed, try trimming drive up??

most single engine v hulls hunt at idle speed, helps if you get a lot of seat time, and can somewhat predict when it is going to turn

Tabs all the way down will help keep my 24OL straight.

Thanks for all the suggestions Yea I guess I need some more seat time with it. I have only had this boat out 2 times for total of 3 times about 6hrs total. The 24 Fountain I had when you were idling through a no wake zone I could point to where I wanted to go and raise the hatch up get a drink lower the hatch light a Cig and never have to touch the wheel. I guess thats why the Baja has a cooler with in reach of the driver. :)

The key is to find the center point and just let it do its thing. Once you find the center point, it will go a little left, a little right and you'll be fine.

Makes it worse if you add more steering input.

seat time is the cure......have my 26 down to a science

Seat time is the best cure, like most people hear said. The small single engine Bajas with big motors, and light bows are the worst.

The best way to avoid this is to predict the hunt (wobble) with very small steering imputs. If you are turning the wheel more than 1/4 turn, you are probably making it worse. As the boat just starts to hunt left, give it a 1/8 turn to the right, and just as the boat reacts, thats when you imput another 1/8 turn to the left, and so on. You just have to stay ahead of it.

XT:cool:

A combination of this quote and the previous is a good start only thing to add is patience. in other words yes the boat is going to keep doing it but just be aware of the how it handles and you can anticipate this. i.e. as it vears left slowlllyyyyyyyy turn to the right. as it starts changing slowlllyyyyy start turning back into it. The better half hates it as well as thats when I let her drive:drink:

My H2X does the same thing, I do as smitty said and find the center point and leave it alone.

X2. Also knowing what propulsion does will help. I see a lot of people steering side to side to try and correct it, but when you do that, you're just making it worse. When I had my 25' OL I'd keep it on the center point and let it go. Once I learned that then I never had to mess with trying to steer left to right.

Well I havent been able to take it out much maybe twice. The other week I was doing some cleaning and maint. on it and when I walked behind the boat I grabbed the lower unit when I was walking by and it moved. I then grabbed the lower unit and can move it from side to side a few inches with out the steering wheel moving. Guess that might have something to do with this problem. Has anyone else ever noticed this on their boat?

BINGO

They will wander but I think you have found the number one issue as to why you have a DRUNK boat as you describe it.

That is really not safe and you should get to the root of the problem soon.

Steering or gimbal most likely.

Good luck

time to order the merc repair kit, also as long as your back there,, good time to do bellows as well

How tight should this be on the boat?

Without hydraulic steering it may move a total from one side to the other of 1/4 inch. With hydraulic steering maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch.

You just have a lot of wear and its time to rebuild the transom assembly.

Good luck

i just dont touch the wheel. mine weaves back and forth a little but never looses its course. i would have huge arms if i tried to steer out of it. but i have yet to have a boat that didnt do it. crestliner, wellcraft, forester, maxum. all did it

Last year the motor was out to replace the clutch plate. It came apart when the last owner was about 10 ft from the dock. Wont go into foward or reverse. All of that was replaced along with a new gimble bearing. The guy that did the work use to work on Fountains race boats and talking with him and seeing some of his work I feel that everything was done correct. I guess I need to check the steering out, anything ideas off of the top of your head what it could be in the steering?

This is when it sucks only being around home on the weekends. I can't run out to the shop and play in the evenings.

To eliminate one, I would grab the steering arm inside the boat and check that for play. That should be perfectly tight, if not, its time to start a project.

This is depressing as my new to me boat has this to some extent. I'll have to have it checked out.

Most will do this.. I find the center point and it will hunt left to right a bit but leave it do its thing.. Its anoying and you want to correct it but it will just over react. better to find center and let it do its thing.. takes some getting use to.

I dont know but full hydrolic steering might help... there could be some play in the steering. I am installing a new 600hp engine this week in my 24 outlaw and will need new steering.
Will let you know after a sea trial if the hydrolic steering corrects this problem.

Happy boating !

:evilb:

well I finally got back to the house and got to look at this. It seems that the piston is what actually has the extra play in it. I got inside of the boat and had someone move the out drive from side to side while I watched inside to find the play and it is in the piston. Everything else feels tight. I have done some looking and cant find anyway to adjust this. Does that mean it is time to replace the piston? I am going to try and remove it this weekend and see if there is anything I can do to tightnen this, I was hoping someone might have some experience with this and could help me out. When I looked in the Bravo 1 manual I have the later style power steering not earlier.

Thanks,

After furture reseach on the internet and reading some articles sounds like there might be air in the system. Does this sound right?