Ted;

How is the assist system? I have been told by others on this board that the steering gets hard to turn when at idle, so docking can become a problem. I was on my boat today, the hole measures 4 1/4" x 17" , just barely enough to squeeze in the control unit. I am not willing to make any cuts either to the dash or to the interior for access. I feel it can be done, but it wont be easy. The half system would be no problem to do, but I just want to be sure that I will be happy with it.

I'm almost positive you cannot fit the full hydrolic system on your boat. It could have been installed when they were building the boat. They would install it before they bonded the deck and hull. At first I had a hard time turning the wheel at idle. I talked to imco, they were the ones who told me to drill out the orifice in the pump. It was very easy and it worked, one hand turns the wheel at idle. Without the fill hydrolic you have a little play in the wheel. Unless your running some serious hp you will never notice it.

Doesn't the pump leak somewhat with a hole drilled in the Orifice???

No, you unscrew a plug and the valve will fall out in your hand. Well not quit but pretty close.

Thanks Ted..

I talked to Teague today and they told me that they rig alot of boats with the assist system without any problems. But, as you mentioned, you have to drill the orifice out to 11/64" I would love to get away with the assist system so I don't have to play around with the dash but there are a couple of things that bother me.

First: Imco told me that with the assist system you stand a good chance of bending the cable from your stock helm if you force the wheel to turn without the power assist from the pump. This means that you shouldn't attempt to steer if the motor is not running or if the belt has blown off. Of course this doesn't happen very often but it is a consideration. With the full hydraulic system, the wheel just gets harder to turn, but you can still steer.

Second: The possibilty of hard turning at idle. But, Ted says his is fine after drilling the orifice.

Third: You are still relying on the cables to steer. So, you will have play in the wheel. My boat has just about 200 hours on it, at speed I can turn the wheel from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock and not see any change in direction or course. To me that is just too much play for a fairly new boat.

The BIG positive about cable assist: You don't have to touch the helm!! And, if you should decide that you are unhappy with the cable assist, you can always add on the full system later. Almost no parts are wasted.

DECISIONS...DECISIONS....:confused: :confused:

the biggest source of slack in my steering system is in the teleflex steering box at the helm. just remember with an add-on you will still have this slack, personnally i would want to eliminate any and all slack i could.

the reason i ask about the power steering is my neighbor used to work at a marina years ago and said he put hydraulic steering on cruisers and it had no power steering pump assist. just put the helm unit in and ran lines back to the transom and connected them to the ram,no power steering pump involved. do all of the system these days use the power steering pump??

Rob
1999 259 convincor

Rob,

As far as I know, all steering systems out there are power steering using the stock power steering pump. Except for outboards. At least the ones I looked at were.

I am leaning towards trying to get the full system in. I think it can fit.:confused:

I had a '97 253 that we changed from the factory cable steering to full hydraulic. While it was tight we did get the helm unit installed without modifying the dash. It is well worth the effort and you will never go back once you experience the full hydraulic system.

Today I ordered Imcos' Full Hydraulic Steering from Trenton Marine. It will be a job, but I am sure that I can get it done. I will not be starting this job until the season is over around November. I will keep you guys posted. I will also post a few pictures of the helm.