Installing ext steering
 

I'm currently in the process of finding an ext steering set-up.
Trying to understand the basics of the install so I can buy something that will fit the limited amount of space available (wanting cyls mounted outboard of drives).

In regards to mounting the transom plates, ideally they should be mounted where ever they land on the transom when the piston is half way extended and drive is pointed straight back. However if they are mounted an inch or so inboard or outboard of ideal, how big of a deal is it? Can something get damaged or will I simply loose a bit of throw? Would bleeding air from sys be an issue?

Thx in adv.

imco has a listing that is pretty helpfull in figuring things out, when you see the amount of different setups,, its going to take a minute to process. I have the SA-20-R which fits tight quarters on a single...

https://www.imcomarine.com/nvcatalog/imco_catalog.pdf

depending upon where they are mounted they may not be at the half point. what has to happen is that at full turn one has to be fully extended and the other fully collapsed and then the same turning the other way. if one reaches full travel either way and the other can still move it will. that means that it will either break something or rip it out of the transom. hydraulics are very strong and unless you remember to never let it go to lock something will give sooner or later.

I've only installed one system.

As mentioned above, try to get them set up and mounted so that they max out/bottom out at the same time. I was close on mine, from what I recall I set them up so the retracting cylinder bottomed out first, and the extending cylinder still had about 1/8" left. My thought was that if the retracting cylinder bottomed out rather than maxing out the extending cylinder, it wouldn't be trying to pull the extending cylinder out of the transom. This was a full hydro to the helm setup, and when the retracting cylinder was fully retracted, it was felt in the helm and you backed it off anyhow.

Oh yeah. I got lost in that IMCO pdf for a while:)

Good points on the timing of the cyls. Looks like I need to find just the right length cyls.

Other than IMCO, any other manuf have their mounting details online? I haven't been able to find any.

assuming you are doing the 29 fountain ? there are plenty of those with factory steering around that you can get pics of...

All I can find on the Zeiger site is single bravo and twin Speedmaster set-ups. Do the Speedmaster and Bravo drives use the same ext steering hardware?

Got a line on a full factory Fountain set-up from a 2003 35' that had twin transom mounted Bravos. The sys was removed to install extension boxes.

Anyone know who made the factory systems for Fountain in 2003? What kind of wing plate did the factory use? Will they work on my 1990 drives?

The seller thought the drive spacing was 34.5". Mine is 34". Will that be a problem?
Pics are on their way.

Haven't had much luck finding a good pic of a 1990 factory ext steering.
Found a pic of the 2003 Fountain wing plate. Looks like it only uses the 3 back cover attachment points.
Any known issues with this wing plate set-up? The plate looks plenty strong, but it's the only set-up I've seen that only uses 3 attachment points. My boat runs in the low 80's and only used in fresh water.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]551009[/ATTACH]

look for "for sale" boats

I found a factory Fountain set-up from a member. It should fit without any issues (fingers crossed)..
Thx for all the replies..

So when it comes to cylinder length, is it just a packaging issue or is a wider or narrower setup preferred for some reason? What about steering throw? Is that more or less with a longer or shorter cylinder setup?

IMHO, it would be best to run as long of a cyl as you can, as long as the throw isn't so much the drives hit their mechanical limits. Mounting longer cyls seems like it would put less stress in the gimble ring since the cyls would put more energy into moving the drive/s side to side, as opposed to a short cyl that would push the drive/s more towards the rear. Of course, this is all theory. In the real world, probably doesn't make a measurable difference. On a lot of twins, you are pretty limited on what length cyls will fit.

Steering throw would be almost 100% related to cyl stroke. Different manuf have different distances from the cyl mounting point on the wing plate to the upper/lower swivel shafts. The shorter this distance, the more steering angle would increase for a given amount of cyl stroke.

Generally speaking a longer cyl will have more stroke, but not always.

BTW I'm not an expert, but I did drive by a Holiday Inn on the way to work..

You have a few things come into play, and dont get hung up on it as there are so many variables you could get dizzy.

Cylinder length/throw, look at the its system, it pushes damn near straight out with a really short throw and no problems...

Cylinder volume, given the same pressure and volume by the pump and helm a shorter cylinder will be slightly more responsive than one twice its size,

Stroke length, the longer the stroke in the system the finer the movement.

Realistically, dont sweat the small stuff, find a system that fits in the alloted space and you will be happy.l

I agree.

Get the rams that fit the best and use a different displacement helm, if needed, to tailor the responsiveness to you liking. The IMCOMarine site has a pdf catalog that includes lock to lock revolutions for various cylinders. Anywhere from 1.17 turns to 12+ turns lock-to-lock.

Just came across this calculator. Thought ya'll might find it useful. :)

http://www.tss.trelleborg.com/global...alculator.html

I bought an entire used '89 latham steering system to go on my old 79 scarab a few months ago. It was confusing to start with. I called latham and dealt with tom gongala. I had them rebuild and rechrome my old cylinders (chrome plated bronze). At first I just called to get some advice. He was happy to discuss what I had and walk me along before he ever knew he was gonna make any money off of me.Mine was kind of a special deal. My cylinders were too long to install between the drives, and too short to install outside the drives and have a decent stroke and be in line with the centerline of the drive up/down pivot point. So I had to have a machinist to make the cylinder ends longer (yellow circle). Hopefully you won't have to have this kind of stuff done.

It is well worth the effort when you get done. You can be at full throttle, and just let go of the wheel. No way you did that in my boat before!

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t...pscqtppu0h.jpg