1989 311 Sr-1 with Bravos. I was wringing the neck on my dad's 35 Fountain the other day and noticed how "tight" the steering was compared to my 311. The 35 does not have external steering. The question is, is there a way to dial in some "resistance" in the 311's steering to take the slop- relatively speaking -out of the wheel? I don't believe I have any issues in the transom plate / gimbal area- is this just a Formula vs. Fountain difference?

That is an excellent question!! I also have some slop and do not think it's attributable to transom assembly issues. I really think it's the helm unit. Cable Chit, ya know? I'm interested in this thread also to see if anyone has "tightened" thiers.

Mine's tight

Bastid!!

Likely a combination of slop in the helm, be it a rotary or rack and pinion, and slop/streach in the cable, as well as some wear on the transom assembly parts. When I had the Velocity it only made it thru the first year before the slop showed up, first year was over 100 hours, and required replacing. On the Velocity it did get a work out, at speed you needed to make 997 steering corrections for every 1000 feet covered, our term was that they are a real "Driver". A full hyd. system from Imco tightened it right up, and made it a nice package to drive, lessened the "Driver" effect a little.

I really think that the cable style helm is jus a little overmatched on this size boat with twins and outdrives. Other than replacing all the parts new, there really is no way to adjust the system. But what you can do is have someone work with you and look at each junction and fitting as the wheel is wiggled back and forth and look for any unusual movement. Another thing is to check drive alignment-if they are toed in slightly (closer toward the bow than the stern no more than 1/4") it will track better and feel a little tighter on most boats.