Someone told me and I did "Swag" my lines at the transom fittings, this has something to do with the stress from pressure at lock to lock and allows the line to give a little and not the fitting.

what does "swag" mean?

I just finished my installation. Full hydraulic single ram XS system.
I'm also no mechanic, but it wasn't bad. Just time consuming. It took me two days.
For me the hardest part was setting up and drilling the transom. That's pretty scary!!
The next hardest part was filling in the old bolt holes from the cable helm and making it look reasonable. The new helm plate was smaller than the original.
Next hardest was running those four hoses up to the helm... I used a 'fish' like what electricians use.
Removing the old steering wasn't bad. The hardest part was getting the bottom bolt's lock tab bent out of the way. These bolts are TIGHT!!
Best of luck installing yours!
Kent

Oh yeah, cutting those high pressure hoses is tough!
I tried a hacksaw and it wouldn't cut it well at all. I ended up using a sawsall and going through four blades!!

Draped in a curve between two points

So what I meant was let it loop down and the go into the fitting giving it a little bit of room to move under pressure changes so it won't stress the fitting. This was a suggestion from someone that designs and sells systems for a living I could only assume it was good advise. But hey now a days who knows whats good advice

Thanks Scott. Mudball: I was checking out the bolts on the steering assembly that I think you're speaking about - big suckers with big tab washers underneath - bolts top and bottom? Did you remove them while the engine was still in the boat? I really hope the bottom washer is not bent over, because I have no idea how I can get in there, other than to turn the bolt...

Yes, I did it =with the motor in the boat=! It is TIGHT!

The bottom bolt had only a little of the tab bent over, not all the way, so I was able to put a socket on it and hit it with a hammer. That gave it enough to get a socket on it and a big ole 1/2 inch ratchet. That popped it loose, but it was tight!

Best of luck!
Kent

(I edited to make plain that the motor was in the boat when I did this...)

What's even more amazing is when you remove those tiny little pins from the port side of the steering!!!!

Those tiny little pins are what holds the entire stock steering in place!!

That blows my mind.
Kent