Re: Full Hyd vs Mechanical0-Hyd steering Pros & Cons
 

Try latham marine or imco webs sites for a lay out of these systems. The helm pump is a charlyn pump and is used in some industrial app. such as big forklifts and other off-road equipment. The steering post unbolts from the helm pump. The standard industrial helm is 7/8'' tapered shaft. The marine standard shaft is 3/4'' taper both are available is steel from the helm man. There are many after market suppliers of the steering post and most are billet aluminum and are very nice. Some give you a tilt wheel You can save some $ by using the steel post. The full system consist of a helm, steering post, hyd hoses fluid rev. thru hull fittings. cylinders and mount and some sort of mount for the outdrive connection. The add on system uses everything minus the helm and adding a valve or manifold to connect to the stock inside hyd steering cylinder. I may have missed something but somebody will correct me I am sure

Re: Full Hyd vs Mechanical0-Hyd steering Pros & Cons
 

Sounds like you covered it all. Thanks!

Can the lower unit still be moved by turning the steering wheel with a full hydraulic steering system when the main engine is off?

Re: Full Hyd vs Mechanical0-Hyd steering Pros & Cons
 

Yes

Re: Full Hyd vs Mechanical0-Hyd steering Pros & Cons
 

Good question.
I've been down this road personally and IMO if you’re running faster than say 80mph dual ram is the way to go. It will reduce the stress on the gimbal and it's even smoother. It will also save you about 500+ bucks if you go dual instead of upgrading later as I did. Not to mention all the extra work.

Re: Full Hyd vs Mechanical0-Hyd steering Pros & Cons
 

How can you put a price on safety? Go full dual ram and feel confident in your system, it is worth every penny. It is much cheaper to by the best system than it is to fix the damage of the wrong system.