Boat won't go straight...help
 

I've got a 1999 Mariah Z212 with 5.7L carb and Alpha 1 turning a 19 pitch stainless mercury vengeance prop. When the boat is just in gear and creeping thru a no wake zone it will not go straight. It keeps veering from side to side, and I need to keep turing the wheel to try to keep it on course. Any idea what causes this. BTW, same thing happened with a 21 pitch stainless prop. Thanks in advance.

grab your drive from the back and wiggle it..if it wiggles its time for a gimble repair. its not that hard of a fix and theres a kit to do it.

It's called bow steer and happens on most single engine v-bottoms. Low pressure pulling the bow left and right with no rhyme or reason. I try to always be in some huge radius turn. Seems to help a bit.

That is normal, bow steer or 'yaw'. If you have trim tabs, drop them all the way. That will help. Nothing's wrong, but it is annoying as hell.

Deep V's all do this to some degree or another. My old 18' Formula and my newer 30.5' Twin Fountain does it, (full Hydraulic steering with tight gimbals), older non-step hull.

I get the boat more or less straight and then let it swing back and forth, trying to get the "center point" of the swing in the straight line direction of where I want to go. Then there is less "steering input" required, but sometimes the swing in one direction is more than the other and slight correction to the wheel is required.

I have never heard a civil explanation of 'hunting', which is the technical description of the phenomenon. I can tell you this. All O/b and sterndrive small boats do it to some extent. I have run some that hunted so far, that it was easier to finish the circle than correct it. My 19' Nova with a sterndrive was a bad one. Same boat, same engine, V-drive with rudder: none! Go figure............

It should be less pronounced if you trim the drive up.

What he said...

ow my ribs:D what I was meaning that when I go through idle zones or minimum wake (around 7mph) I drop the tabs all the way. Then the bow doesn't really sway from side to side.

Can't help myself, maybe lay off the beer. Works for me.

This post is hillarious. Ultraboy - How long have you boated? DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY trying to fix it. It can never be fixed. Every single boat I have driven does this - its just a part of it. If the steering wheel is pointed straight the boat will correct itself and there is no need to countersteer the whole time. One of the hardest things to do when you first start boating is to let go of the wheel (but not at speed). I had 3 different 24ft boats (2 pleaseure, 1 go fast) and they all did this. At cruising speed you should be able to let go of the steering wheel and it will track straight. If it doesn't - then there might be a problem. On the pleasure boats I spent most of my driving time with no hands on the wheel.

My 24 Super did this real bad until I upgraded to full hydraulic steering. It still does it, but not near as bad. Good thing the cops don't pull boats over for weaving!:drink:

In my boat, the "wake" at idle speeds is smaller when I have the tabs all the way down.

Thanks for all the responses...here's more info
 

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Someone asked if the drive wiggles. It only moves very slightly side to side when on the trailer.

Unfortunately the boat does not have any trim tabs.

This "bow hunting" occurs when I'm in shallow watter and have the drive trimmed all the way up. It it ok to hit the trailer button for a second to trim it up a little more?

It's very hard on the drive/ u-joint to run the motor when the drive is trimed up high enough that you use the trailer button.

well...I have heard closing one eye is supposed to help you drive straight in certian situations.............. who knows with boats..

That's funny.

My Formula wanders like drunken sailor.........wait, maybe it isn't the boats fault.:drink:

Truthfully, the Formula wanders all over the place at idle. Drive has some play but I don't think that's all the problem. I found if I lower the tabs all the way and raise the drive a bit the wander is less. The tabs help keep it staright and raising the drive helps bring the nose up a touch. Makes a difference.

No, very bad for the universal joints and gimbal bearing. where your drive trim stops, and trailer switch is needed, is the max operating hight (angle). Don't run it in trailer position, even while on the trailer.

Tabs all the way down and the drive in the down/in or neutral position when idleing in a no wake zone. When you leave the no wake zone your trim tabs and drive are in the correct position to take off and come on plane easier and quicker.

Yep - Plus you can go a little faster in the harbor without a wake - Every little bit helps when you have a 45 minute idle from the breakwater to the ramp.. :drink:

Don't you think it would be harder on the drive if your screw was hitting rocks or trying to turn in the mud. U-joints are cheap, drives are not. Trim it up, idle only.

When you get out of the hole raise the tabs first then kick out the drive if necessary. Smooth ride. :cool:

I idle all the time with my drive all the way up. I beach the boat a lot and its either this or I stick it in the mud and end up sucking sand into the water pump. I only do it when necessary (shallow water) and drop it back down as soon as possible. I have never had any drive problems and I have been doing this for years, but only with stock motors and drives. It can't be that bad.

Idling with the drive "all" the way up, is not a good idea. You'd be wanting to grease those universals every other time out......... Like i said earlier, i'd much rather be trimmed a little bit into the "trailering" tilt range if it meant keeping my screw and drive out of the sand and rocks.

Now who's ribbing who???:evilb: