jayhawk261

I'm not sure about slop in the tiller arm. What we are talking about is slop in the gimbal ring where the steering pin passes through it. The bolts shown above for tightening are actually a U-Bolt that tightens the steering pin to the gimbal ring and makes everything nice and tight with no slop. If you have no play between the pin and the ring, then your gimbal is ok and doesn't need to be replaced. If there is play between the pin and the ring, then it does need to be replaced. Trying to "fix" it by putting hydraulic steering on it will get you in trouble down the road because you haven't eliminated the problem, only a symptom. Once a gimbal ring breaks due to extreme wear, it will flop around in the housing and you'll lose control. Hydraulic steering won't keep that from happening. If there is slop in the pin/ring connection, it needs to be repaired properly. There is not only side-to-side slop in the pin, but up and down slop as well. With your hydraulic steering in place, grab your lower unit and lift up on it. If you can move it up and down and see it move at the pin/ring connection, it needs to be fixed.

I did buy my replacement gimbal ring from JR Marine. It looks very good and it went together with no problem. He actually takes your old piece on trade and sends you a re-man unit that he repairs in house. It will most likely need to be painted to look nice though.

mats

Well, I am not sure I understand the connection between the gimbal ring as a holder of the outdrive on the one hand and the gimbal ring as a link in the steering system on the other hand. It is usually only the square pin that attaches the tiller arm to the gimbal ring that develops slop. Sometimes the U-bolt can be tightened, sometimes not. It is a really lousy design. If you get slop the gimbal ring as a holder of the outdrive may still be in perfect condition.

1BIGJIM

iTrader: (1)

The gimbal ring where the upper swivel pin goes in is not square anymore. It will still move side to side or forward backward. Regardless if you change to full hydraulic or not it needs to be fixed. If there is slop in the tiller arm its because its moving around on the upper swivel pin(square bolt). Check out the pictures on the JRMARINE link in the previous post. Its easier looking at the pictures than trying to describe it.

Royal Flush

The movement is also inside the boat where the cable is attached to the hyd.unit. Thanks for the info.

mats

OK, I understand. If it has gone that far the ring needs to be fixed.