external steering, pros and cons
 

will be putting on my boat this fall. who sells the best system for the buck? fit and finish always a plus. what system rates the best in your minds.... tia mark

I have a brand Imco dual ram SA-2 kit that I never installed with the brazil valve adapter for add on. $1500, I'm in N.J. Sold Boat

Need a little more info, single drive?Bravo?XR? Do you want to go full hydraulic? Or just an add-on. If just an add on do you want a single cylinder or dual cylinder? :D

Pros:

- Safer
- Better Handling
- Less chance of drive breakage

Cons:

$$$$$$$$$$$ But this is boating isn't it.


As far as the systems go it's like anything else you get what you pay for.

A single ram add on is better than nothing, Dual ram better yet, and full hydraulic system is the best way to go.

There are no cons with hydraulic steering. Even the price makes sense after a few years of use, because of the reduced wear on the gimbal and steering bushings, saves you a trip to the workshop. I´ve run my boat with an Imco dual ram system for 200 hours (hard and fast, 25 foot boat running 80 mph) and there is absolutely no slack, no vertical or lateral wear whatsoever in the drive.

I chose Imco, and am 100% satisfied.
Dual ram is good because the support of the drive is symmetrical.
If you have only external hydraulics, you will still have the slack of the cable to the helm, but it is less apparent because the rams dampen the feedback from the drive.

Go the extra 1500$ and the full hydraulic to helm will just blow your mind (and have you wondering how you coped before).
Contrary to what I have seen on some other systems, the steering is light to operate, both at speed and at idle.

Boat will fishtail less in no wake zones, and hold its course at speed, with no correction at the wheel.
What may seem strange at first (with full hydraulic) is that the center position wanders with every correction on the wheel.

Fit a symmetrical wheel and forget about it.

I agree with Wildman. Do it right and go with full hydraulic. Lots of pros, no cons.

XS Performance has some nice systems and I know they were priced very reasonable at one time.

Zeiger makes the cleanest looking system IMO>

I have a brand new Zeiger Full to the helm, twin ram for single bravo I will let go cheap if anyone is interested, pm me

Hardin, IMCO, Zeiger and others all have some great products.

I have NEVER heard of someone installing external steering and saying that they wish they had not.

I have a single ram Hardin (Mayfair) on my X-18. It is an add on. I like it and will probably upgrade it to full later. For now it does the trick on my little 70 or so mph boat. I am very pleased with it. It totally eliminated my chine walk. I did not need anything exotic and this worked great

I have an IMCO full hydraulic twin ram on the 26ZX. I am very happy with it as well. This boat is fast and really needs to full setup.

I would recommend either of these products.

I have noticed that most are going to a wing plate setup. Hardin has developed a very cool looking wing plate.

new on the market!
 

Mayfair byHardin Marines latest new Modular Wing plate Add-on steering system.This wing plate steering mount design incorporates dual side links and a single rear load cap that bolt together forming a strong bridge like cradle. The rear load cap bolts to and captures the outdrives rear end cap while the side links attach to the outdrives four mounting points at the Gimbal housing. This system eliminates the need to drill and tap your existing out drive for additional fastners like the current end cap systems sold today (Voiding Factory warranties). Best of all there is no disassembly of your outdrives rear end cap (again voids factory warranties) and these new systems fit all generations of Bravo outdrives including the new "Slope Back" style as well as come in different widths for multiple different transom applications. Buy the whole kit and you'll receive the one piece SS thru-hulls, polished SS rams, pre-made SS braided lines and SS fittings and more.

http://www.cpperformance.com/detail.aspx?ID=9124

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/i...e/MAYFAIR1.jpg

ThruHull, can you email me a price at [email protected]?

Thanks

We have recently sold several Mayfair setups and the customers were very pleased with the product. Can get Mayfair, Zeiger and Imco.

Let us know.

[email protected]

Kirk

I need a few better pics of this system.

Once you run a full hydraulic, it'll be the only thing you ever want. Call some of the mentioned brands and choose which ever you think will do it best for you. Hardin (Mayfair), IMCO, Latham, Zeiger ect. you won't go wrong with either.

i am green with hydraulic systems....what's the diff. between add-on and full hydro?
ill probly need one soon....
thanks

Add on uses the existing cable system, full has a hydrolic helm

Phucking boat sat all winter and now your gonna decide to do this? Talking about it for 2 years now! Sorry had to break your stones. Do the full hydraulic thing, you won't be sorry. Changes the whole feel of the ride. Besides if I had your money I'd burn mine. PS, change your name to moneymonkey too, LOL!

Not trying to hijack this.... I have the IMCO add-on kit on mine (single ram). Can I convert that to a full hydrolic helm with just the addition of the helm pump and hoses, then bypass the engine mounted pump??

Helm is not a pump but a directional valve controlled with the wheel. You can use the stock pump but will need a larger reservoir to compensate for the long hoses. A cooler might be a good idea as well.

Yes, if you buy the right helm. The general helms that people are talking here are the Eaton/Charlynn style helms that use the power steering pump for pressure and volume. They are orbitrol steering valves. But if you buy a Capilano style helm that is a positive displacement pump you can use that without the power steering pump. I also know a couple people that use the Teleflex displacement helm, but they are a lot of turns lock to lock.

IF you are willing to go to a juice helm I think the ITS systems from Merc is the cleanest way to go.

Some boats with molded in steps require you to cut them to gain clearance. - The ITS solves this problem by integrating the components into an extension box.

The downside is $$$$$$

Ive got one on each of my boats.

I think this is a much cleaner setup that all the external deals Ive seen.

The guys talking about drive life are correct the steering stabilizes the gimbal and prevents wear dramatically.


Uncle Dave