Sorry Charlie. That is not full hydraulic. That is just the transom setup. You still need to buy the filter, hoses, helm, wheel and the rest. That comes to well over $3,500.

At 70 mph a single ram should be plenty unless you intend to drive abusively. The factory set up on a 2004 496HO Rage (70 mph + and more on the new wood free hulls) is the stock Mercruiser internal steering. I have an IMCO single ram on a Nordic Rage running mid 80's operated for three seasons and nothing but good performance though most operation is not at WOT. LOL.

Dual Ram w/wing plate....the two rams effectively create a set of gussets, the cylinders/gussets serve to share loading on the gimbal pin,stabilize tolerances in the drive/gimbal and reduce transom flex....The wing plate replaces the bearing cap as the connection point,the cap has been known to break.

U maybe right,,,but it say's steering kit ,,,so i thought it comes with everything? SORRY .

And i can only agree with CcanDo !!!!

Yeah, that catalog is kind of misleading. It says twin ram kit but does not get specific.

I have one of their twin ram "kits" It is complete with all the goodies from helm to end cap. You just have to make sure taht they speck everything out. It is a nice product and I would not run my ZX at big speeds without one. I felt it was a good value but it was not $2,500

Good discussion gents...thanks.

Since my application is just low to mid 70 mph and I drive pretty conservative (600 hp and nursing a standard B1 drive), a full hydraulic single ram will probably be fine and waaaaaayyyy better that the sloppy stock setup.

What will end up bugging me the most is the non-symmetry look of a single ram on my transom. In the end, I will probably be ordering the dual ram. Damn!

If you have 1 ram fail..... both rams fail.

So is there no benefit to two rams on a single engine application, or are they less likely to fail when there are two?

Yes, there is a benefit to two rams from both a safety and wear standpoint. As one that owns both systems I would agree.

That does not necessarily make your boat a death trap if it has only one ram. Many boats come from the factory with single ram and it is much better than internal. If there was a huge liability issue, you would not even be able to buy a single ram system in today's litigous society.

One ram = better
two rams = best

And no in the great scheme of things $1,000 should not be a big deal when considering safety.

Yes, I probably will put another ram on my little 70 mph boat later but for now its way better than the internal system. I will probably do it for looks because I doubt I could even wear out the internal system in the next 15 years on these Tn lakes.