THRILLSEEKER

Heres the deal...My boat runs mid 60's and at top speed my rack steering is a little sloppy. I really dont want to spend the money for hydraulic steering because speed inst that high. I am considering a pair of steering staibalizers, do theese work good? Any suggestions?

blown formula

mid 60's ??? I would not bother with hydraulics. much too expensive for this fix. get the gimbal bearings fixed, you would need to do that even with the hydraulics. If the bearings are ok then check for play in the steering head, cable & stern connection. You really should not need a stabilizer if everything is "kosher" at that speed. Don't get me wrong, hydraulics are great, but for over 70 mph boats....... This should save some money for you also!! good luck

Vinny P

This is a question that I have been trying to resolve for a while now. I too have the same problem. Do I upgrade to hydraulic or not. I don't really need it at the speeds I am running, BUT I would rather be overkill in steering than not have enough of it. My boat is a 1999, I have noticed that there is a little play in the tiller arm already. I don't want to see that arm get real loose or possibly break. I was on a friends boat just the other day, after a speed run, while coming down off plane, the boat did a pretty hard jerk to one side. I saw the wheel pull his hand over. His boat is older than mine but I figure that mine will get just as bad soon enough. So the fix to me is to go full hydraulic and be done with it forever. But for me to change the helm in this boat is not going to be easy. There is very little access to the underside of my dash panel. I am not willing to do any cutting either. I am considering adding only the half system so I can leave the stock helm. I have a post here to get some feel of the way a half system works before I spend time and money for something that I wont be happy with. For now I am still undecided...

Shooter

go for the single-ram. I have an IMCO and it worked wonders for my boat which tops out in the mid-70s but really sopend most of the time 60 - 65. Night and day difference all around.

jpclear

Shooter; I assume that you mean a single ram total hyd. system and NOT just a damper!!?? Cause I don't think you want to spend the money for the damper. Rather spend the time to find out where the play is and correct it. The stock system when kept snug and well maintained works well to 80 mph if the hull is tuned and trimed properly. --- Jer

28Eliminator

jpclear, I think Shooter is talking about a partial (tie in)hyd. system. I installed WPM single over the winter and I love it. I wish I would have done it long ago. I think the cost was about $1400. A friend installed a douple and his is harder to steer at idle, probably because the pump can't provide enough fluid at idle for 2. It adapts to the power steering cylinder and runs off of your power steering pump.

THRILLSEEKER, I looked at the stabilizers also, but if I remember, they weren't alot cheaper and the hyd. will unload alot of power from the gimbal bearings. If the bearings are bad you should change them like blown formula said, but I think the bearings will last longer with the hyd. steering.

checkmate454mag, The pulling of the wheel that your buddy has is the same problem that I had. The steering has eliminated all of that pulling. I know that going all hyd. to the wheel is probably the best way, but your can add the helm later and still use the cylinders with it.
Also 454Mag, On your post Spanky stated that his had a little rust on the hardware. Another friend of mine has IMCO and has some rust, but I haven't seen any on the WPM of mine or my other friend, that has WPM.

As far as the steering radius, go with the longer cylinder if you can. I didn't notice hardly any loss of turning radius. With the WPM you can mount the cylinder on the top or bottom of the plate on the drive to avoid other obsticles, like exhaust or trim tabs. I'm not sure about MM or Imco. The hoses are also SS, so they look good. I think the others are neoprene covered SS lines.

The handeling and steering around the dock is the same, and I have heard that if you have full hyd, It steers different and takes some getting used to.

blah, blah, blah OK now I'm off my soap box and I need to get some work done. Buy the hydraulic tie in, you will love it!

Vinny P

28eliminator;

Maybe this is a stupid question but I don't believe I have heard of WPM , who are they and do you have their contact information???

audacity

i would want full hydrucils for a boat that went 50 mph. don't waste the $$$ on the dampners! why do you think your steering is sloppy now?

mid 70's??? ... look at it this way....if u could have averaged 48 mph at cape cod....u could have won a f-1 pro race...it's all how you use the boat....if i'm not mistaken this is offshore only....not lake boater???...i think most of the members run their suff???

28Eliminator

checkmate454mag, http://www.wpmracing.com/
Warlock Performance Marine
I think Teague, and Eddie Marine carry this brande as well as the IMCO. I agree with audacity, that you don't want the dampners, just a waste of money. Full dual hydraulic obviously is the best. It all depends on how you drive and the kind of water you are driving in.

Shooter

That's right, single ram at the transome. Stock to the steering wheel. I actually bought the cylinder and stuff from OSO classifieds. It was for a Blackhawk setup. I had to buy some assorted hardware from IMCO. I think the whole thing cost me 800 bucks.

Makes for a much more stabil ride, full hydraulic is a waste for me. I can attest to the the value of the single ram, though. The arm is longer than for the stockm bravo, but I can say that it does not really hurt my turing radius in close. Twin rams are worse. Forget the drew stabilizers, I'm sure they work but they look somewhat cheesy.

Go for the single IMCO, you won't be disappointed. I put it on myself and it was not that bad.