drew marine stabilizer
 

Can you guys give me some info on this product. My father is in the process of working on his boat. He is wanting to make the steering a little safer in case of failure. He is not ready to shell out the cash for a full hydraulic setup. He is looking at this drew marine stabilizer. I see they make a single ram for a small block and dual rams for the big block. A few years ago they were only offering one for the big blocks. Could he get away with just running the small block single stabilizer? He wanted to spend around $450-500 for a stabilizer. Eddie marine gets $790 for the dual big block ones. His boat is 22' baja sport and only runs around 75.

Any opinions?

Wasn't there a 1 or 2 guys machining and building hydraulic steering systems on OSO?

Thanks guys :D

I installed the dual stabilizers on my Scarab and they work great! If I were racing the boat I would have gone hydraulic, but for pleasure they were fine!
The cost was only half as much as Hydraulic steering!;)

At $800, why not consider add-on hyd. systems?

I am also running the Drew Marine dual stabilizers on my 22 scarab. I think they work great. I know they aren't as good as hydraulic, but better than nothing. Hope to upgrade soon. Anyone got a good used system?

I installed a single drew marine stabilizer on a Formula 271 w/ Whippled 502, 80mph boat. It works great at high speed and is a good safety addition for those who can't afford a hydraulic system...at least its better than nothing!
Only problem is at low speed, idle, the power steering can't quite overcome the increased resistance on the ram so steering effort is increased. This goes away once the rpms are above 1000, but under that you can't turn the wheel lock to lock very fast.

Travis there is a add on hydraulic system on ebay you should ck out. Dwight

Isn't the $500 Drew steering stabilizer the same thing as a $50 steering stabilizer for a truck? Sure the one's on trucks may not have all the connection hardware, but that's easy to put together. All the Drew's I've seen look tarnished after a couple seasons. I could replace 10 times at their price.

What gives? Sorry to run a product down, but what it offers just doesn't seem worth the extra $$.

Foul can offer some insight. Not much, just some. :D

cord, I remember foul ranting about it. Saved his butt a few times. :eek:

Whitey I'll check out ebay.. thanks ;)

Traviss I went with the single as well. It did help my steering out alot. And added some safty if my ps pump went out. Foul also helped me when I bought one.

Traviss, I used the dual on two different boats so far, And in both cases it completely got rid of my chine walk.!!! both boats did over 85 MPH, and before the stabilizers, I couldn't go 75 MPH without the boat scaring the hell out of me:eek:
The last dual kit I help put on was a 2000 Baja H2X with a lingenfelter BB in it. He could only go 70-72 before uncontrollable Chine walking.. After putting the kit on he's getting 81 MPH with no sign of walking. This is my third set on my Sunsation 288 ..:D
good luck

For those of you who have owned one of these do you see any way to build one yourself? The gas springs should not be that hard to come up with and the rest is just brackets?

I'm sure that's possible But to be as affective you would need a cylinder with a 10 stage velocity valving system.
:D :D Otherwise it wouldn't become progressively stiffer with speed.;)

thanks for the honest opinions..I think dad will be purchasing just the single stabilizer..



Travis

I have two seasons on mine and I still feel they were worth the $$.

Is this the one you are talking about???E-Bay link

That's for an outboard motor;)

I had seen a add on system earlier. It was a single ram and needed a brazil valve to go with it. Dwight

Chase910, can you comment on steering restriction, or force against the steering system while docking?? Is the added force such that it makes low or idle speed maneuvering difficult? Input from others who have used the Drew's would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

Installed a dual system on the Formula 242LS we used to have (twin SBC/Alpha). They changed the handling of the boat dramatically- with both drives spinning the same way, it had a substantial amount of torque steer, even with the power steering.
The Drews didn't eliminate it ,but reduced it a lot, and made the steering seem much tighter. It did not change the boats' docking manner in any way. They definitely add some safety to the stock steering systems.
I would recommend painting the cylinder with black Imron before installing; the complaints of them looking shabby after a season or two are true.

Thanks for the input jafo. I have a Nova 23 with a single BB. Never had the pleasure of docking {or driving} a boat with twins, but expect there's more steering wheel movement needed when maneuvering with a single. I'm wondering if the damper action of the Drew will slow the single I/O steering down when attempting docking while at idle rpm's.

Can anyone out there give some feed back on this ??

Thanks

The dampening action of the stabilizer is not noticeable when docking.
You rarely if ever turn the wheel out of the neutral position when docking a twin; the boat is manuevered with the shifters. It is much easier than a single-engine boat, and once you experience this (and the performance/sound rush) you will never own a single again.;) :)

On the Formula, which is a '98 merc 502mag mpi, at idle the stock steering pump can't quite overcome the resistance quickly. What I mean is without the stabilizer you could very quickly turn the wheel lock to lock, change direction quickly and feel no resistance, just like in a car with the engine running. With the stabilizer at idle any quick steering inputs and you will feel a resistance, like the powersteering quit for a second, then its fine, its nothing overwhelming but you will have to plan for it. In other words you can't spin the wheel around quickly around the docks...you have to be more deliberate while docking. I called Drew and they had me contact the manufacturer who said it shouldn't have the resistance but never was able to work it out and the owner has just learned to deal with it. I wish I could remember the name of the manufacturer...its a well known automotive name in the aftermarket for shocks and it is basically a steering stabilizer used for offroad. Around 1000rpms its a non-issue and steering is the same as stock. Might be this one was out of calibration, but I think with efi, idle speed the pump isn't turning enough to overcome the stabilizer's resistance. I wonder if anyone else has experienced the same on a single merc efi install.

Thanks Chase910. Sounds like you're saying that docking should not be too much of an issue...basically plan ahead, go slow, take a little more time and be aware of the resistance ahead of time?? Sometimes docking can be "embarrassing" enough without resistance :D

jafo, don't rub it in :D :D . Would like to step up to a twin some time in the future. It'll be a few seasons out though.

Thanks for the info guys...I appreciate it.

Kidnova, I have a good freind with a efi 502 in a 25' Warlock and man alive what a diffrence at WOT and they are right the wheel cant be spun fast but there really is no need to spin it fromm lock to lock FAST. Rag's

Hey rags how ya doing!! Agreed, I can't think of a need to spin lock to lock quick either. Just want to be able to get to the dock and trailer without adding dock rash to the graphics.

Told my bro about the price on the Nova for sale. Said it sounded like a decent price for a '95 in good condition. But says Washington is a minor road trip to go for a sea trial. Actually I think that boat would probably bring a few more $ in the north east. Appreciate the info on it though.

I love mine. Like traviss said, saved my azz more than once when my power steering failed (lost the belt twice at loto.... got a new one after the second incicent).

Did not change the slow speed steering ability at all. Tightened up the steering at all speeds. Last year I cracked my gimal ring and the stabilizer gave me enough stability to get back to the trailer.

'Foul