I am piecing together an external hydraulic steering set up for my 1988 Cigarette Bullet. I read through some of the older threads on hydraulic external steering set ups and have a few questions. The Hynautic K5 hydraulic rams seemed to be popular for the DIY guys for their durability and ease of rebuild so I decided to go that route. I bought a used Hynautic steering set up with the K5’s. The system is pretty complete with the helm and pressure tank. My plan was to convert it over to a “normal” steering set up and not use the pressure tank, but I wanted to check and make sure that was the right move since I already have the tank. Will this helm work if I do convert over to a normal pressure system and not use the tank? Thanks for the help!

You can not use the current helm with out the pressure tank.(you need 30-50 psi for the system to work) You will have to use a Charlynn/Eaton style orbital valve helm with a power steering pump if you want to not use the tank. You can get a Seastar pressure helm, but they are very low volume lock to lock. (many turns to move drives) I've done all 3 systems, and if I had to do it over I would just have gone directly to the power steering pump and orbital valve.

What helm do you currently have? H41, H42?

Thank you for the information. I looked at the helm but I do not see any markings on it. I don’t have any experience with a pressure tank system. Is the pressure tank set up adequate with twins or should I just plan to get a new helm and use the power steering pump?

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I have no experience with pressurized helms, but 'll say that it'll be much simpler to use the pump-assisted helm.

I'll be installing steering in a Bullet in the next few weeks. Interested in what hurdles you go through to get the helm in/behind the dash.

I am not opposed to switching over to a pump assisted system if that is the better way to go. The power steering pump I have is a GM style Saginaw pump. In automotive applications these pumps usually put out 1000-1200psi, but I am not sure if the marine applications are set to a different pressure. If I switch to a pump assisted helm will I need to do anything to get the pressure down or is the orbital valve ok with the high pressure? Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

A friend of mine had a Hynautic pressurized system on his boat for years and had no problems, other than as I seem to recall, having to add a little air pressure every couple years.

Definitely not saying it doesn't work or they are problematic. Only downside I had was slow response, low volume of fluid loc to loc 9-10 turns on a dual ram setup and pressurizing the tank. I carried a $5 bike foot pump on the boat. On my cruiser it's a non-issue.

Thinking back, it took a bit of muscle over pump driven hydraulic, as I recall.