www.iFourWinns.com

Boat: 1994 194 Candia
at low speeds the boat will wander back and forth while the steering wheel is held in place. Is there any adjustment on the cable, or does this sound like replacement of cable or rack?

Thanks

Welcome to the board. Sorry, From the lack of replies, it seems the answer is "no"! I wish it was "yes", because I have a lot of play at the helm on my boat that I would like to adjust out. I''m going to have a look inside my helm steering box this winter before I probably have to throw it away and get a new one (and cable) because no doubt a million springs, ball bearings and gears will spring out, never to be seen again.

Graham

Thanks for the response. That's what I figured but wanted to get confirmation. From another site about ordering parts, they talk about how to determine if have a right hand or left hand gear set and they show the inside of the steering box and it didn't look to bad. I think you can replace the gears inside and cable, not necessary not have to replace the whole thing.

Howdy,

"wandering" in most stern drive boats is not as related to steering "play" as much as it's related to how deep the "V" is.

It's a function of most deep "V" boats. It's related to center of gravity and how the boat is slicing through the water. most boats tend to try to go sideways when turned at very slow speeds. the sideways (slip) and ensuing drag will tend to make the bow want to go a little more in the direction of the turn causing you to apply a little steering back in other direction.....causing a little "PIO" (pilot induced oscillation) or over correction. It seems to be a little more pronounced in deep V sterndrive and outboard boats that do not have a fin on the bottom.

I spent a few days driving my brothers Ski Supreme inboard boat last week. It's a nearly flat bottom boat with a triple fin on the bottom. It did not over steer or oscillate at all.

Deeper V boats seem to be more pronounced at it. It doesn't seem to be that related to steering slop (although that should exacerbate it)


Cheers,

_________________
1987 Four Winns Liberator 211, formerly OMC 460 King Kobra powered, replaced in 2006 by a 1997 Mercruiser 454/Bravo III

maybe I should eliberate based on your last comments. by low speed I'm talking about a idle and slightly above speeds. Like when you are going slow to enter your lift and your trying to come in on it straight from 20 yards. Or when just crusing around edge of lake or going through channel with no wake zone. Also this is a deck boat and while it has a main V-hull, it is much flater and more like a tri-hull. When going that slow more of the tri-hulls are in the water.

Thanks for any more suggestions