Hard Steering

[Da Beak]

I have a new Crestliner 1850 FishHawk W/150 Merc on the back. When running, no matter what speed, it turns easily to the Right, but very difficult to the Left. I had it in to the dealer, and they said everything looked good. It's equipped with the "no feedback steering system." Any suggestions?

[BIG DS]

The trim tab on the bottom of your anti-cavitation plate is not adjusted right. It is the silver looking fin above the prop. The trim tab is designed to help stop the motor from trying to steer one way due to the prop rotation. If the tab seems to be turned to the left turn it a little straighter. You might need to play with it a bit. Otherwise take it to your dealership and tell them to re-adjust the trim tab. New motors come with the tab somewhat pre-set, but that changes with the type of boat the motor is mounted on and the way the motor is mounted (how high or low it is mounted on the transom). There is only one bolt/screw in the center of the tab. Good luck. It is an easy fix.

[Da Beak]

The Trim Tab appears to be straight. So I should turn it to the Right a little? And how far?

[Valv]

Dealer is not straight with you. Any new boat now from 150hp and up has Hydraulic steering system, not cable anymore.

You are having feedback problems with your motor torque. That boat with a 150hp should have had a Teleflex Seastar hydraulic setup.

I assume dealer "cut some corners" (to save on final price)and rigged it up with a regular cable system which is too small after 135hp usually. I hope you have at least a dual cable system, otherwise I would take it back to dealer and tell him he has to change it (cost around $ 1,500 hardware only) or you can sue him for possible personal injuries if cable breaks for too much torque.

Tab is to eliminate pull on one side while going straight (kinda like alignment on cars).

[marknamy]

If you do have anti-feedback steering and not hydraulic you may have to give it some time to loosen up. I bought a 1750 Sportfish last year and it took a good ten hours for the steering to loosen up. This year it steers much better.

[Da Beak]

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If you do have anti-feedback steering and not hydraulic you may have to give it some time to loosen up. I bought a 1750 Sportfish last year and it took a good ten hours for the steering to loosen up. This year it steers much better.

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Forgive me, but how can I tell if I have anti-feedback or hydraulic steering? One more thing, it turns side to side easily out of the water.

[Valv]

Cable steering are ALL non feedback, since few years back.

You can recognize hydraulic if you have a ram with 2 hoses attached in front of motor, otherwise just 1 cable entering tube on motor on right side.

There is no "break in" with a steering system, it works right away, I would have yours checked. As I stated 150hp and up needs hydraulic.

[Da Beak]

Thanks Val, I will. Know where I could find anything to print out stating that hydraulic is required for 150hp and up? (Just in case they get lippy and try to give me the runaround.)

[kwkfsh]

I am not sure that hydraulic is mandated at any certain horsepower. It is certainly the preferred way to go but I am not sure that the dealer pulled a fast one on you.

If you have a 4 or 5 blade prop it will make your steering torque problem much worse than a 3 blade. You will need to adjust your trim tab all the way in the proper direction and then you will need to be keenly aware of your trim position to help minimize the torque you feel.

As stated above there is no breakin needed with any steering system. You can have the dealer look at it to be sure but it may be a case of you got exactly what you paid for.

However any dealer/salesman who did not strongly advise you to go with hydro steering on a 150 was certainly remiss in his obligation to the customer.

Good luck!

[Da Beak]

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As stated above there is no breakin needed with any steering system. You can have the dealer look at it to be sure but it may be a case of you got exactly what you paid for.

However any dealer/salesman who did not strongly advise you to go with hydro steering on a 150 was certainly remiss in his obligation to the customer.

Good luck!

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I didn't even know hydraulic was an option. Shame on me I guess.

[marknamy]

I agree that your trim tab may not be adjusted correctly. And yes it did take a few hours for the steering on my Cliner to loosen up. I speak from experience.

[Valv]

I would like to see the experience of somebody that justifies something wrong as a "break in" period.

As we stated there is nothing that will "loosen up" after few hours, unless it's falling apart.

We are targeting safety with good suggestions, any reply has to be posted with this in mind, no sense writing something if it's not known what we are talking about.

There is no steering system that requires a "break in" or "loosen up" time, period.

Unfortuantely there is no "rule" that states 150hp and above need hydraulic, in fact in the past they had cable, but it was dual cable helms, not single. The torque of these motors are difficult to control at middle and high speed, that's why you feel resistance turning it one side, and not the other, you are fighting motor torque.

To test it, speed up with boat and try to turn into hard side, then throttle down immediately still while turning, you'll feel much less resistance, and will be able to turn easily, until you open throttle again.

[Da Beak]

Thanks again Val. I'll give it a whirl. I have a feeling I'm going to be taking a shot in the ol' checkbook here.

[kwkfsh]

First thing to do would be to adjust your trim tab. Then play around with some various trim positions while running to see if there is a trim position you can live with.

If you shop around you should be able to pickup a Baystar hydraulic system for $600 to $700.

These are not that dificult to install if you are mechanically inclined.

[anchor man]

Valv,

I bought a new Lund this spring with a Yam F150 on it. It does have single cable steering. I can handle the tighter steering, but from a safety standpoint, are they really going to rig something up that has a chance of breaking and causing major injury? Should I be concerned for safey of the family?

[Da Beak]

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Valv,

I bought a new Lund this spring with a Yam F150 on it. It does have single cable steering. I can handle the tighter steering, but from a safety standpoint, are they really going to rig something up that has a chance of breaking and causing major injury? Should I be concerned for safey of the family?

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That's big concern of mine now also. I did some digging on Crestliner's HSOforum, and under the options it listed Hydraulic Steering, and right behind it stated: (Recommended for 150hp and above) Not required, but recommended. I'm still angry this wasn't brought up when I bought the boat. And the Salesman that I dealt with is on vacation. *^%#&^%$$%$%#

[Surface Tension]

Lets address the hard steering in one direction.

As stated you use the fin to compensate for the props rotation.

To adjust loosen the bolt above the fin and turn in the opposite direction of the pull.

Now you might find you don't get any pull when the outboard is trimmed in but you get the pull when trimmed up in which case that fin isn't getting any bite because its out of the water to far. Theres not much you can do then besides asking yourself if you need the outboard trimmed that high.

[BIG DS]

Yes. The trim tab on any motor should be turned a little. After adjusting it, try it out a full throttle trimmed all the way down and trimmed out as far as you can. If the tab is adjusted right you should not need to fight the wheel when trimmed out at full throttle. It may still fight you when trimmed down at full throttle. If the boat has dual cable steering, it should be ok. Preferably, as was previously mentioned it should have the hydralic set up. Even with the hydralic set up the trim tab will need to be adjusted.

[Da Beak]

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To adjust loosen the bolt above the fin and turn in the opposite direction of the pull.

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So just so I'm clear, if it's hard to turn the motor to the left, I need to turn the trim tab to the right? (Looking at the motor from thr prop.)

[Surface Tension]

Instead of the term pulling I'll go with hard to steer.

In which case if its hard to steer to port(left), turn the leading edge(the end pointing toward the frount of the boat) of the fin, right.

[Da Beak]

Thanks for the help all, ST, I'll give it a try.