Stiff Steering

[SquamInboards]

Has anyone encountered a problem with their steering becoming stiff for any reason. For no apparent reason it happened on our '98 NSS while out on the water last weekend and the cables all look fine as well as the rudder.

[darrel409]

RE: Stiff Steering

Its the inside of the cable that gets bad. Yellow_Flash_Colorz: Try removing the cable at the rudder. By process of elimination you can determine if its the rudder or the cable binding.

[Califoiler]

RE: Stiff Steering

I have a 99 Air Nautique that had the same problem last weekend, first time on the water this year and the steering started out stiff and got worse the longer we were out. The rudder is buried under the ballast tanks, in order to check the cable at the rudder I'd have to remove the tanks right? Any other suggestions besides taking the boat to the dealer?

[tiqueman97]

RE: Stiff Steering

Crazy!!! I was going to start a new thread on this same topic this evening. Ive got a 97 SSN. A few months ago I noticed my steering getting a little tough to operate. Also my tilt steering helm had a wobble. I took it all apart, got most of the wobble out of it, greased/ silicone sprayed what I could and reassembled the helm. Also cleaned up and greased the cable back at the rudder. Worked BEAUTIFULLY when I was done. Hadnt had the boat out in about 2 weeks, took it out this past Sunday and came in early because we couldnt turn the darn thing. As highfoildaddy said, it got worse the longer we were out. I went through the process of elimination and determined it is the cable, which I had replaced about 3 years ago. A contributing factor is I use my boat primarily in brackish water and it sees true salt water once every couple months. I called CC and was told thats about normal. (Woody at South East CC) The stink of it it, as many of you probably already know, the factory Teleflex cable is a custom cable specifically made for CC boats. Apparently they have more "throw" and also have the larger price to go along with it. So guess what Im doing next weekend???

[wesman]

RE: Stiff Steering

Wow! Guess all of us with NSS's have steering cables go out at the same time! I had my 95 NSS out last Sunday and it was really hard to steer! Has anyone here changed out a steering cable on a NSS? I checked with my local dealer and they wanted about $300 labor to just replace the cable (the cable was another $200!!)!! OUCH! They said it takes them 3.5 hours to replace the cable on a NSS. I was told that you had to remove alot of the floor to get to the cable. Any advice or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!

[tiqueman97]

RE: Stiff Steering

I replaced my cable myself about 3 years ago. 97 SSN, Not hard at all. Take out the rear seat back, remove rear seat cusions and rear seat bottom frame. Slide the driver seat all the way foward and pull out your center floor piece. Undo the 4 bolts at the helm (behind the dash where the steering cable connects) and now the uncomfortable part, remove the vertical piece that keeps things off the starboard (driver) side of your engine and crawl in there and unscrew the large nut that secures the cable to the rear housing as well as unbolt the cable from your rudder. Also, examine as much of the cable as you can get to because it is held in place with zip ties. Now, if memory serves me correctly, I think I pulled the cable from the ski locker in the floor and pushed the rack end of the cable through the floor. Oh yeah, remove the kick panel thats at your feet while sitting in the drivers seat. Once I had that end out and out of the ski locker, I just pulled it from there (towards the front of the boat) and out it came. Also, if I remember correctly, the cable goes through some short pieces of pvc runs under the floor up inside the ski locker. ... Maybe I did pull it all out from under the dash... Aw heck, I will get back with you Saturday...

It wasnt much more than 2 hours. And it really wasnt hard at all.

[tiqueman97]

RE: Stiff Steering

Okay, I just finished replacing my cable on a beautiful Saturday morning/ afternoon. Took about 2-1/2 hrs. Most difficult part was breaking the steering cable nut at the tubing near the rudder loose. I had to put vice grips on the tubing because it was spinning in the bracket that mounts to the stringer. That nut took about 30 minutes of "screwing" with to break loose and get out. I Pulled the entire cable out from under the steering wheel. Took 2 people, one to guide the cable where it is routed under the floor along the gas tank, and I laying under the helm pulling it out through the hole in the floor. I think I spent more time taking the boat apart to get to things than I did actually replacing the cable. Puting the new cable in and connecting it at the rudder and the rack to the helm took about 15 minutes. I can turn it w/ my pinky now, Yeeeeeaahhh!!!!! Oh and while I was at it I did a bit of vaccuming and cleaning as well.

Hope this helps...

[wake_fun]

RE: Stiff Steering

Does anyone's steering wheel have a lot of movement from left to right 1-2 inches, before the rudder even moves? I have a dead zone in my steering that I can't stand. Would this be caused by that rack and pinion or what?

[ally606]

The helm on my '97 Sport is also very tight however only noticable under load. If the boat is just idling along, the steering is really light however when doing any reasonable speed it tightens up and seems worse in one direction as opposed to the other.
My furst thoughts were to re-grease the rudder to improve matters, however if the above description is of a cable on it's last legs I may as well replace it when I have the boat in bits to get at the rudder.

[TRDon]

I have allys problem on my 93 sport. I was told it might be torque steer from the propeller direction but I havent confirmed that.

[ally606]

an inboard will always steer heavier to one side than the other, prop rotation, rudder position etc will affect this.

I'm going to go for the cheap option first, pack the rudder box with new grease and fit a greas zerk while I am at it. If this does not solve the problem then it looks like a new cable will be on the wish list.

[boatech]

if its stiff on the trailer its the cable. if its only stiff while boat in motion the rudder port is worn grease might help but pretty much your looking at having to repalce it. and yes cc is harder to turn one way than the other thats just the way they are.

[TRDon]

is there any way to make the truning bias better?

[bobchris]

is there any way to make the truning bias better?

you have to file on the rudder or have the newer style tunable rudder to adjust the bias out. Or in other words make the feel of the rudder equal in either direction. The new boats have the adjustable rudders so that it isn't harder to steer one way or the other.

[TRDon]

Is there a how-to for rudder filing so I know how to go about it?