steering question

[mclark4642]

hey guys,

I'm new to this thread and boating in general. I have a 1972 Johnson 85 HP outboard motor on a 1989 Cajun Fish n ski. Anyway, I recently added a CMC PT-130 Power Tilt and Trim unit. However, after putting the motor back on, I realized that my steering arm (i assume that's what it's called. It's the part that's controlled by the steering wheel that actually attaches to the motor and runs parallel with the transom) can no longer reach the motor without bending it backward, which i don't want to do in fear of breaking it. The motor now sits about 6 inches back from the transom due to the power tilt/trim unit. Is there any kind of adapter arm that I can attach to the current steering arm that will go straight back to the motor? I was thinking something that would run at a 90 degree angle from the current steering arm straight back to the motor. Thanks in advance.

 

[F_R]

Re: steering question

Um..I see. You don't have a hollow tilt tube for the steering cable on that motor do you. That does complicate things. Sorry, I don't have the answer.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: steering question

i've never hit this problem either. let's ponder on this one. ok this is what i came up with, have a fabricator, make a u channel that will fit tightly around the steering arm, and come out the the cable connector. this is going to cut down on your turning radius, tight turns. but it is steering. going to notify F_R, to leave his opinion of my thoughts.
Disclaimer, i take no responsibilty for design.

 

[mclark4642]

Re: steering question

thanks guys for your comments.

F_R, when you said hollow tilt, can you clarify what that is, or where it would be placed? Sorry, I'm kinda new to this.
Thanks again.

 

[mclark4642]

Re: steering question

hey guys,

okay i was doing some research online. To further clarify what I am seeing on my boat, the actuator rod (assuming that's what the rod is called that slides in and out when turning the steering wheel) is NOT threaded through the tilt tube on the motor. The actuator rod basically just "hovers" directly in front of the motor and originally mounted directly to the tiller arm (basically just a small piece located on the front of the motor where there was a screw holding the 2 together. I do not have any kind of a "drag link" that attaches from the actuator rod to the tiller arm of the motor. Would this drag link be what I needed to make up the space between the actuator and the motor? Here is a link to the page I was looking at to give me the terms and part names I was using. Please take a look and see if that makes sense?
The diagram I am referring to for the part names is located under the "Torque Correction" section: http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/standardTransomBracket.html

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: steering question

can you post some pictures of your situation. like a dummy i forgot the idea.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: steering question

you can up load to a free service like photobucket.com then you choose the pictures you want( clik the little box at the bottom left of the picture) scrool to the bottom of the page, clik generate html, it will take you to the next page, scroll down to thumb nails clik on that and copy, then insert it into your post.

also if you are planing on posting pictures, you can use the Blue post reply or the go advanced, manage attachments, there you can upload , directly from your computer. besure you pictures have been resized to fit the format

 

[F_R]

Re: steering question

I have no doubt tashasdaddy's idea will work, but at greatly reduced steering arc. I'm afraid you would get very quickly unhappy. But I don't have any better ideas up my sleeve.

EDIT: Oops, how about tilting interference? You will have a heck of a tilting arc also.

 

[mclark4642]

Re: steering question

okay, i tried it on photobucket. I hope these work. Basically, i took a few pictures of both the actuator and what I was calling the tiller arm, which is just the 2 little loops that the actuator was direclty mounting to with a screw holding it altogether. I should note that this piece is allowed to swivel, though when the actuator was mounted, it was mounted when this piece was swiveled to the right, thus locking it into place,which kept it from swiveling when the steering wheel was turned.

 

[F_R]

Re: steering question

What you have is standard push-pull cable steering with transom mount. The outer housing is mounted to the transom, near the boot, and the cable end attached to the tiller arm by a rod end kit. That was the normal way to rig that motor when it was mounted normally. Now that you have set it back you have a hookup problem. We understand the problem, just don't have the solution. I suggest you contact CMC's customer service dept. Surely they are aware of the problem.

 

[mclark4642]

Re: steering question

okay thanks! I wasn't sure what this assembly was called, so at least now I know! I'll try CMC and see what they say. Thanks again for looking at it.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: steering question

This what I use to mate my steering to my 1972 Johnson 65hp motor. It is available through the Donovan Marine Catalog, and I paid $200 for it. Basically, all it does it to provide the tube that the 1972 and older motors didn't have.

For your application, you would have to replace your push/pull cable with a longer one that does not attach to the spash well. You would also have to have a stainless control arm fabricated with a setback in it to operate correctly with your motor position. Since this is the case, and there is nothing particulary special about the transom bracket in the kit that I bought, I would find a decent fabrication shop and have them build the whole thing. I suspect that the system would cost you less that way.

I think the only tricky part of this exercise, will involve making sure that the control arm doesn't bind in any of the possible tilt angles, that involve running the motor. You might also talk to Cook Manufacturing because they may have seen this problem before and may have some ideas.

Hope this helps.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: steering question

i agree with F_R.