Boat wont go straight.

[raalexa]

Just got this boat and when at low speeds it walks side to side. I have to keep turning the wheel to compensate. Its bad. Trim down or up its the same. 22 foot Tahoe Deck boat with I/O alpha 1 stern drive. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

That's pretty common and probably normal. Verify that the drive does not have side to side play. Assuming it's tight, learn to anticipate how it's going to move and turn the wheel ahead of time. It takes practice.

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

What he said. If no slack in the steering turn about 1/2 of what you have been doing and wait a few seconds. then do that each time. If your headed towards a concrete bridge at 40 knots disregard my advice.

 

[boat1010]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Welcome to iboats.. Like Mischief said. That is pretty normal.. Mine does it quite a bit..I normally just let it "wagal" by it's self. Of coures if there arn't any other boats around.

 

[wifisher]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Did you check for a loose nut behind the steering wheel?

 

[emoney]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Sounds to me like your boat is fubar. Take it out to the middle of the lake/gulf/ocean and sink it. Sorry.
Or, what they said is more than likely right. Either way.

The more you drive that beast, the less often this problem will occur. Assuming everything's right, that's just the nature of the beast and I've seen "experienced boaters", waffle all the way out a channel before. btw.....pics or it did NOT happen......I'm just sayin'

 

[NYBo]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Welcome to iboats!

As noted, low speed wander is SOP for most V-hull boats. There is a great tendency to over-correct with the helm, so try to reduce how far you're turning the wheel.

 

[superbenk]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Trim tabs can often help alleviate this wander. SmartTabs are cheap, idiot-proof & do a nice job of fixing this in small boats. Obviously more expensive adjustable tabs are even better.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Trim tabs can often help alleviate this wander. SmartTabs are cheap, idiot-proof & do a nice job of fixing this in small boats. Obviously more expensive adjustable tabs are even better.

+1 on Smart Tabs for your size. Good cheap fix, wander will be greatly improved.

 

[burp]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Slow speed wander is pretty common with a V hull......as long as it doesn't do it when the boat is on the trailer.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

it is what it is...common in I/Os
learn to make small corrections slightly before they occur- just practice- no big deal.

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

Like they said, there's probably nothing you can do--other than install trim tabs. I put them on my inboard outboard, and they should be standard on every boat. I love being able to plane out the boat at 10 mph. When you get the fat women all sitting on one side, you can drop one tab and make the boat ride level. Needless to say, you can pull skiers/tubes much easier from a dead stop when your boat doesn't get the bow rise. They're just great things to have.

 

[Bry1324]

Re: Boat wont go straight.

good to know its pretty common i just took my boat out for the first time last saturday and was worried, after you get used to it though its nothing just literally go with the flow


happy boating