eliminating steering play

[horizon210rs]

I have a Horizon 210 RS (2018) https://www.fourwinns.com/us/boat/horizon-210-rs and I'm still baffled that there is play in the steering system. I can turn my wheel about 45 degrees in either direction before I move the direction of the prop. Is there any way to tighten the steering cable up to completely eliminate this "free play" in the steering system?

 

[alldodge]

Cable steering play will always be there but not that much. Most often there is 2 to 3 inches as measure on the outside of the helm. There is slight bit of play inside the helm gear box and the tiller arm and cable.

Turn the helm and have someone else look at the tiller arm going to the out drive. The Arm should move when the cable moves. The cable should move when the helm is turned.

If all moves as it should then verify that when the tiller arm moves the out drive does as well. Grab the outdrive and move it from the outside to see if it can be moved without the tiller arm moving or helm

 

[horizon210rs]

Why does there have to be any play at tall? When the boat is veering back and forth in direction from the prop spin and the v hull combination (at low speed not on a plane) -- you have to constantly make course corrections to go in a straight path. When that involves a minor left adjustment followed by a right adjustment (and then again in about 30 seconds) you're constantly rotating the steering wheel to get across the dead zone of "steering play". This is SUPER annoying especially when you're boating on small lakes with heavy boating traffic and other boats in close proximity. It almost feels like to me, it looks like other boaters may interpret that I can't steer my boat as it drifts back and forth due to these constant course corrections.

There has to be a way to completely eliminate the play involved in the steering system so that I can make super minor course corrections without having to constantly spin the wheel through the dead zone.

Would this involve purchasing a whole new (higher end) steering system or upgrading to a different boat manufacturer that has solved this problem?

I will look into your suggested observational aspects when I next have a friend on the boat with me @alldodge -- thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Stinnett21]

What you're describing is referred to as slow speed wander. Very common in boats this size. It has to do with pressure differences on the sides of the hull when off plane. There's almost nothing you can do about it but live with it. Trim tabs will help but not eliminate (in my experience). Now if your steering components have wear this will exacerbate the situation.

 

[Scott Danforth]

first, welcome aboard

all v-hull single propeller boats have low-speed wander

you are fighting the prop pushing the tail end sideways as the prop spins, if you did nothing to the wheel, the boat would still travel straight, however zig-zag over a 20-30 foot wide path. in order to eliminate this, you have to go to twin motors or jet drive (which has their own issues)

regarding steering slop. the helm has some slop, the cable has some slop and the steering tiller arm has slop. on a 2018, the design issues with the early drive tiller arm have been resolved, however lack of maintenance will cause wear.

additionally, if you have power steering and the motor is off, moving the helm has to move the servo valve until it bottoms prior to moving the actuator. this isnt an issue when the motor is running.

so how are you measuring this:

I can turn my wheel about 45 degrees in either direction before I move the direction of the prop. Is there any way to tighten the steering cable up to completely eliminate this "free play" in the steering system?

are you measuring by seat of the pants while in the boat in the water and under-way, if so, you are most likely fighting bow wander and over-correcting

are you measuring with the engine off? if so, the drive will move about 2-3 inches at the prop for the free-play in the power steering actuator servo valve.

are you measuring steering play with the drive tiller locked (helm and cable play), then this would be about 2 or so inches of movement of the steering wheel.

the most you can do is reduce that 2 or so inches of wheel movement to about 1 inch by upgrading from a simple cable style helm to a hydraulic system. however you can not eliminate that.

and the only way to eliminate low-speed v-hull wander is to get a boat with two motors.