how come new boats don't come with Hydraulic steering automatically?

[SeaDooSam]

Almost no small runabouts have power steering. If your stingray has it that is really weird. Never owned an I/O that had it and neither does my current 350HP inboard - not even an option to get it.

Are you sure? I know many I/Os that have it. Even our 18 ft chap has it.

 

[roffey]

Just for the record, my1982 wellcraft suncruiser 255, 85 Thrundrctaft (4 cylinder 488) and my current boat (2014 Stingray 4.3) all had power steering. I am %100 confident as I had to check the fluid in all three. This topic is all news to me, I thought all boats over 15 feet with say over 100hp had power steering. Interesting.... opcorn:

 

[GA_Boater]

This thread is not about power steering. Please read the 1st post about HYDRAULIC STEERING. The thread has been hijacked 6 ways from Sunday.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Rotary?

Yes thank you.

 

[roffey]

I thought power steering was hydraulic, now you really have me confused, LOL.

 

[roffey]

I need some education here, I looked it up and power steering is hydraulic, I'm not trying to hijack this thread and if you people want I will start a new thread and ask the question.

 

[GA_Boater]

Power steering is hydraulically assisted steering. A boat (or car) can be steered with a broken pump. belt or no juice. Not easily, but it can be steered.

Hydraulic steering has no solid connection to the steering. No juice, no steer.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I need some education here, I looked it up and power steering is hydraulic, I'm not trying to hijack this thread and if you people want I will start a new thread and ask the question.

Anything that is driven by a liquid is Hydraulic. A water driven grain mill is hydraulic. Same goes for water driven electrical turbine. That\s why we incorrectly call all electricity here in most of Canada, Hydro.

 

[GA_Boater]

Anything that is driven by a liquid is Hydraulic. A water driven grain mill is hydraulic. Same goes for water driven electrical turbine. That\s why we incorrectly call all electricity here in most of Canada, Hydro.

Anything that is driven by a liquid is Hydraulic. - Agree.

Power steering is not hydraulic driven. The assist is liquid driven, not the steering function itself.

 

[Fed]

I drove a mates boat with hydraulic steering & hated it, it felt like I was driving a bus.

 

[roffey]

Power steering is hydraulically assisted steering. A boat (or car) can be steered with a broken pump. belt or no juice. Not easily, but it can be steered.

Hydraulic steering has no solid connection to the steering. No juice, no steer.

Thank you, makes sense.

 

[Fed]

Hydraulic will feel easier to turn because they generally have a lower ratio than cable, I think maybe 5 turns lock to lock hydraulic compared to 3 turns for cable.
Don't let that confuse you, the bigger the number the lower the ratio, just like a diff ratio or premix ratio.

 

[SeaDooSam]

This thread is not about power steering. Please read the 1st post about HYDRAULIC STEERING. The thread has been hijacked 6 ways from Sunday.

Oh I see sorry. I didn't know there was a difference. Thanks for the explaination.

 

[82rude]

Cost would be my answer to the op,s question.Ive personally never driven a boat be it outboard or I/o that I felt I needed assisted steering.If your steering is getting harder to use a mear 100 or so fixes that to new again.Less to go wrong alsf course a existing medical issue could be eased with assisted steering like m.s or the likes.

 

[bashr52]

I went from cable steering on my 15ft tri hull with an 85 hp Chrysler (which was a new setup and really smooth) to a 4.3 mercruiser on my new 21ft center console with power steering. Night and day difference, not sure I would want to try and steer the thing without it...

 

[ib18]

wow, so many comments in just a couple days. I learned so much. Ya, I was asking my friend about whether he has hydraulic steering in his I/O boat and he said he didn't think so and then he remembered it was a power assist so the steering for his I/O 25 feet boat was easy.

yes, I could buy another cable. But, I actually bought the new cable in 2014 and used it for 2 seasons. It stuck in the old rusty tilt tube again. It was a royal pain in the rear. So, didn't want to replace cable every 2 years. The alternative is to replace the tilt tube but I totally forgot about it until somebody from this forum mentioned it - LOL. I would think replacing the tilt tube would be as hard as installing a hydraulic.

​Well, my DIY installation didn't just take 3 hours - LOL, It took me I think more like 12 hours, my friend 2 hours and my wife 30 minutes. LOL - I had the steering reversed at my first test drive. I was cracking up at the boat ramp. I could not believe I had it wrong. It turned out the motor side labelled port as the right side of the motor - totally counter intuitive.

​This weekend weather will be nice here in DC, and I will take it out for a spin. I think I fixed the steering problem after I reversed them in 10 minutes (thought I did it in 5 min - LOL)

 

[ib18]

No Title

picture is from the user install menu -

 

[Old Ironmaker]

You didn't install the new cable properly. It is not easy. I didn't remove the 115 HP to feed in the cable. I had to cut a good size slot to make the 90 degree turn with the new shaft. The shaft going into the non grease able sleeve and the sleeve was rock hard with old grease. Took a bit to clean it off and out without scoring it. Easy peesy Lemon squeezy. The new cable should last you 20 years like mine did. I didn't add grease nipples but I will, it's on the to do list, maybe. I won't have this boat in 20 years from now. You missed something replacing the old cable.

 

[ib18]

You didn't install the new cable properly. It is not easy. I didn't remove the 115 HP to feed in the cable. I had to cut a good size slot to make the 90 degree turn with the new shaft. The shaft going into the non grease able sleeve and the sleeve was rock hard with old grease. Took a bit to clean it off and out without scoring it. Easy peesy Lemon squeezy. The new cable should last you 20 years like mine did. I didn't add grease nipples but I will, it's on the to do list, maybe. I won't have this boat in 20 years from now. You missed something replacing the old cable.

​Well, it was working beautifully in 2014 after my initial install, so not sure what I did wrong. Can you somehow show me with a picture or watch my cable install videos so I know what I did wrong. The second time after I cleaned it, it was working for a few trips not more than 5 and started to bind again. I thought it was the rust that caused the binding every few months.

 

[ib18]

No Title

Here is another smart cable steering setup which work as good per the boat owner. His boat is 1970 older than mine by 4 years. His motor is 1986 Johnson 90hp which is 4 years younger than my 1982 Johnson 90. He said he can let go the steering wheel and boat will go straight. The through tilt tube cable installation simply won't allow you do that. You let go the steering wheel then the boat will go every where except going straight. So, his steering is almost as good as a hydraulic steering and much cheaper because it was a cable steering.