craze1cars
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2004
- Messages
- 1,822
1999 Stingray 200LX 20 ft bowrider, Volvo 5.0GL 220 hp with SX drive. Getting things fixed up with help from many here and it's now running great....
One problem, not sure if this is an issue with the drive, prop, hull design, steering or what....so please advise if I am posting this in the wrong forum...
On hard launch take-off (especially when pulling a skiier out of the water from a stop), the steering wheel pulls hard to the left. I mean you really gotta hang on tight and pull it back to the right to keep the boat from instantly turning left from a standing start. Without a skiier it doesn't pull too hard, but I have noticed the heavier the skiier, the HARDER it pulls left. Yet as soon as the boat planes, the pull goes away COMPLETELY and it goes straight and true...steering either direction becomes super-easy unless I go to a fairly high speed (30 to 35 mph) full lock turn. In that situation it will be very difficult to pull back out of the full lock turn without throttling back first.
It has power steering, which seems to be working fine (one finger super-easy back and forth steering at normal cruising speeds, etc), and generally this boat is much easier to steer than the manual steering Mercruiser 3.0 that I have grown used to driving. Except for this hard left pull at take-off. And my old 3.0/manual steer would do that quick whip-around turn at higher speeds notably better, and I wouldn't have to wrestle it back straight as hard as this one when coming out of the U-turn. Same for my buddies 5.0 Mercruiser with power steering that we sometimes use. This launch/turn pull characteristic seems unique to only my boat.
Before the safety patrol replies about driving habits...our ski bay with slalom course is long and narrow. When we exit the course and get to the end of the bay, we whip the boat around in a tight circle, cross back over our own wake, and continue skiing right back into the same course we came from...therefore the tight 30mph U-turns are pretty much a requirement for skiing this lake, unless you want to run aground, or drop the skiier and make him/her waste valuable energy doing another unnecsssary deepwater start. The 2nd slalom course we sometimes tow to is on a river that's not very wide. Exact same situation. Narrow U-turns at speed are necessary.
My current 3 blade prop that came with the boat is pretty chewed up, and I'm shopping for a new one (separate topic is in prop section). I ask there if a 4 blade might help solve or reduce this pull. If so, GREAT! But I'm also posting here because I want to know if there any mechanical steering or drive issue I should be looking for that would cause this? I'm especially interested in getting rid of the hard left pull on launch so the ladies will have an easier time getting skiiers out of the water without wrestling the wheel.
This drive does not have a trim tab to adjust (that I can find anyway). Boat travels straight and level when on plane with no pull at all...even with hands completely off the wheel. Wider sweeping turns are effortless and smooth in both directions at any speed.
Thoughts? Thank you.
One problem, not sure if this is an issue with the drive, prop, hull design, steering or what....so please advise if I am posting this in the wrong forum...
On hard launch take-off (especially when pulling a skiier out of the water from a stop), the steering wheel pulls hard to the left. I mean you really gotta hang on tight and pull it back to the right to keep the boat from instantly turning left from a standing start. Without a skiier it doesn't pull too hard, but I have noticed the heavier the skiier, the HARDER it pulls left. Yet as soon as the boat planes, the pull goes away COMPLETELY and it goes straight and true...steering either direction becomes super-easy unless I go to a fairly high speed (30 to 35 mph) full lock turn. In that situation it will be very difficult to pull back out of the full lock turn without throttling back first.
It has power steering, which seems to be working fine (one finger super-easy back and forth steering at normal cruising speeds, etc), and generally this boat is much easier to steer than the manual steering Mercruiser 3.0 that I have grown used to driving. Except for this hard left pull at take-off. And my old 3.0/manual steer would do that quick whip-around turn at higher speeds notably better, and I wouldn't have to wrestle it back straight as hard as this one when coming out of the U-turn. Same for my buddies 5.0 Mercruiser with power steering that we sometimes use. This launch/turn pull characteristic seems unique to only my boat.
Before the safety patrol replies about driving habits...our ski bay with slalom course is long and narrow. When we exit the course and get to the end of the bay, we whip the boat around in a tight circle, cross back over our own wake, and continue skiing right back into the same course we came from...therefore the tight 30mph U-turns are pretty much a requirement for skiing this lake, unless you want to run aground, or drop the skiier and make him/her waste valuable energy doing another unnecsssary deepwater start. The 2nd slalom course we sometimes tow to is on a river that's not very wide. Exact same situation. Narrow U-turns at speed are necessary.
My current 3 blade prop that came with the boat is pretty chewed up, and I'm shopping for a new one (separate topic is in prop section). I ask there if a 4 blade might help solve or reduce this pull. If so, GREAT! But I'm also posting here because I want to know if there any mechanical steering or drive issue I should be looking for that would cause this? I'm especially interested in getting rid of the hard left pull on launch so the ladies will have an easier time getting skiiers out of the water without wrestling the wheel.
This drive does not have a trim tab to adjust (that I can find anyway). Boat travels straight and level when on plane with no pull at all...even with hands completely off the wheel. Wider sweeping turns are effortless and smooth in both directions at any speed.
Thoughts? Thank you.
