New Helm / Steering Cable

RWilson2526 · #1 07-02-2012, 08:00 PM

Well got my first tow the other weekend....about 15 miles away from the ramp and coming around the hook and the helm lets go. Had a nice relaxing tow back to the ramp by TowBoat US. (The whole tow experience by the way was effortless so if you have the insurance obviously dont ever hesitate to call them).

Anyway came home and started my research about cable/helm replacement. This was my procedure that I gathered from multiple people on this site. Sorry if I dont credit everyone as I cant remember who did what...but you know who you are.

Went with the Uflex NFB system based soley on multiple recommendations from Spareparts. I also like their claims of a longer lasting design with the 3 gears vs the one large one on the teleflex.

Went with the 17' cable. A 16' cable will definitely work but the extra foot doesnt seem to effect anything.

Get the old cable out any way you want....bolt cutters and a grinder with cut off wheel make short work of it.

I removed the rod box. Fed cable in from the rear. With the rod box out there is no effort at all getting it up to the access hole up by the binnacle. I thought it would be harder but you can actually feed the cable forward with your right arm in the access hole and with your left arm through the hole where the glove box is you can just grab the end of the cable and get it through the hole into the space.

pull some extra cable out through the glove box holeand mount your helm and then slide back in and mount.

The only mistake I made is that the existing helm is 90 degrees but the bezel is angled . The bezel that comes with the kit is also 90 degrees so now my wheel is at a slightly different angle than originally. Still feels very comfortable and I dont even remember a difference.

Finally at least on my 86 the motor does have to be unbolted to get the solid portion of the cable into the tilt tube. Maybe on the early 80's and 70's model with the wider splash well you may not but on the models with splash wells like mine there aint no way around it.

Last thing to do now is figure out how to loosen my pivot point on my motor because its kind of tight which was probably what contributed to my problem in the first place.

Destroyer · #2 07-02-2012, 09:49 PM

Nice job Rob..thanks for the pics and pointers

Genie Aye · #3 07-02-2012, 11:20 PM

You have taken on a rough job fiting that cable in there--I cut mine off as well--hoping to sell it--only had 2 years on mine(dual cable NFB), but no other way to get it out except unmounting the motr and sliding the cable out.

I have the same well and to get mine in or out you had to unbolt the motor!!

I went and bought a Marol hyd steering unit and will never look back----But definitly more money--but will not have to replace it like steering cables--I hope anyways.

knock on wood.

3 years into it and still one finger
steering

SkunkBoat · #4 07-04-2012, 08:01 PM

FYI- The PO of my boat cut a slot from the normal hole back towards the transom to replace a steering cable without removing the motor. That worked for the Merc 150 that was on it. That may be an option for some...

Now I have a Suzuki 140. When it was mounted, all of the cables and fuel line went thru a new boot in the normal hole and I had an ugly open slot running back towards the transom.
This spring project was to clean all that up and cover the big hole.

Unfortunately the steering cable JUST doesnt come out and I'm afraid to force it that last 1/4 inch for fear of bending the rod. So I left the steering cable in that boot and moved the other cables into a new boot. I now have 2 cable boots. The normal position has the throttle/shift/wiring and the "rear" one has the steering cable and fuel line. I used black 1/4" starboard to clean it up

Wish I had a good pic of it. You can see it in the background of these pix.

I do like it back there. The steering cable goes into the motor on a very straight angle.

reelapeelin · #5 07-04-2012, 09:00 PM

I think ya did good goin' w/the Uniflex...the Teleflex is a larger helm and is more difficult to get it up into the dash than yours looked...that old fart down in Goose creek does know what he's talkin' about...

You can tell from the pics you were paid up w/TowBoats...cuz you were SMILIN'!!...

Did you figure out how to loosen up the pivot shaft yet?...glad you got to take the wheel on REEL Deal for a while!!...

Blue_Runner · #6 07-05-2012, 02:02 PM

Well, you can certainly tell Rob has been hanging out with Oz lately. Saying stuff like "ain't" and all....

Rob I went thru 2 NFB cables in less than 2 years. First one was pretty dangerous when it went. I finally went with seastar hydraulic. I figured at the rate I was going through cables I couldn't afford not to do it! Ain't nothin a thousand bucks can't cure!

captpete13 · #7 07-07-2012, 09:39 PM

glad to see you are getting your money's worth out of your membership. I agree with Dave. Uflex is the way to go with cable steering and controls. And for that matter,they make good hydraulic steering too. I am also glad to see you got them speakers installed. How do they sound?

ssiredfish · #8 07-08-2012, 02:41 PM

I share your pain!!!!! I was out last week and had the same thing happen to me. Unfortunatley I was 20mi offshore when mine seized.......

I made the 20mi run back to the sound on my trim tabs, by then I could get about 1/2 turn outta the wheel. Made it to the docks but it was INTERESTING to say the least........

RWilson2526 · #9 07-08-2012, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelapeelin

You can tell from the pics you were paid up w/TowBoats...cuz you were SMILIN'!!...

r:

you can see that relaxed posture huh?..... got the settlement letter in them mail the other day.....tow boat us paid the tower $975.00 for that tow. I know i've paid my $150 a year for a while now but its still better than forkin over a grand to drag you back to the ramp.

spareparts · #10 07-09-2012, 07:10 AM

i was talking to a friend of mine that happened to boating up on the lake(Moultrie, about 35 miles inland), he made the comment that everyone up there was so friendly. Every one waved at each other and he saw several boats lending a hand to other boaters, even towing a few in that had problems. I told them there wasn't a tow service on the lake, so every one depended on each other, and every one made the effort to be courteous (you never knew who you needed help from). Down in the salt, most have towing service and unfortunately, their attitude is I paid my annual fees, so why should you get off with a free tow! The tow companies offer a great service, it just seems to harden the attitude of what used to be a friendly hobby. Of course the attitude of the tow services around here haven't helped one bit. They can't all be as professional as Capt. Pete!