Why does my steering seem too tight?

[RID22]

Sup, I need some help! My wife and I went out yesterday for the first time this season and our RZ4 doesn't feel right. The steering is really tight, kind of like a car without power steering. This may sound dumb, but could it be a power steering issue? Do we even have power steering on Tige's?

[da.bell]

There isn't power steering in a boat but sounds like your steering cable needs to be lubed or exchanged for a new one. Unfortunately, it's a common issue with Tige's.

Welcome back. Apparently you didn't have anyone interested in your boat yet.

[Timmy!]

Boats do have power steering. I thought Tige's did as well? I think there's even a cooler for the steering fluid that runs along the port side next to the engine. The first year I winterized mine they told me to pull the drain plug on the cooler for that so that it didn't freeze. I might be wrong but for some reason that is what I am remembering that it was.

EDIT - just looked at the manual (online), we don't have power steering on our boats. My Rinker had it for sure though and I know it's an option on a lot of I/O's.

[dogbert]

Time for a new steering cable.

[RID22]

Steering Cable... I'll call my tige dealer to see if they can check it out. Thanks for the help.

On my boat - We had tons of interested buyers, nobody could get financing or they thought I would be willing to loose 20k. I don't understand why people think someone who is capable enough to earn the money to buy a really expensive boat, would then be dumb enough to sell it for 20k less than the market. Why wouldn't I just save the 20k and keep the boat, morons! It's actually really annoying. I keep joking with my wife that we've sold 20ft of our 24ft boat about 100 times, nobody can afford the extra 4 feet. I get a call or email on it about every two days. We don't care if it sells or not, we would just buy another boat. Hopefully, Tige builds a version of the mastercraft X-55 with the 8.1 by the time our boat sells. We really want a bit bigger boat, keep in mind we only surf. My wife is close to a competition level water skier, so she belongs to a ski lake. She never gets behind our boat unless were surfing, a big boat makes sense for us.

It's good to see the same people on this site, it looks like the majority of the same people are still going strong with their Tiges!

[Micah]

Just had my steering cable replaced a couple weeks ago and it turns like a dream. It went from having to wrench on it with two hands to turning it with one finger.

[dogbert]

Here's a tip on making your steering cable last longer. Try turning it all the way to the left. This will retract the portion of your cable that gets corroded all the way into the sheath so it stays lubed.

[mtnsmith]

Steering cable is probably the culprit as has already been pointed out. If you do it yourself or have the dealer do it, make sure they route the new one on top of the gas tank instead of under it, that seems to be the main reason some only get a season out of their first steering cable. Mine has been used in saltwater for almost 3 years now and is still butter smooth.

Power steering is typically only found on smaller boats that are sterndrives because a small rudder on an inboard is quite easy to turn versus an outdrive. You will find bigger inboards with power steering, but they are going to be hydraulic as well. It's amazing how much harder a non power steering sterndrive is to drive than one with power steering.

[RID22]

What's up Micah, we didn't see you on the lake yesterday. It was a total zoo at Chatfield, did you go to Ray Lay's lake?

I'll take my boat up to Bills this week, I know wrenching isn't my strong suit.

[Tanner]

Nuck'n,

Save the $300 the dealer is gonna charge you. Do it yourself, it's really pretty easy. I just did my first one the other day. It's definately looks more intimidating than it really is! Here's all the info you'll need.....

http://tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7338

[zany]

There is a three year warranty on the steering cable, parts not labor. Check with your dealer. I just had mine replaced.

[Micah]

Hey Michael, yeah we were there early and left early. I'll keep an eye out for your boat, kinda hard to miss. Hope all is well with your family, good to see you on the site again.

[zad0030]

There isn't power steering in a boat but sounds like your steering cable needs to be lubed or exchanged for a new one. Unfortunately, it's a common issue with Tige's.

Welcome back. Apparently you didn't have anyone interested in your boat yet.

Common issue on all inboards...




Seriously doesnt anyone search before they post? There has got to be atleast 100 threads on this. One was started yesterday. Sorry...

[mcd]

I had a similar problem. I dropped the rudder and greased it. Didn't help. It was the cable!

[KTLW]

I think I need to replace mine - how much does the steering cable usually cost?