Steering cable issues

[knelems]

Seems like most of our steering cables last only a few years if the boat is kept on a lift.Seems if the boat is stored level,like most Hydrohoists do,water stands in the cable and it prematurely fails. I say this is unacceptable and upsets many customers.It can be fixed at the factory with some simple engineeing changes,IMO.But none have been forthcoming. My friend's 1982 Nautique that he bought new still has the original cable. Today we put a new cable in a 2005 24V with 116 hours,next week we will put one in a 2007 24VE with 62 hours. Am I offbase to be upset? Please share your thoughts.Robert Nelems

[Tanner]

Nope. I'm doing the 24V this weekend that has 70 hours. It actually needed it last year.

[TeamAllen]

I just replaced the cable for the first time last year on my 97. That's 11 years

Mine is a Direct Drive though and not on a lift.

[kko]

I work on every brand seen them all fail early. MC, BU, CC ,Centurion, Tige.We have found grounding the steering cable to eliminate electrolosis(sp)like they do on sterndirve boats has lenghtend cable life quite a bit.
IMPO i think the make-up of the materials inside the cable have changed as i do agree the ones from the 80's seem to last much longer.but this is just MPO.

[zad0030]

Its something that needs to be changed every once in a while just like a battery.

[knelems]

I have to respectfully disagree. Steering cables typically last for years and years. My 1968 Switzer Shooting Star still has the original cable. The difference is it it not submerged in water from day one.Tige uses Teleflex cables,the very best you can buy,but they are not designed to be underwater all the time,as is the case with Tige V-drives on lifts. My customer with her 2 year old 24VE cannot understand why she has to spend several hundred dollars for a new cable,and I understand her concern. A simple redesign will eliminate the problem.I cannot tell a customer that if he puts the boat on a lift that the cable will fail in 2-3 years.90% of our buyers use Hydrohoist lifts,which keeps the cable in water,which it is not designed for.It is a frustrating problem for us,which is why I started this thread to get some comments and ideas.Thanks for the input.

[dogbert]

Run the steering cable over the tank and it won't be submerged.

[wrinkles]

I keep my 2006 20v on a lift. It has 150 hours, and I replaced the cable today. I have had other boats in the past and have never had to replace one...$180 for the cable. 1.5 hours to replace. But at least I can steer my boat now...

[zad0030]

Well Im going to have to respectfully agree to you.

You see like its been stated, this is a problem with all inboard tow boats. And sure there are ways to keep the cable out of the water but I think that the problem is not the cable itself in the water but the connection between the rudder and cable. That whole mechanism there, I dont really know what to call it. Also its seems to have been proven that an electric current builds up on the cable which corrodes it faster. This is not the case for I/Os beccause, they dont have rudders. Think about it, when the boat is on the lift, you aren't able to drain it. So when you take the boat out the water sloshes around in the back and gets all over that mechanism while the friction is building static electricity along the hull and channels it into the rudder and then to the cable which is wet and corrodes. I remember when mine was going out I investigated the rudder and when the wheel was turned I found water bubbling out of that rubber stopper thats on the metal rod.(I know). When on the trailer you can start dry each time preventing the build up of water in the bilge.

What is there to redesign? I mean you can re-route the cable but eventually it has to come back down to the bilge floor and connect with the rudder, which is what I see as the most vulnerable part. You can switch to a DBW style steering system, but then you have an electronic devices in your bilge, being bashed and soaked in water, thats just begging to fail. At least with a steering cable It will not fail instantly on you and ruin your day on the water.

[FIC]

We have every brand out there comes into our shop and all have had failure in the same time frame, the cables made in the 80s were made by morse cables and had a higher content of stainless, also I dont care if you run the cable over or under the tank it will fail.
I highly reccomend the grounding of all steering hardware, if you have a MC SS in your area , take a peak at there rudder assembly under the engine,they call it bonding, we were doing this mod back in 2005 on all of the boats that left our shop, and have had virtually no failure untill the boat has high hours, or normal wear.
Also if you would like to test my theory , take a volt meter hook the ground to ground bar under dash, hook the positive to the steering rack and zero meter before hooking up positive , start the boat and move through the water, dependent on the elements in your water in your area, here in fla on our lakes we generate any where from .02 to 1.0 volts which is enough to errode the cable. Some lakes generate without moving.

[kko]

My boat does not have water standing in it ever i pull the rear drain plug and jack the front way up like a rocket launcher so all water drains out and when it rains all that water gets out as well.I bought my boat used and never did the grounding modification because i was lazy well now my cable is going bad i can still use it its just not as easy as it should be.Im going to try and get the rest of the season out of it but if not i will replace it and add ground straps.then my cable will last FOREVER ok atleast longer than 1 1/2-2yrs.The bottom line to me on the cables and rudder design as far as layout goes really has not changed much its the inners of the cable.I mean for yrs the cables sat on the floor of the boat got covered/sat in water and would last much longer.Now all of a sudden they get water in them and fail much faster they have always been getting water in them.So you see the thing that has changed is what/how they are making the cable not what the boat manufactures are doing IMPO.Call teleflex and ask them.Let us know what they say.
Im not real sure about the whole hydrohoist(not sure what that is I assume it lifts boat all the way out of the water). but we have also started adding a center drain to our custumers boats that stay on a lift so they can drain water they get in their boats to try and cut down on mildew issues wich is the biggest pain in the azz here in FL you could ever imagine.We add a larger hatch cover over V-box and insatll drain plug right next to V-box at lowest point.If you think water in cable is an issue get the water out by adding this drain.But i would also ground the cable.
This simple redesign would you care to share it with us?

[dogbert]

Im not real sure about the whole hydrohoist(not sure what that is I assume it lifts boat all the way out of the water). but we have also started adding a center drain to our custumers boats that stay on a lift so they can drain water they get in their boats to try and cut down on mildew issues wich is the biggest pain in the azz here in FL you could ever imagine.We add a larger hatch cover over V-box and insatll drain plug right next to V-box at lowest point.If you think water in cable is an issue get the water out by adding this drain.But i would also ground the cable.
This simple redesign would you care to share it with us?

The old 21Vs had a center drain plug. Mine came that way...getting to it is a pain in the rear because I have the table option...so no access panel. But I trailer mine most of the time so it's not a big deal.