2007 22ve Pulling Right

[BrentP]

Hey guys,

Experience question for you. This is my first V-Drive boat with a rudder, but I have a lot of experience on I/O boats. I'm noticing the boat "pulls" to the right, particularly at cruising speeds. The result is the steering wheel is staying turned to the left 1/4 a turn or so.

I bought the boat this fall, and the steering cable had been replaced earlier in the summer but not driven since it was completed by the local boat shop.

My question - given the style of boat, is this pretty common? Or did the service tech not get the rudder perfectly straight when he reconnected the cable under the dash?

(In summary: Should I go stomp my feet and make them fix it or is this standard).

2007 22ve 340HP Marine Power.

[UNSTUCK]

Pretty sure this is the norm. Been like this on all three of my boats.

[chpthril]

In-board ski boats are naturally loaded with a little pull. I think it was so the driver needed to keep some tension on the wheel. This helped the boat go straight through the course.

[Jetdriver]

Your boat should be butter smooth to steer and take very little effort to move at any speed after a steering cable replacement. At slower speeds the wheel will want to turn on you if you’re not holding it because of water pressure from the prop hitting it. It will be easier for the boat to track straight when on plane versus at slower speeds because of water pressure over the rudder counteracting the rudder force.
Even if the shop lined up your rudder and steering wheel dead on visually at the shop it won’t be that way on the water.
The prop pushes harder on one side of the rudder than the other under way because of prop rotation. Because of this the steering wheel needs to be turned to offset the prop a tad to account for this unequel force. Because the force on the rudder changes based on speed it will be a touch different on plane versus just putting around.
If it bothers you like it did me do this...
Make a note of your steering wheel offset at speed, stop and turn off the boat, look under your helm at the steering wheel base. It is a rack and pinion type steering setup. There will be 4 bolts holding the steering cable rack together with the wheel stem. Simply pop these bolts out, lift the cable rack off to disengage the gearing and turn the steering wheel the opposite direction to account for the angle it was off. Set the cable rack back together and bolt it back up. Bada bing your wheel wil now look straight while you’re driving straight.
I had to do the same thing after I replaced my steering cable this last summer. The offset bugged me too.
Hope this helps ya

[BrentP]

Really appreciate the quick feedback guys. I can tell you that the steering is indeed smooth, but at any speed the boat will turn by itself if you let go of the steering wheel.

It sounds like this is pretty normal. @JetDriver - It does bother me, but I have half a dozen projects that bother me more (Better sound quality, bluetooth head unit, fix the electrical that looks terrible, you know, super important stuff). As long as its not a problem, I'll torque the steering wheel at some point.

Thanks again!

[Jetdriver]

Haha, I hear that man! Priorities! I’ve got no shortage of projects myself.
It really is a quick fix and quite easy to do. I forgot to mention that I found using a really short handled socket wrench made it much easier to remove the two bolts closest to the steering wheel. It’s a tight fit. A short ratcheting wrench may work well too.

[bsreid]

That’s pretty much the norm. Sometimes if you’re listed too much to the drivers side when at speed the boat will want to turn to the right a little bit more. Add a bit of weight to the other side to level it out and see what happens.

[wired1236]

You can fix this. My mechanic did by shaving the rear edge of the rudder on the port side all the way from top to bottom. It basically gives it a shaved edge. I would send you a pic but I don’t have the boat anymore. It takes out the pull. Its amazing. The boat then didn’t have any pull and tracked perfectly straight after that.


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[Powday]

Take a look at the tracking fins and make sure they are dead straight. I bought a used 2003 22V over last winter that was pulling right more than normal and mine also had a new steering cable. The dealer I bought it from shaved the rudder (as described above) when I mentioned it after my test drive, but that didn't fix it. Discovered my lead tracking fin was slightly bent causing the hard pull to the right at speed. I couldn't tell that it was bent until I got under the boat and stared down the row of fins. I replaced the fin and with the rudder shaved a bit it's super smooth. If one of your fins is the culprit then I can share my experience replacing it.

Lastly, I straightened my steering wheel by setting the rudder straight, and then removing the steering wheel and putting it back on straight.

[Jetdriver]

^Good tip! Never even thought of that as a possible cause. Sometimes it’s the obvious stuff that escapes you!
Good reason not to beach your boat (or hit stuff!)