How to change a steering cable.

[IDBoating]

Great idea! I've often wondered why they don't put a zerk fitting on the ends of those cables. Ten seconds with a grease gun and those cables would probably last forever. Zerks aren't exactly a new nor expensive technology....

[BCRider]

Just finished replacing the cable in my 09 22ve. The OEM and replacement one I installed was a 19' SSC15419 . I made the mistake of ordering an 18' based on what the 06-08 I ready had used. An 18' is short by 6". I missed one possible trip I could have gotten out last week but I was otherwise able to quickly make the exchange and get it swapped out.

Couple things to note:
-In an 09 and I will guess til 12 or 13 whenever the 22VE's ended you DO NOT need to cut the existing cable. This was my first mistake and what crippled me once I found out I had the wrong cable.
-The 1 1/8" nut at the rear under the motor was impossible to loosen under the motor. If you have a large wrench there is no swing room either.
-I loosened off the rudder bracket so I could slide the whole sleeve out and removed the 1 1/8" nut on my bench.
-When you pull the existing one out tie on a rope as others have said to pull the new one back through with.
-I have very limited access at the rear even with the back and side panels removed. The fuel filter is right in the way and I have three batteries at the back so it made it nearly impossible to get two hands on anything. I had a second set of hands to put it all back together and it made life a lot easier.
-Again, as someone else mentioned. Make sure you have the rudder straight and steering wheel straight before you install the rack under the helm. That being said I still noticed out on water that if I had the steering wheel dead straight I was turning right. I'll have to fine tune that.
-If I hadn't first ordered the wrong cable and had a second set of hands the whole time I probably could have swapped out the cable in 2 all said and done. It really isn't that hard of a process. I probably spent just as much time putting all of my gear back in the front helm locker and putting the panels back in and such.
-I went from stiff 2 handed turning to single finger turning. I was actually a drunk driver on the water for a bit as I wasn't used to the steering being so loose.

05/14/18 Update: For those considering upgrading you sub stock WS free air at some point you may want to consider a 20' or 21' so you have some extra length for routing.

[mikemcclain8]

Just did this in my 2005 22i direct drive. About 1 1/2 hours total....Thank you to all who contributed. I can now drive with two fingers instead of two hands BTW, ordered my cable through walmart.com for $104...18'.

[arohyans]

In keeping with tradition on this thread... thanks to the info here, I was able to swap out the cable on our 2013 Z3. If anyone is interested, here is a vid of the entire process (please forgive the poor lighting and not-great quality... it was off my GoPro headband): https://youtu.be/mbxO5TzYvxQ (23 mins). I would add to the list of tools you need:

-An assortment of phillips screw drivers/screwgun (to remove panels)
-A grease gun with marine lithium grease (for the rudder box and to lube the cable end inside the support tube)
-Plenty of zip-ties to reattach things and/or get them out of your way
-Channel-lock pliers (if you're like me and your 1-1/8" crescent wrench won't fit in the workspace)
-A ratchet wrench with an assortment of fittings
-You will definitely want an LED worklight. Something you won't heat up in the small area.
-A wire coat-hanger

I did not need to remove my existing cable first. There was a reasonable amount of room to work with... but your mileage may vary. If you're a big guy (I'm 6'-2" and around 260#), plan on getting into some really tight spaces and being uncomfortable. A (much skinnier) friend of mine came over to help towards the end and he could very easily get in and out of the rear lockers. Lesson learned... pay your smaller friends with pizza and drinks and let them climb down into the bilge

Hope this helps!

[malmz]

Just a quick update on the bellows mod I did about a year ago. I went up and did an oil change on the boat last weekend, so I snapped a picture of the added bellows in place. It worked flawlessly last season, and appear all in tact. It does bottom slightly when fully compressed, but it doesn't appear to have crushed the rubber or anything after the full season. I try not to crank the steering all the way to stop. tigebellows.jpg

[Sherley]

hey,I'm trying to replace the cable myself. Is there a trick to getting the floor panel off to get to the gas casino spiele kostenlos ohne anmeldung I tried to just pry it up with a coupe screwdrivers, but it seems like it's attached somewhere under the back seating. Any help is appreciated.

[lee]

hey,I'm trying to replace the cable myself. Is there a trick to getting the floor panel off to get to the gas this I tried to just pry it up with a coupe screwdrivers, but it seems like it's attached somewhere under the back seating. Any help is appreciated.

What boat do you have?

[DenK]

SSC13419 or SSC15419?
Do they have the same gear ratios?
What's the difference?
When replacing 134 by 154, is it enough to order only cable?

[lee]

134 is the original and 154 is the new extreme duty cable. The 19 is the length of the cable.

[DenK]

is it completely replaced? Or need to change something else

[lee]

is it completely replaced? Or need to change something else

Complete

[MexTex]

Alright...I am at a loss. The 1 1/8" nut is spinning everything, but removing the nut. What is fix? Appreciate it.

[freeheel4life]

Alright...I am at a loss. The 1 1/8" nut is spinning everything, but removing the nut. What is fix? Appreciate it.

Kind of depends on how seized it is and how much room you have in the bilge. If you can sneak a pipe wrench or a pair of channel locks onto the tube that the nut is threaded onto you can sometimes free it up.
If that's not an option or you can't make that work you unbolt the whole assembley/clamp that holds the tube and bring it up out of the bilge so you can get some proper leverage on the situation.

[Johnmhat]

Replaced the cable on my 03' 21V this weekend.. Thank you for the easy to follow step by step. It is amazing how much better the wheel spins.

[Jarhead14]

Just replaced the steering cable in my 2002 21v limited. Everything went great...but my buddy disconnected two hoses to get to the rudder arm and did not mark which one went where. I am not sure myself - we tried based off of hose/connection size but my boat which runs at 175 like a metronome began to over heat.

One hose is insulated and heavy duty and the other is not. Both hoses connect to the ports with the blue drain plugs. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! So bummed that the I got the cable swapped and this is what's holding me up.

THANKS!!