way stiff steering.

[laketime]

The steering on our 07 24ve has gotten way stiff this season. To the point that that it takes both arms and a lot of effort to steer the thing. We've tried greasing the cable where we can and taken apart and checked the wrack, But nothing has helped. My Guess would be that the cable is coming apart inside. just lookin to see if anyone knows a fix other than a new cable

[somebodyelse5]

The steering on our 07 24ve has gotten way stiff this season. To the point that that it takes both arms and a lot of effort to steer the thing. We've tried greasing the cable where we can and taken apart and checked the wrack, But nothing has helped. My Guess would be that the cable is coming apart inside. just lookin to see if anyone knows a fix other than a new cable

Pretty much just replace the cable....

[clinton]

replace the cable. i used mine till it snapped. i would say yours is close to that point.

[hoopykat]

Agreed. Too bad that it only lasted 3 years, but replace it. You'll be SO glad you did.

-Mike

[laketime]

yeah its gotta be close to snapping. its got one spot in it thats even worse than the rest. whats that cable cost???

[hoopykat]

Cables aren't that bad...less than $200...if you can install yourself...great...labor adds up. I had mine changed out and it was $370 installed. There are tutorials here on site....look around.

Mike

[loudelectronics]

Pretty easy job. Took 20 minutes after I took everything out of the boat. An hour total for the first time. I routed mine over the gas tank to save time.

Mine was stiff like yours. From using so much effort to steer it, you actually wreck the steering column. You will find that there will be play in the steering wheel after the new cable. Might as well replace that while your at it cause it is annoying.

[Bakes5]

It could also be the rudder. I replaced my cable and it was still hard to turn...especially to the left and there was a certain point where it stuck. So I replaced the rudder and rudder box and now she turns like a new boat. My rudder box cylinder walls were pretty worn/marked with score marks

[Moki]

My best guess is that it is your cable. However, here are some things you can check:

Remove the cable from your tiller arm on the rudder. If the rudder moves freely then it is your cable.

If it doesn't move freely, make sure your rudder box is greased.

If that doesn't work, Take off the tiller arm and the rudder should drop through. Check the arm on the rudder and the seal on your rudder box. Kona was able to just replace his seals in the rudder box.

My steering was only stiff when under power. I had to replace my rudder and rudder box. I also ended up replacing my helm and cable since it got ruined from the stiff steering.

As I mentioned earlier, the odds are that it is your cable. But don't wait too long.

[OldeBoy]

My best guess is that it is your cable. However, here are some things you can check:

Remove the cable from your tiller arm on the rudder. If the rudder moves freely then it is your cable.

If it doesn't move freely, make sure your rudder box is greased.

If that doesn't work, Take off the tiller arm and the rudder should drop through. Check the arm on the rudder and the seal on your rudder box. Kona was able to just replace his seals in the rudder box.

My steering was only stiff when under power. I had to replace my rudder and rudder box. I also ended up replacing my helm and cable since it got ruined from the stiff steering.

As I mentioned earlier, the odds are that it is your cable. But don't wait too long.

You mention "freely" above. How stiff should the rudder be on it's own? (tiller arm removed from cable)
Thanks.

[OldeBoy]

I may have figured out the issue. It was around 20 degrees today.
I wrapped an electric heating pad around the rudder for a while and warmed the rudder to a more normal operating temperature. It turned nicely by hand.

[murphini]

Replaced my 2007 ve cable last year--after 160ish hours. New one is great--and I think a better design. Luckily I had the guy doing my ballast install do it since he was in there.

[OldeBoy]

I replaced the cable a couple weeks ago and it is a huge improvement.
It went from needing two hands to turn the wheel to two fingers.