SeaStar Steering - Filling the System

It changes, and it drifts if you have much torque steer. One way to keep from going nuts is to buy a symetrical steering wheel. It does not look so wierd when it is a little off.

jim

 

My anal retentivity is coming through, isn't it?

 

That particular scenario seems to drive everyone crazy. If the parts guy knew what he was doing, he would have steered you away from that wheel.

I tell you what, Grant makes a beautiful wood rimmed sheel that would look great on your boat. They also make a marine adapter. I almost bought it several times.

jim

 

Actually, the wheel was already on the boat when I bought it.

My seastar system came with a free steering wheel - which I gave to Plantman.

Now that I think about it, the new steering wheel was not a uniform spoke pattern either.....

I like my wheel because it is small and fat. I'll replace it if I can find something similar with a uniform spoke pattern.

 

Most steering wheels have at least a couple different keyways machined in them to help with alignment, but that's the hard way.

Easy way:
1. Straighten the motor with the boat.
2. Look at the wheel and see how much correction you need.
3. If you need to correct to the right, turn right, and vice versa. Turn wheen until it hits the lock.
4. Continue turning past the lock (the pressure relief valves will kick in eventually) the amount you needed to correct.
5. Return to center and see how close it is.

It will not stay perfect, but it should stay pretty close.

 

Great. Thanks!

We tried to get it straight by going to the stop and then bleeding it a little but that didn't work. It was good at first but after turn the wheel a bit it was off again. I'll try it the way you suggested. Thanks!

 

Oh yeah, and I think once you get a chance to try it, you will love it. Even with the 2.4 cu in helm, I can still palm the wheel around both ways at 40+. And yours should be a bit easier to turn.

The slight play you notice is, from what I can tell, normal. I notice it when I am sitting in the boat on the trailer, but not when I am driving. If I really thought about it while driving, I may notice it a little. It's a lot like a car. They all have at least a little play, and the older they get, the more play they have, unless you keep up on adjusting the preload. Most people just get used to it and roll down the road bouncing the wheel back and forth all the way without even thinking about it.

Congrats on getting your numbers stuck on too! I still haven't gotten around to that, and I've had my boat out 3 times so far. I should really do that soon. I have been smart enough to have the registration in the boat 2 out of 3 times so far though.

 

Hi Guys

I noticed that some of you are not fans of the Sea Star system and have started a thread on a 12 volt power assisted setup I bought for my boat a few years ago.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=548

 

Here's the thread I was talking about.

Go to the beginning and scroll down and you'll see the discussion and some pictures from when I installed mine.

Good luck.

Markbano