First test run

[Brosh]

So three weeks later and i finally was able to hit the water, (besides a catastrophic bunk disaster when reloading that i was very lucky to escape with an unscathed hull) this is the first inboard i have driven. I know that the reverse is kind of hard to get used to, but i was wondering about the steering. I have an 86 sunsport, and at speed once it planes out it doesn't seem to track very well... it starts out fine, then however it really wants to bounce back and forth across the water. I backed off the throttle when this happened as i was thinking the boat was going to get out of control in a hurry... i tried it first in high traffic water with a little bit of rougher water for a smaller lake, then later when the day traffic had left tried again on glass with the same results... it also seems hard to turn the wheel out of a full turn.

My question is this normal, or is there something amiss that i need to attend to... doesn't seem safe to drive planed out at this point.

Thanks!

[chris young]

Definitely not normal. Mine is a Rider, basically the same boat, and it tracks straight and steady with no input from the driver. It almost sounds like the tracking fins are missing or bent.

[Jetlink]

Were you at WOT when it began to "dance around" on you? My boat can get a little "twitch" when running fast in choppy water because as the boat speed increases my boat wants to shove the bow down in the water and lift the stern, not by much but enough to make it inherently unstable. Just curious what your wake plate is set at on the stern. Is it flush/level with the boat hull?

[Brosh]

It is flush with the hull, and it happens anywhere between 3/4 and WOT...

[Brosh]

How many tracking fins are supposed to be there, if i recall it just has one...

Definitely not normal. Mine is a Rider, basically the same boat, and it tracks straight and steady with no input from the driver. It almost sounds like the tracking fins are missing or bent.

[bens250ex]

How many tracking fins are supposed to be there, if i recall it just has one...

My comp has 3. Do you have any play in the rudder?

[Jetlink]

How many tracking fins are supposed to be there, if i recall it just has one...

The Comp has 3, I believe anything else will only have 2.

[Brosh]

I don't think so, but perhaps i should look at that again, that kind of would make sense i suppose, that is what it kind of feels like... lets say there is, how would i fix something like that, is there an adjustment somewhere?

My comp has 3. Do you have any play in the rudder?

[Jetlink]

I don't think so, but perhaps i should look at that again, that kind of would make sense i suppose, that is what it kind of feels like... lets say there is, how would i fix something like that, is there an adjustment somewhere?

You can "trim" the rudder to pull a little to one side at various speeds by filing the trailing edge of the rudder a bit. Before you get to that step though, there are a few other things you should probably check first.

[chris young]

Mine also has 3 (84 Rider) I'd say if there's only one there, that may be your issue.

Contrasting what happens to Jetlink's Comp, last year I had my wake plate way up (PO set it that way) and the boat was stable. I adjusted it below level in an effort to flatten the wake as much as possible, and since then I've adjusted it to flush. It has never been twitchy at any of these settings.

[Brosh]

One other thing i can;t believe i forgot to add and wonder if this could cause the problem, (although it bounces back and forth at speed in both directions) my rudder is warped kind of like a bannana, doesn't seem to make much of difference at lower speeds, it is on my to do list, i need to find a machine shop to straighten it, but since i got the boat with all kinds of issues and completely torn apart, i wanted to test everything out on the water a bit to make sure i had everything sealed up and running right.

Also, i was thinking about it, and the rudder doesn't have any play in it. I cannot move it with my hand under the boat.

[Jetlink]

The play I am talking about would be felt in the steering wheel, like you can move it a few degrees before you feel the change happening at the rudder. Make sense?

[Brosh]

Yes that makes sense, then yes there is definitely play at the wheel. Is there a remedy for this?

[Brosh]

i found this thread,
https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?1947-Rudder-assembly
i assume this is what i need to do to eliminate the play in the rudder,
Wear in the steering components near the rudder. Two components:
a) there is a ball joint that connects the end of the steering cable (shiny part) to the tiller arm; this could be worn out.
b)There is a metal plate on the inside of the boat in the center aft of the transmission, driveshaft and stuffing box. This plate shares bolts with the driveshaft strut which is directly below it. The end of the steering cable SLEEVE (the black part) has sort of a ball joint that bolts to this metal plate. It is a single bolt that fastens this and it is notorious for loosening up and causing steering slop. I check mine yearly. Also recommend loctite and a split locking washer.

will this help the tracking at high speeds?

[Jetlink]

It should help, I would start there before you try more "permanent remedies" like filing the back of a rudder.

[Moor]

correct me if im wrong, but wouldn't a bent rudder give you unusual / twitchy handeling? especially at higher speeds / rpms? i'm no expert, but if your rudder is bend as bad as you stated ("bannana'ed") i would fix this first.

[Brosh]

yeah except i would think it would just pull to one side or the other, not bounce back and forth... i am thinking this likely has more to do with the fact i only have one tracking fin...

[Moor]

does the steering wheel shake or wobble back and forth at all? I would think it has to be one of these two issues, or maybe a combination of both? would a seriously misaligned prop shaft would cause this?

[Brosh]

there is a small bit of play at the wheel, maybe 5 degrees, i think i would feel a vibration more so if the shaft was misaligned.