My rudder was bent from the previous owner of my boat; I drove it like that for 4 years, hard steering at speed, easy at idle. Little play in the rudder when out of the water but that does not always correlate with ease of steering. I fiddled with a handful of other inboards that I know steer easily and they all had some play. Replaced the cable once but really no difference.
I got a complete assembly from SKIDIM and with the 10% CCFAN discount code it was $376 shipped. As others have said, I can now steer with one finger at any speed. What a PITA though to reach the assembly from inside the boat. As far as I could tell, the gas tank was put in before the cap, it is literally impossible to remove (89 Bravura). But, the steering now is as good as any new boat I've driven, including 2012 Nautiques and Mastercrafts. For $376 it was WAY worth it.
1989 Bravura - repowered with 2001 PCM 351 GT-40 - 1.23:1 PCM Trans.
1989 comp - sold
1985 comp - sold