wheel steering

javelin · Post by **javelin** » Fri May 07, 2010 5:08 pm

Has anyone actually abandoned the tiller and installed wheel steering themselves. I can buy the kit for around $ 2000 but am trying to find a graveyard for a used system. On a scale of one to ten , one being easy, how difficult is it ?

sauerleigh · Post by **sauerleigh** » Sat May 08, 2010 2:51 am

Are you claustrophobic? You don't have must room to work under the cockpit floor.
You'll need to remove the carpet headliner attached to the floor underside.
I would add at least a 1/2" plywood stiffener on the floor underside.
Any holes you drill through the floor should be drilled 1/16" oversize and the entire inside surface of the hole should sealed with epoxy or polyester resin.

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Thu May 13, 2010 9:49 am

Hi,

I am planning on doing just this very job.....so I will let you know..

but all the ideas already mentioned are impt. I am most concerned with the stuffing box I will have to make somehow to replace the OEM radiator hose tiller thru-hull set-up...

don't want leaks!

sauerleigh · Post by **sauerleigh** » Thu May 13, 2010 5:21 pm

The unit on my boat uses a bronze housing with a packing gland type seal attached to the hose. Make certain to check the short section of fiberglass tube, just above the bushing seat. Mine is cracked and will need to be repaired.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93952888@N00/4576124785/

NYCSAILOR · Post by **NYCSAILOR** » Fri May 14, 2010 5:52 am

THANKS...

I always wondered about the idea of a solid "fixed" glassed-in tube and concluded that the hose provides for some "flex" in between the two ( cocpit and hull) structures and thought a solid tube might crack under stress.

with wheel sterring, however, I won't be going all the way up tothe cocpit floor , jjust up to the quadrant so I need a stuffing box type seal below the quadrant...