STEERING HELP?

[INFINITEJJ]

I just got back from the river where I somehow broke or striped something in the Teleflex rotary steering unit in my 19' tahiti. I was thinking of going to a rack system. What are the pro's and con's of rotary vs. rack. Thank for the help, JON

[spectras only]

the rack and pinion system feels more precise when new but wears out faster than the rotary.The rotary has an outer ring coupled through 3 spider gears to the main shaft gear and distributes all friction points trough all teeths.The rack and pinion has contact points on one gear and the rack only.Like cars,rack and pinion handles better for short run ,but the recirculating gearbox lasts the lifetime of the vehicle.I've replaced my steering cable once in 26 years,but still have the same rotary hub.You only need to check the hub once every 5 years for the grease,and repack it with lithium grease that doesn't dry out like conventional grease.Get the morse unit instead of the teleflex,because the teleflex units I've seen had only the pinion gear and outer ring ,hence the premature wear on your unit.

[spectras only]

the rack and pinion system feels more precise when new but wears out faster than the rotary.The rotary has an outer ring coupled through 3 spider gears to the main shaft gear and distributes all friction points trough all teeths.The rack and pinion has contact points on one gear and the rack only.Like cars,rack and pinion handles better for short run ,but the recirculating gearbox lasts the lifetime of the vehicle.I've replaced my steering cable once in 26 years,but still have the same rotary hub.You only need to check the hub once every 5 years for the grease,and repack it with lithium grease that doesn't dry out like conventional grease.Get the morse unit instead of the teleflex,because the teleflex units I've seen had only the pinion gear and outer ring ,hence the premature wear on your unit.

[spectras only]

sorry for the double post,it's happening on and off when I hit the back button

[INFINITEJJ]

Here's what happened. On the pinion gear I lost three teeth. At first I think it was only one tooth, because I had A slight click in the steering. Soon that one tooth became lodged in the outer gear and jambed. Thats about the time when I had to force A turn that caused the other two teeth to give out. Then I had no steering, end of weekend. I hope this info helps someone, somewhere. JON

[INFINITEJJ]

P.S. This place has been a ghostown this weekend. My hope is that everyone makes it back safetly. Wish I was out boatin' too! Best wishes. JON

[Bubbledeck]

I'm reading all this with great interest. I'm in the process of replacing my obsolete steering on my 18' Tahiti. It has an old Mercury rack now that's lasted this long. From what I've seen you can get a Teleflex rack and cable for about $120 and a Morse for about $145. The rotary may very well outlast the rack, but if the next rack lasts another 25 years I'll be dead or too old to climb in my boat anyways heh. In my boat I'm cramped for space anyway and don't know if a rotary would even fit.
At any rate I appreciate the info Jon and will take it into consideration.
It'll probably be another week or two before I get it fixed, then I'll let you know what I did and what it costs.

[INFINITEJJ]

Bubbledeck, I also have a old (1975) Tahiti I wanted to go with rack but there wasn't enough room. If you want to see the teleflex clearances, bolt patterns, etc. you can read there catolog or download the whole thing. Go to teleflex.com, then click marine, then catolog, then select the steering you want. Let me know what happens, good luck, JON

[Bubbledeck]

INFINITEJJ, thanx! what an informative site!

[Oldsquirt]

Bubbledeck, if you haven't already replaced your steering system, replacement parts for your old rack and pinion may still be available. Had a problem about 7 years ago with a seized cable. THought it might work loose with some WD-40 and working sterring back and forth. Wrong! what I managed to accomplish was breaking a tooth off of the rack. After all the hot boat shops in my area told me no parts were available, I stopped at a small marine parts house I passed every day in San Francisco. Not only did they have a BOX full of the needed racks, they also had a better price on the cable than anyone else. Rack was only about $20 and repair was a breeze. Call Park Presidio Marine at 415 821 2628. Good luck

[ChetCapoli]

I'm with you oldsquirt!
It's amazing when you expand you horizons and look around what you find out there! http://free.***boat.net/ubb/smile.gif

[Bubbledeck]

thanx OLDSQUIRT, I will definitely give them a call. My rack is ok, the problem is the cable is really tight, so after putting it off for 4 seasons I'm going to fix it. I'm still fighting the cable trying to get it out of the boat. It looks as though they built the boat around the cable. I found a cable on the Mercury web site that looked like it was the right one, so I called the local Merc dealer here in town, gave them the part # and asked them if it would in fact work on my Merc rack. As far as I know they are still scratching thier heads on that one heh. So, thanx again for the phone number, I shall use it :-)

[Oldsquirt]

Bubbledeck, the cables are nothing out of the ordinary. Any decent boat shop should have what you need, or be able to get it easily. It would probably be a good idea to get the old one out and take it in so they can measure it and/or match it up.If you are having trouble getting the cable out, by pulling towards front, I seem to recall that the rack end of the cable is less bulky and may clear your ubstructions more easily. It is fairly easy to remove from the rack. You should be able to drop the rack housing down from steering unit by removing a couple of bolts. The rest should be obvious once that is done. Good luck. Any problems,you can call me. Just e-mail me for my phone number.
Craig

[INFINITEJJ]

Just got done with the steering R&R, bought a teleflex rotary system witch was an exact replacement, (in stock item at Boaters World) go figure?? Thanks for all the imput guys, it works exelent. I did want to go with the Morse unit, but the teleflex was to easy and an exact bolt up replacement, JON