Steering - Maxum Boat Owners Club

Penns Beach · 05-03-2010, 06:35 PM

I have a 2003 2700SE. After two hours of running this year the steering wheel is off. To maintain a straight course the steering wheel is turned 45 degrees to the right. What should I look at to solve this problem? I looked and the oil level and it looks full. Also the trim tabs ARE completely up and level.

seapuppy · 05-03-2010, 08:25 PM

well...alot of the time boat manufacturers will just slap the steering wheel onto the shaft....the easiest thing ...that is if your going straight, on plane, at say 28 mph....and your steering wheel is say 90 degs off...stop the boat!!!...ok...pop the ctr cap off of the steering wheel and you'll see about 8 screws...remove those screws and turn the wheel 90 degs and reinstall the screws and ctr cap...done.....

oh yeah...welcome to the zoo..
SP

Tommyfmu · 05-04-2010, 03:44 PM

SP, is that only on the larger boats? I just changed my wheel and under the cap there is only the 3/4" shaft with a lock nut (about 1" hex), and a shaft key to keep it in place.

BEFORE

AFTER

Penns Beach · 05-04-2010, 10:35 PM

Thanks SP!

ss3964spd · 05-05-2010, 02:54 PM

Seems to me that if you started out with the wheel being straight when the boat is going straight, and ended up two hours later having to have the wheel turned 45* to keep the boat straight, something changed somewhere.

I think I'd be checking it out.

Dan

Bella Sera 3300SCR · 05-05-2010, 04:18 PM

Somthin else to check if you are running a Bravo drive is the top gimbal ring u bolt nuts are tight. These are often overlooked during normal maintenance and can lead to serious damage to the tiller bar that attaches to the outdrive. The top steeing pin has a square drive dog on that that the tiller arm clamps to. Located just below the square top part of the gimbal housing are two studs with self locking nuts. To check the tightness, (best done on the trailer) you must try to move by hand, the drive sidways and check to freeplay anything more than 1/4" (measured at the end of the drive) is an indication that the u-bolt nuts must be torqued up. Before doing so though remove the two nuts and lubricate the u-bolt studs then torque the nuts till the play is reduced to almost none. If you let this go loose the freeplay will cause the drive to bang back and forth wallowing out the square drive dog on the tiller steering or the gimbal ring axle pin which is MAJOR REPAIR/BUCKS to correct.

My point to this tip regarding your steering is that the drive is allowed to swing independantly causing the steering wheel to look wampus...

Bella Sera

ss3964spd · 05-05-2010, 04:30 PM

Good suggestion by Bella, but proceed with caution: http://www.sterndrives.com/steering_play.html

Dan

seapuppy · 05-05-2010, 04:42 PM

well...if his is like mine..when we got the boat....the drive was straight...the steering wheel was installed about 45 degs out....which made me think I was turning when i wasn't ....so...like in my instructions....I pulled the ctr cap...unscrewed the screws...then turned the steering wheel and reinserted the screws....been great ever since....

SP

seapuppy · 05-05-2010, 04:48 PM

actually this is for non-keyed installations ....the keyed versions are fixed and about the only way to change angles is to have the shaft taken apart and reinserted in the right direction....usually too much of a pain in the butt to worry bout...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommyfmu

SP, is that only on the larger boats? I just changed my wheel and under the cap there is only the 3/4" shaft with a lock nut (about 1" hex), and a shaft key to keep it in place.

BEFORE

AFTER

Bella Sera 3300SCR · 05-05-2010, 04:53 PM

Good you pointed out that Dan on the Alpha Drives , but as my reply indicated I was only speaking about the Bravo drive. It is made with a stainless steel u-Bolt that can and must be re-tightened. The Alpha does not share the same design, it features two hex head bolts that are threaded into the gimbal ring which can snap the gimbal ring. OH-SHIZZLE-DIZZEL!!!

Bella Sera

ss3964spd · 05-05-2010, 05:11 PM

Read and understood Bella but the OP never stated which drive he/she has, and I've no idea of the OP's familiarity with the different drive types, or that he/she knows there are different types.

Making an assumption regarding those nuts/bolts could make for a rather bad day!

Dan

Bella Sera 3300SCR · 05-05-2010, 05:53 PM

Thats a big yeeee-up Dan!

Thats why I indicated "if you are running a Bravo Drive" then-

when we assume, it makes ASS-U-M-ME!!

Bella Sera

Penns Beach · 05-08-2010, 12:56 PM

Thank you all for your responses. I am sorry I left out that I have a Bravo 3 Drive. Since my post I have tried moving the outdrive with the engine off to see if there was any play/movement. There was none. I was checking the gimbal. Next I was told to have someone turn the steering wheel while I look at the linkage to see if anything is loose. WHAT should I be looking for????