It Ain't the same Ranger

Bud Kennedy · September 13, 2021, 11:04:44 AM

Having been a Ranger owner for the better part of 40 years, I am so disappointed that the new owners have not maintained some of the things that made Ranger great. In the past all you had to do was to provide your hull number and they could tell you exactly what parts you needed and usually had the in stock.

While looking for new steering cables, it seems no one has a clue what to buy as a replacement. I do know the length I need but that does not answer all the questions about the rack and pinion steering. Ranger no longer has any listings from boats built years ago. They do have information about current products but unfortunately not my 30 year old Ranger. It seems that the old records were not committed to computer data bases and as a result the new owners only kept computer based information. So sad as this was always a comfort factor for me to get all the information I needed. I will figure this out but folks like Sea Star don't have a clue either. I am sure someone somewhere knows the information I am looking forward but so far I have not found them. It is much easier just to go with hydraulic steering but I just don't want to spend that much money at this time. I will keep looking but may just have to take a wild A## guess at what product to buy.

D.W. Verts · September 13, 2021, 01:23:49 PM

It's sad. Is Green's Marine still in business? They would know everything Ranger.

Dale

Bud Kennedy · September 13, 2021, 01:49:49 PM

Quote from: D.W. Verts on September 13, 2021, 01:23:49 PM
It's sad. Is Green's Marine still in business? They would know everything Ranger.

Dale

They are still in business and in the original founding family under the Anglers Choice Marine banner. My boat was rigged at Greens Marine in 1991. In those days the dealer did all the rigging and Ranger supplied the boat. Now the boat builder does all that stuff and takes away from the profit picture of the dealer. Too Sad. Unfortunately they are very far away from me to use as a service shop. Anglers Choice has three dealerships and most of their service is now being farmed out unfortunately. They have just become mostly boat sellers with a lot of connections. It would be a 6 hour one way trip to Greens and about the same for Martinsburg shop.

topdsm0138 · September 13, 2021, 02:05:05 PM

White River Marine (Bass Pro Shops) owns them now. Same for Tracker, Nitro, Ascend, Triton, Mako, Regency, Tahoe and now just bought Hatteras Yachts (May 2021).

Deadeye · September 14, 2021, 06:57:18 AM

What are you trying to replace Bud, the Cable or the Hub connected to the Wheel?

I have replaced both before on one of my old boats.
Actually the Hub part rarely goes bad, the back comes off and you can re-grease the inside.

You will need to take it apart anyway if your replacing the cable.

I pulled the Wheel and there are only 2-3 screws holding the Hub Drive in place. Very easy to remove.

I used the Part Number off of the Hub to order parts.

It might of been at BoatsUSA I found the parts, but most bigger Chain Stores like Boaters World probably carry them as well.

The Cable is a One Piece Deal. You just replace the whole thing.

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Bud Kennedy · September 14, 2021, 06:36:05 PM

Deadeye, After spending some telephone time with Seastar, it turns out the correct replacement cable is P/N SS15213. This includes a new helm unit. As it turns out Seastar had a technical change to their product and has created a situation where the new rack system does not fit with the old helm unit. They recommend replacing with a new helm that is part of this part nummber. While I agree that the helm would rarely go bad, mine is 30 years old so I think updating the helm is probably the right thing to do to avoid running into a problem while doing the installation with the old helm.

Deadeye · September 15, 2021, 06:42:08 AM

Quote from: Bud Kennedy on September 14, 2021, 06:36:05 PM
Deadeye, After spending some telephone time with Seastar, it turns out the correct replacement cable is P/N SS15213. This includes a new helm unit. As it turns out Seastar had a technical change to their product and has created a situation where the new rack system does not fit with the old helm unit. They recommend replacing with a new helm that is part of this part nummber. While I agree that the helm would rarely go bad, mine is 30 years old so I think updating the helm is probably the right thing to do to avoid running into a problem while doing the installation with the old helm.

There you go.

It's not that hard to do the rack system but feeding the cable through can be a challenge if you can't get to where it goes through easily.

Good luck!

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caddyjoe77 · September 17, 2021, 09:24:12 PM

i thought BigWrench posted a bunch of PDF's when he was redoing his several years ago....or maybe found someone. I dont recall exactly but I know he found something IIRC.