Steering Install Confessional

[Bud Kennedy]

As a follow up to my recent posts, I wanted to give some feedback about how the installation of the new mechanical steering system went.

Aside from some significant corrosion the removal of the old Morse system was simple.  Everything came apart as it should and the old cables were also quite easy to remove from the boat.  Although this was a bit surprising based on past horror stories I have heard, all went well and according to plan.

Installation of the new mechanical steering system from Sea Star also went very well.  The new helm fit perfectly and not cutting or hole drilling was required.  The install of the new cables was a little more time consuming just getting the cables fed down the wiring channel took some time.  Once past the fuse box and throttle control it too went easily.  Just had to be patient getting past the afore mentioned items.

So here is where it went to hell in a handbasket.  I had ordered the system with 13 ft cables only to discover that the old installed cables were 12 ft.  After pulling out the old cables I realized that I was in trouble but went ahead with the install anyway.  The end result that the 13s were too long and no adjustments could be made to allow me to use them.  So, this is where I stand.  Will be ordering a new set of cables only but this time I will order 12ft cables.  The longer new cables I had ordered just did not marry up with the steering linkage.  This error was caused by my original faulty field measurement of the boat coupled with the fact that I had never done this before.  Anyway, I will order the new cables tomorrow and finish the install when they arrive and the weather cooperates.  Up until this point the install was smooth and without incident and much easier than I had expected.  The only fault was I had ordered the wrong length so all I can say is  "MY BAD".

[Donald Garner]

Tks for the update.  Sorry to hear about the issue with the cable length.  Can you return the cable for some credit or you just going to have to be stuck with them?

[D.W. Verts]

The sad part is- you should have been able to call Ranger, provide them with the serial #, and they could tell you EVERYTHING about your rig. It's the way they used to be. While never a huge fan of Ranger boats, as a dealer and service person I used to LOVE working on a Ranger. If I needed any OEM parts at all, I just called their parts department and the got me the perfect fix, every time. Unlike any other company I ever dealt with. And I dealt with a bunch of them. The only one even close was Bass Cat.

Dale

[Oldfart9999]

Sorry to hear that Bud, at least you know what to expect so it shouldn't be as hard to do.
Rodney