Steering please help!

[skydog]

On my new Allison it has two steering cables one comes in from both sides of the boat.How do i make the streering wheel stright?And is there a way to tighten up the play?I know how to adj. them when the cables both come in the the same side, but not when they come in on both sides?
Thankyou
Skydog

[T-REX]

U have to jack the 2 cables against each other to remove the slack...basically like ya did wit them cumming from one side...the outside tube has the adjustment, jus like the other set up, jus jack it towards the cable (outside motor) untill your slack is gone and U have the cable tension U like...az far az the wheel, good luck...I never did git mine straight, I even took it off and tried to do it that way, never got it straight...Jus turn ya head a lil bit and it will look straight...REX:cool:

[Rickracer]

You will probably need to adjust in some slack, get the motor pointed straight, then get under the dash and unbolt both racks, then straighten the wheel, then bolt the racks back up making sure the wheel stays put, then re-adjust your slack out. Lot of work, but that will do the trick. :cool:

[BarryStrawn]

Skydog,

Rick's way will work but I think this is easier if you have the normal Mercury RideGuide. You just adjust how the helm shaft is indexed to the pinion gear along with the three wheel bolts and four sides of the tapered hub. Not as complex as it sounds.

There is a through bolt which runs from the wheel hub through the helm shaft and the pinion gear which are splined together. Remove the cotter pin at the back end of the racks and take off the 9/16 nylock nut. This will let the steering wheel hub come off, pulling the long bolt with it and exposing the tapered square hub at the front of the helm. The square hub is the end of the helm shaft and you need to fish it out. Everything else stays put. Some shafts come out easy and others can get jammed on and may be difficult. Then you just get the motor pointed straight and drop in the shaft so it is correct. If it is still off a little, you can move the wheel mount bolts 120 degrees or turn the square hub 90 degrees to reindex everything. It may take a try or two before you get it just right. Then grease the shaft and the nylon bearing in the helm and reassemble the bolt, nut and cotter pin.

On mine, I epoxy the steering wheel hub and the helm shaft together at the square taper. This makes removing the helm shaft easier and removes some wiggle from the wheel.

I had one apart in the garage so I took a scan of the shaft and hub.

Just thought of this - when you put the shaft back in, don't let the pinion gear push out the back of the racks, just hold it in with a finger.