Rudder Torque???

[GekkoGTR]

Not sure if you guys will be able to help me out but I heard you guys know your stuff here. I have a Gekko GTR-22 ski boat and it pulls pretty hard to the right making a pain in the butt if you are just driving around. I know its needed to keep a strait line on a course, but my boat will never see a course. From what I have found its called "rudder torque." Im looking at a way to "calm" it, to make it more comfortable to drive. I have heard of filing certain parts of the rudder to fix this people but haven't found much on it. Any help would be great!!! Thanks

[Riverman]

Which engine and prop do you have? How high is the engine on the transom?

And, welcome to S&F! :)

[Boz]

Jeff,

That's a true inboard. I didn't know these boats would do that. Would a torque tab of any sort be an option on your rudder?

[Riverman]

I didn't know that Colin. In that case I would say there is nothing you can do about it. The only to balance that type of rudder would be to have some rudder area ahead of the rudder post as well as behind. I doubt if there is any type of adjustability there.

[pyro]

Visit some good slalom skiing forums, and find out the details before you start messing with it. Maybe ask a local dealer. I know people who have done this grinding modification to correct a similar condition, and at least one has ruined a good rudder from unsuccessful grinding experiments. Get the facts from someone who has the same model hull as yours who has already modified their successfully.

[wheeliejones]

I have owned way to many ski boats. Sounds like a rudder bearing or linkage. Not to talk bad about the Gekko but they skips some corners on the hardware on building those things. My buddy had one and had the same problems. He ended up loosing the whole rudder assembly and almost sunk the boat. I would crawl under the boat and pull up and down, side to side on the rudder and see if it moves. If it does then you have a bad rudder assembly. At least thats what it was on his boat. You might have a bad prop, but you feel the slightest prop vibration in those kinds of boats. Hope this helps.

[stylishskier]

there are grinding mods you can do to eliminate it, these I do not know, but as was stated, here is probably not the best area for advice on inboard skiboats ;)

[hsbob]

replace the steering with a no feed back system. shouldn't be more than 300 for a single cable system. you still have turning resistance but once set there no further torque.

[pyro]

There's supposed to be a little torque, it's what gives it the "feel" while driving in the slalom course. I have driven many hundreds of passes through the course with some hard-pulling skiers, and a slight pull to the right is normal. Difficult torque is another story.

[GekkoGTR]

Thanks guys for your help, I'll check out some other slalom forums.