wanting left hand steer on Hydrostream. . thoughts?

[roadkill636]

In the process of re doing my Viking and wanting the steering wheel on the LEFT side of the boat just to be diffrent and becauze I think the Hot foot throtle will be at a more comfortable angle on the right foot. But im reading a bit on the prop wanting to raise the right side of the boat and thats tbe reason for right side steer. Is it really that big of a deal? Wanting your opinion.

Glassing in the hole on the dash aint a problem at all.

[Onetime]

Keep it on the right side unless you switch to a left hand gearcase and prop when you put it on the left side. JMO
It's a physics thing.

[Go Time]

I agree with onetime....plus the counter gear cases are more involved internally and typically less reliable that right hand ones...keep it one the right

[afr]

ditto on onetimes post

[specboatops]

Stoker has his boats steering on the left side with right hand gearcases......... I just always thought it was a West Coast thing, I believe Eliminator ( 21 Daytona's ) had theirs the same way..... For sure the Stokers though.

[Onetime]

Stoker says the bottom of his boat is modified for left side steering and can still run right hand case.
I've owned a Stoker and driven quite a few of them. At speed they seem to even out and counter the right hand rotation while sitting on the left side. At slower speeds the boat is left side heavy with just a driver.
The one I owned I converted to right side steering and it made the boat perform and handle much better.

[specboatops]

^ really, so your saying Alan has a design flaw in his set up.....and you fixed it:rolleyes:

And when you moved the steering to the right, the boat wasn't heavy to the right with you in it ?

[Onetime]

^ really, so your saying Alan has a design flaw in his set up.....and you fixed ithttp://www.screamandfly.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Not at all. Al builds a fine boat and has been for many years.


And when you moved the steering to the right, the boat wasn't heavy to the right with you in it ?


Like I said it's a physics thing. Right hand rotation of the propeller causes the boat to be torqued over to the left. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Ask any V bottom driver about steering out this torque to keep the boat from rocking over to the side.
When I moved he steering to the right that torquing over to the left is countered by the drivers weight and helps to negate the torque force. When the driver sits on the left the drivers weight is helping the torque to pitch the boat to the left.
Al's boats at speed do this by his bottom modifications for left side steering. It's at the slower speeds where the boat will ride more to the left with left side driver. When I put the steering on the right I adjusted the tabs differently then Al does to make it all work. The result was an all around improvement in my opinion. The boat performed better at low speed, mid range speed and still had the top end speed. This is how it worked on my particular hull and it worked better then with the steering on the left. Keep in mind these statements are relating to just having a driver in the boat and no passenger. Since that's how I do most of my boating it worked better for me.
I've driven other Stokers that the left side steering didn't seem to have as much of an adverse effect. Each boat and set up has it's own set of particulars.