Adding bushings to steering deflector nozzle to increase precision (remove slop)

[tdonoughue]

...but no AC...

 

[Zarrella]

What @Bruce doesn't have is an ice maker!!

 

[Zarrella]

Or a boat payment.....Yet!

 

[Bruce]

Ok guys, this mod rocks.

At speed I noticed the boat reacted much faster when I turned the wheel and that I was turning the wheel less to make the same turns that I have made many times in the past.

At low speed @Rana noticed much more precision loading her on the trailer.

This is a big win!

 

[tdonoughue]

Wow! I am truly surprised. Another mod to add to the list...

 

[Bruce]

Wow! I am truly surprised. Another mod to add to the list...

I hope that someone will replicate the project and find similar results. It could be a placebo effect but it certainly felt better to us.

 

[Eric Ballard]

My boat (2016 SX190) turns really well to the right, but not as aggressively to the left. This is with a well balanced boat.

Do you think this mod would help that? I checked the jet and it wiggles just like the before video above.

 

[Bruce]

My boat (2016 SX190) turns really well to the right, but not as aggressively to the left. This is with a well balanced boat.

Do you think this mod would help that? I checked the jet and it wiggles just like the before video above.

I believe it would help but you also need to verify that your jet is aligned correctly when the steering wheel is centered and has equal movement to left and right when the steering wheel is turned.

 

[Scottintexas]

added to the FAQ under "how to make your boat steer / track better"

 

[KXCam22]

In the manual there is a linear measurement done with a tape measure. Basically it is a measurement of the steering linkage hole when the steering wheel is centered. Easy to do. Mine was out 1/2". Cam.

 

[DCB-270]

Mine are fairly sloppy. I'll have to give this a try.

 

[DCB-270]

Question, would I need to drill out the bushings or find a new bolt that fits better?

 

[Bruce]

Question, would I need to drill out the bushings or find a new bolt that fits better?

You could use a smaller bolt instead of drilling out the bushings. But doing so would reduce the strength of the bolt and increase the gap between the bolt and the diameter of the holes in the fork which I believe would negate any gains from using the bushing.

I see three ways to do this effectively; drill out bushings to fit, find a bushing that fits or drill out the holes in the fork and use a larger diameter bolt removing the need for the bushing.

I tried to find a bushing that would fit before deciding to drill my own. It is likely that some sort of plastic tubing could be used as the bushing or perhaps small copper pipe.

I considered drilling the holes in the forks larger to use a larger diameter bolt. This would be the easiest and least expensive option but not knowing if I would like the change I decided against this route.

 

[Bill D]

@Bruce I have followed your lead on this. Almost. I bought a different bearing that fits 1/4" bolt and drilled out the hole on the steering assembly. The bearing required a 3/8" hole, which I believe is only slightly larger than factory. The factory hole seemed to be somewhere between 11/32" and 23/64". I was not able to find this bearing on eBay, so it cost me more than $9, but I'll be interested to see how it performs with the "Frelon" liner.

This is the bearing I used and the mfg part number. Here is a link to the bearing on McMaster-Carr which has a good drawing for dimensions.


Once I drilled the hole out, I was able to press the bearing in with a clamp.


This is all that remained of the plastic bushings that were in there, so I expect a significant improvement.

 

[Bruce]

@Bill D, that looks great. I considered that option but decided not to drill out the steering nozzles until I knew it was a good thing.

 

[Bill D]

Yeah, it made me a little nervous to drill out the nozzle, but i didn't really remove that much material. I suppose worst case, I can drill out the forks and move up a size on the bolts. But I'm optimistic that this will work out awesome. I'll update this post when I get everything out back together.

 

[thcobb1]

I don't have my boat handy. So if I pick up a 1/4 inch bolt can anyone tell me what length and what length bearing or bushing to pick up?

It is a 30-40 min ride from where our boat is to any parts store. I plan on checking the alignment of my nozzles this weekend and will complete this at the same time.

 

[Bill D]

Here is the technical drawing of the bearing I used. The OD was slightly bigger than the original hole on the steering nozzle. (Maybe 1/16"?)

 

[Chillypilot]

@Bruce and @Bill D Are you guys still happy with his mod? Thinking of trying doing it too.

 

[Bill D]

I'll report back after this weekend. Believe it or not, this is the first time we've had the boat in the water since I completed the mod.