Steering Question

[timw]

I have a question regarding the steering on my recently bought RIB.

Is it normal that the the steering is quite a bit heavier when turning left?

The steering system is Hydrolic made by Seastar and linked to a Yamaha F225 engine.
When the prop is not turning the effort is equal, but becomes very noticable when underway but less so at high speeds.
There is no tendancy to pull either to the left or right.

I was told that the reason turning to the left was heavier was due to the rotation of the prop and that its a heavy engine to turn.

I just wondered if this is normal and of no concern.

Any advice is appreciated

[Janis Petrov]

You got the right information, first you have the prop that is turning one way and you also have the engine some centimeter to the right of the transom to compensate the rotation of the prop, these two things makes the steering harder in one direction, i hope it`s not to hard because than there is something els, you also have an engine that has a weight of 272 kg.
If you had a duoprop like on some of the Yamaha VMAX it`s a little better than single prop but still you can feel that it`s harder in one direction.

Good luck

[Andy]

Are your trim tabs setup ok? If they are off then the steering will be heavy to one side.

[Richard B]

If this gets less noticeable at high speed, then sounds OK. My streering has caused some probs - it was a leak, and the faster I went, the more noticeable it was (heavy one way, light the other). Leaks are fairly easy to find. Run your hand under the steering ram and it shouldn't feel oily at all. Also, look for an oily "rainbow" effect in the well (if there's one in front of the transom). Check the reservoir at the helm - should be near enough to the top. Finally, turn steering to full lock and then apply all your weigh to the steering wheel. This will show up a leak, as the helm pump will apply up to 1000 psi to the system. Repeat on the opposite lock.