New Malibu Owner

[Malibu Man]

I just bought a 98' sportster and so far so good. The steering is a little stiff so I wanted to grease the zurk to see if that helps but cant find them, can anyone give me some helpful hints on where to look. Also any other tribal knowlege that I sould know about the sportster would be awsome.

Edited June 7, 2008 by Malibu Man

[NorCaliBu]

Where did I put that Grammar & Spelling Police badge?

The zerk fittings that you are referring to are accessed by removing the back seat (if you have it in), pull up the center rear floor board, then look back towards the transom under the gas tank. You'll see a bronze post stick up with the rudder shaft coming up through it. The zerk fittings are on that. Unfortunately I don't think that greasing the rudder is going to remedy your problem. If I were a betting man I'd bet that you need to replace your steering cable.

BoatFix.com has the best prices on the cable. You need # 13415.

Lube the rudder just to be sure, it should be lubed occasionally anyway and most don't, but don't count on it fixing your problem.

[SCOTTDOMINE]

Steering cable. But hey, that's the fun of owning a boat. Always something to do and some money to be spent

[Suzy]

Where did I put that Grammar & Spelling Police badge?

The zerk fittings that you are referring to are accessed by removing the back seat (if you have it in), pull up the center rear floor board, then look back towards the transom under the gas tank. You'll see a bronze post stick up with the rudder shaft coming up through it. The zerk fittings are on that. Unfortunately I don't think that greasing the rudder is going to remedy your problem. If I were a betting man I'd bet that you need to replace your steering cable.

BoatFix.com has the best prices on the cable. You need # 13415.

Lube the rudder just to be sure, it should be lubed occasionally anyway and most don't, but don't count on it fixing your problem.

[Suzy]

Where did I put that Grammar & Spelling Police badge?

The zerk fittings that you are referring to are accessed by removing the back seat (if you have it in), pull up the center rear floor board, then look back towards the transom under the gas tank. You'll see a bronze post stick up with the rudder shaft coming up through it. The zerk fittings are on that. Unfortunately I don't think that greasing the rudder is going to remedy your problem. If I were a betting man I'd bet that you need to replace your steering cable.

BoatFix.com has the best prices on the cable. You need # 13415.

Lube the rudder just to be sure, it should be lubed occasionally anyway and most don't, but don't count on it fixing your problem.

[Suzy]

My Sportster steering is dreadful. Even harder than the powerless steering on my '70 vette roadster when the U-joints were bad....It is sort of controlable, with energy, but no real precision turns possible.

I believe I need to replace the steering cable. Are they fairly generic? Someone said to use #13415. My boat is 20'. THey have them on Boatfix.com, but I hate to order the wrong one. How can I verify that it is long enough? If it is too long, what would the problems be, if any?

[NorCaliBu]

Someone said to use #13415

Now who would say such a fool thing?

The #13415 is a 15 foot cable. That is the exact cable that I installed in my Sporty. It's the right one.