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Vlx goes left


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My Malibu Vlx Goes straight in low speeds.

In higher speed it goes to the left if I don´t steer right to compensate.

Anyone know what that depends on?

Something with the propeller ?

Thanks

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Something with the rudder. I was always told it was so the boat would track straight. It does require that you hold it straight. But if it didn't tend to go one way or another, it would wander back & forth. There is some adjustment that can be done at the rudder to decrease/increase it.

All that said, every time this comes up there are a dozen guys who swear their boat tracks 100% straight.

But every boat I've ever owned or driven has done it (that I noticed) to varying degrees.

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It´s a 2006.

It doesn´t go slightly to the left. When I let go of the wheels it almost turns around (to the left)

Slightly going back and forth is normal and I´ve had that on earlier boats. But this must be something wrong.

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Something with the rudder. I was always told it was so the boat would track straight. It does require that you hold it straight. But if it didn't tend to go one way or another, it would wander back & forth. There is some adjustment that can be done at the rudder to decrease/increase it.

All that said, every time this comes up there are a dozen guys who swear their boat tracks 100% straight.

But every boat I've ever owned or driven has done it (that I noticed) to varying degrees.

All 3 of my DD boats did it. My new VTX v-drive does not. I wonder if that has something to do with it? I actually let my 5 year old drive last night with the cruise set at 32 and it tracked straight. There is no way he could have driven my other boats that fast.

See you Saturday, Bill!

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Yea, I believe your right that it should pull a little bit, but not a lot. Although my Vride definitely pulls more the faster I go.

Adjustment at the rudder can be done by filing the rear edge of the rudder. Here is a thread about it from a few years ago on the other TMC site. Your dealer will have more details on how this is done.

Lookin forward to being out there, Brian!

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I've ground my rudder to tune how my boat drives. It pulled severely when I bought it and now drives nice and straight. You want to shave the trailing edge of the rudder on the side you want it to pull TOWARDS(mine pulled right I ground the left rear). Just take off a bit at a time and try to maintain the same profile. It took my three trys to get it just how I liked it.

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What year did they add the "tuner" ?

So filing was no longer necessary.

My last 2 boats have had it. 05 lxi and 08 vtx. I cant recall if my others had it or not. I've never messed with it, though. I didnt want to make matters worse...

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I believe the newer boats have a tuner on the rudder. The older boats without need a soft file down the opposite edge, a little does a whole lot. I did it to mine and it tracks fine now.

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A direct drive boat should never wander, that is a factor of an I/O, and the lower unit oscilating back and forth at low speeds.

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The "pull" is a result of a boat that is set up with a "loaded" rudder. A loaded rudder will help the boat to track better when an outside load is applied, such as a skier or boarder on a hard pull. If you were ever to pull a slalom skier through a course in a boat with a neutral rudder (tracks straight when you let go) you'd think you were driving a 30 year-old station wagon that was in dire need of some front end parts.

If the rudder is tuned to be "loaded", all the underwater gear is working against each other a bit, locking everything together, and making it far more solid against the pull. Our DD Sunsetter pulls a bit, but is ROCK solid against the pull of a skier. A big skier (me) can certainly pull some speed off the boat, but even my pull doesn't change the direction of the boat.

The boat is supposed to pull.

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