Just changed my steering cable - thanks MalibuCrew!

[Schindawg]

My 13 yr old son and I just successfully installed a new steering cable on Saturday. I NEVER would have attempted it without feeling confident we could do it after reading about the procedure on the 'crew. I have learned SO much from everyone here. Turning was beginning to build my biceps; after installing the new cable, I thought I'd done something wrong it was so easy to turn! I seriously can't get over it! We used the method whereby you leave the old cable in but cut off the rack and pinion end by the steering wheel, then overlapped 12" of the old and new cable and duck-taped them together. That first foot through the floor is tough - I ended up lubing everything down there with WD-40 so it would slip through easier, but after that it was a piece of cake! Done in about 2 hours but next time will be faster. What a sense of accomplishment: We paid about $50 less than the dealer price for the cable at boatfix.com and saved $$/hour in labor. Very cool! Looking forward to learning for from you all!

[NorCaliBu]

Good for you. Feels good to do it yourself, huh? The satisfaction of a job well done.

A feeling that my friend Jack has surely never felt.

[Bake's Marine]

Way to get er' done!! Cables can be a really hard project so glad it went easy for you.

Just curious, i checked boatfix's website and they don't sell/stock the Teleflex TFXtreme steering cable which is probably why the price was a lot cheaper. The TFXtreme cable is OEM for Malibu and is the best rack and pinion cable available currently. No big deal, just wanted to make sure you knew the dealership wasn't charging you too much.

Enjoy the rest of Summer!

-Paul

[Baddog]

Good for you. Feels good to do it yourself, huh? The satisfaction of a job well done.

A feeling that my friend Jack has surely never felt.

Always feels good to successfully complite a DIYer job. I have saved many thousands over the years doing stuff myself, however it only took one fiasco to wipe out all the good will built up over time in my wife's eyes. Suffice it to say I know unequivocally that you can never add even 1 ounce of power steering fluid to your brake reservoir. (it was a mistake, found instantly, but the dealer said no problem if only 1 ounce . . . NOT!)

[Schindawg]

Way to get er' done!! Cables can be a really hard project so glad it went easy for you.

Just curious, i checked boatfix's website and they don't sell/stock the Teleflex TFXtreme steering cable which is probably why the price was a lot cheaper. The TFXtreme cable is OEM for Malibu and is the best rack and pinion cable available currently. No big deal, just wanted to make sure you knew the dealership wasn't charging you too much.

Enjoy the rest of Summer!

-Paul

Actually, they do.

http://www.boatfix.com/shop3/store/viewIte...idProduct=22574

You can't find it just by drilling down through their menus, but if you search for TFXTREME, or in my case, my part number SSC15420 (the "20" at the end is the length of cable in feet for my '03 23 LSV), you will find it. Not sure why they make it so hard to find, but they do stock it and I got it pretty quickly too. Check it out!

Edited September 15, 2009 by Schindawg

[WakingMeHappy]

Most excellent. I did the same thing in reading the threads here and it turned out to be much easier than I thought it would. It does feel good having a sense of accomplishment on a job well done. Wait till you hit the water and feel how much better the steering is.