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1995 Malibu rudder pulling hard right


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Just picked up the 1995 Sunsetter and it pull hard right above 30 mph. Where if any would I find the alignment adjustment on this boat. Thanks Surprised.gif wouldn't mind so much but i keep spilling perfectly good cold ones and i'm afraid i'll short something out.

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Get used to it. Keep one hand on the throttle, one on the wheel, and hold the bottle in your teeth.

These boats pull right by design--gives you something to hold against while pulling a skier through the course. If you REALLY don't like it you can grind the trailing edge of the rudder, but you should be well informed prior to attempting it.

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It's pretty easy to drop the rudder and inspect the key and keyway. I think all you need is an allen wrench and an open end wrench. If those check out fine, check your rudder housing for cracks. My housing cracked at the base. When I dropped the rudder, the top half(from inside the boat) fell off.

A new piece from Marine Specialties, some machining(so it matched the old one) and about $300 total and I was good.

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Get used to it. Keep one hand on the throttle, one on the wheel, and hold the bottle in your teeth.

These boats pull right by design--gives you something to hold against while pulling a skier through the course. If you REALLY don't like it you can grind the trailing edge of the rudder, but you should be well informed prior to attempting it.

What he said.

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The way it is set up now, you'll find it's easy to drive straight without much correction when pulling a skier that can pull on the boat. If you make the steering neutral, the skier will pull it from side to side and it will take more work to drive straight.

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I do not have any pulling issues with the steering on my 96 RLX. I can drive hands off and the boat will remain on heading even with throttle changes. So it is possible to get the steering dialed in.

I have not touched the steering for fear that I will mess something up. I do not have any trim adjustments on my rudder. I assume that you would have to file the rudder to make any adjustments so you better know what your doing.

I would think that your prop would have some effect on the steering forces. I am running an ACME 3 bladed 13 x 12. It has more cup than the OJ that I pulled off of the boat so perhaps the cupping helps the water flow over the rudder properly. That said, I never noticed a problem with steering even using the old prop. The boat definitely makes better left turns than right turms and has no detectable control while backing up at idle speed.

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I had a pulling issue on my '98 VLX. I decided to grind the rudder myself. I too three trys, but now it is perfect. I just shaved a bit off of the opposite trailing edge from where it was pulling (for me, left edge because of a RH pull) From the top to the bottom at about a 45 degree angle. I smoothed it in so it would be rounded............

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had pulling / steering issues all summer... just minor annoying ones. Then I unloaded all the gear and junk outta the boat this last weekend and took her for a final spin... No steering problems. Prop torqe was somewhat noticeable but not a big factor. When I held the wheel staright , the boat went straight. Which leads me to believe that load placement within the boat is extremely critical to handling. This was never that big of an issue in the old I/O and is soemthing I'll be paying more attention to next season.

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