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pulls to the right


ricnvic

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What I noticed about my boat when I took it out for a ride the other day for the first time is that it pulls to the right if I let go of the steering wheel, is this typical of a v-drive?

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Typical of in-boards (DD & VD). If it didn't pull slightly to one side (usually to starboard) then when going straight the boat would wander a bit as the rudder kind of slipped back and forth. Would make going straight through a course quite a challenge. Biggrin.gif

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It is a feature to make the steering more accurate. Without it would cause the boat to wander instead of tracking a straight line. The new rudders are "tuneable". They have a trim tab on them to adjust the amount of pull you want. :)

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THe '71 SeaRay we had while I was growing up had a knob on the bottom of the steering column that I could tighten & eliminate the pulling.

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Not all boats nowdays pull to the right. My old MC Prostar 205 pulled hard to the right, but then again it was a slalom boat.

My '04 Supra SSV had ZERO pull. You could drive any speed, let go of the wheel and it went straight. For wakeboarding, I loved it that way.

My VLX pulls to the right a bit, but not too bad. Someday I'm going to try and tune it out though, so it's neutral like my SSV was, I really liked that.

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What I noticed about my boat when I took it out for a ride the other day for the first time is that it pulls to the right if I let go of the steering wheel, is this typical of a v-drive?

Yes and No. Some peeps like having a little drag on the rudder to correct when pulling (but that's old school).

You have Gorilla Fins and an adjustable tab (05's) on your rudder to correct this. Mine is setup for neutral and no problems. You can either try to adjust yourself, OR when you go in for 20 hr service tell the service center its pulling to the right and they will adjust.

Edited by stewart
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A lot has to do with the weight balance in the boat. I am very heavy and my boat pulls to the drivers side if you let go of the wheel. However, if my son is driving and I am in the spotters seat, the boat will pull the other direction. It is pretty neutral if weight balanced.

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Never heard of a driver who was properly seated in the drivers seat and driving reasonably, or aggressively for that matter get thrown from a boat. Maybe if you were pulling a Dukes of Hazard or were absolutely not paying any attention but come on.

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Never heard of a driver who was properly seated in the drivers seat and driving reasonably, or aggressively for that matter get thrown from a boat.  Maybe if you were pulling a Dukes of Hazard or were absolutely not paying any attention but come on.

Me neither. I know someone who got thrown out and totaled their boat, but he was sitting up on the back of the seat, going full speed and was very off balance when he got into the boat.

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My 88 skier has zero pull in either direction, unless I'm in reverse then the pull to the right is ridiculous. By the time I pull it off the trailer it is all most completely sideways. Is there anyway to change that?

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My 88 skier has zero pull in either direction, unless I'm in reverse then the pull to the right is ridiculous.  By the time I pull it off the trailer it is all most completely sideways.  Is there anyway to change that?

My 88 doesn't either, but part of it is the friction in the steering as compared to the lack of in the newer boats. Give your boat little polks in reverse instead of one long one and she shouldn't go side ways.

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My 88 skier has zero pull in either direction, unless I'm in reverse then the pull to the right is ridiculous.  By the time I pull it off the trailer it is all most completely sideways.  Is there anyway to change that?

It will always pull in reverse, nothing you can do to tune that out. The best thing to do is turn the wheel and blip it into gear (forward) for a second at a time to kick the back end of the boat back around. Then you can put it back into reverse for a bit.

I have learned that if I blip forward and get the back of the boat headed in the right direction, then turn the wheel just off center and give a little throttle in reverse, that I can hold a near straight line, but you have to have a little more than idle speed to make it work.

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Yeah I am aware of the driving techniques and I'm getting used to the pull. The slower I put it into reverse and the slower I go the better it is. But man the thing really turns on a dime when it is in reverse I'm not kidding. The first day I had it out I was messing with the steering wheel while I was in reverse to see if I could get any play in the direction my boat was heading. I of coarse did not, and what's worse is the rudder actually got sucked 180 degrees into the prop. The prop was destroyed and the rudder now has a bitchin' scar, luckily no other damage. Since then I have reduced the amount swing in the rudder making it so I can't make as sharp of turns but as far as i can tell there is no hard "saftey stop" to prevent this from happening again. 88skier have you ever tried to push your rudder backwards 180 degrees with your hands to see if it will make contact with the prop? Because I can force mine to and obviously so can the prop in reverse.

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88skier have you ever tried to push your rudder backwards 180 degrees with your hands to see if it will make contact with the prop?  Because I can force mine to and obviously so can the prop in reverse.

No I haven't. This was talked about on MBO last year and the consensus was that it is a problem mostly with VDs as they have bigger props with more power, but I learned not to crank the wheel all the way to either side while in reverse. I have a problem with my steering that needs to be repaired when I pull the boat from the barn, if it ever warms up enough. I will check it then.

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Yeah I am aware of the driving techniques and I'm getting used to the pull.  The slower I put it into reverse and the slower I go the better it is.  But man the thing really turns on a dime when it is in reverse I'm not kidding.  The first day I had it out I was messing with the steering wheel while I was in reverse to see if I could get any play in the direction my boat was heading.  I of coarse did not, and what's worse is the rudder actually got sucked 180 degrees into the prop.  The prop was destroyed and the rudder now has a bitchin' scar, luckily no other damage.  Since then I have reduced the amount swing in the rudder making it so I can't make as sharp of turns but as far as i can tell there is no hard "saftey stop" to prevent this from happening again.  88skier have you ever tried to push your rudder backwards 180 degrees with your hands to see if it will make contact with the prop?  Because I can force mine to and obviously so can the prop in reverse.

Your rudder should not be able to do that. Mine did that when I got the boat last year. In fact the first time I had the boat out, I put it in reverse with the wheel turned and the rudder got sucked around right into the prop. The dealer took care of replacing the prop. It partially happened a second time even with being very careful. The dealer finally figured out that they had put the wrong rudder on the boat. I guess there is a specific rudder for a V-drive and mine was not the right one. They replaced the rudder with the correct one and I haven't had any more problems of that nature.

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Yeah lesson learned. Right after it happened I took it to my local dealer and he said that what I described was impossible. Then I showed him the damage and he said "mmm. that shouldn't happen." Thats all they said. I got a little more out of the mecanic but even he couldn't tell me anything of real value.

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88skier have you ever tried to push your rudder backwards 180 degrees with your hands to see if it will make contact with the prop?  Because I can force mine to and obviously so can the prop in reverse.

No I haven't. This was talked about on MBO last year and the consensus was that it is a problem mostly with VDs as they have bigger props with more power, but I learned not to crank the wheel all the way to either side while in reverse. I have a problem with my steering that needs to be repaired when I pull the boat from the barn, if it ever warms up enough. I will check it then.

Yeah, that was my boat that was discussed. As noted above, however, it turns out that it was a problem with the incorrect rudder for my v-drive.

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My 88 skier has zero pull in either direction, unless I'm in reverse then the pull to the right is ridiculous.  By the time I pull it off the trailer it is all most completely sideways.  Is there anyway to change that?

Put a mercruiser outdrive on it. ROFL.gif

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