If their is another thread on this topic then gladly steer me in the right direction but I was wondering how much it would cost to convert a Vdrive from cable steering to hydraulic?
Hydraulic steering on a v-drive is the shit, We put it on the last 22 day cruiser we built, Dunsmore put it on Herbst's 21, and Lynch's 21 also has it....
The stuff is amazing, really eliminates arm fatigue and let's you worry more about driving the boat rather than holding the wheel.
The only thing is it's pretty expensive to do it right, Char-Lynn powered steering is the only way to go, so between the pump, cooler, hoses, helm, collumn, etc you have spent near $2k in parts alone, plus rams, if you want a balanced system (even # of turns left to right) you need to run dual rams, or a balanced single ram (the kind where the shaft protrudes out both sides....
You are looking at $3,500 to $4,000 for the setup.
Since Teleflex bought Morse out and stopped making the command 2 rotary steering (the red cable type) almost every new v-drive v-bottom is going to full hydraulic, look at all new Schiadas, Danny's DCM etc, there is just no other option for good strong AND comfortable steering, Calgo works but it is always under constant wheel tension, you have to drive with both hands at all times, it's one thing to have this type of feel on a flat bottom but on a pleasure boat it sucks. It's a shame that they stopped producing the the Command 2 cable steering because it was far superior, had very good wheel feel, and cost about 1/6th what full hydraulic does....
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Hydraulic steering on a v-drive is the shit, We put it on the last 22 day cruiser we built, Dunsmore put it on Herbst's 21, and Lynch's 21 also has it....
The stuff is amazing, really eliminates arm fatigue and let's you worry more about driving the boat rather than holding the wheel.
The only thing is it's pretty expensive to do it right, Char-Lynn powered steering is the only way to go, so between the pump, cooler, hoses, helm, collumn, etc you have spent near $2k in parts alone, plus rams, if you want a balanced system (even # of turns left to right) you need to run dual rams, or a balanced single ram (the kind where the shaft protrudes out both sides....
You are looking at $3,500 to $4,000 for the setup.
I agree with Racey...it is unreal...hands down easier to drive then cables and a tits set up
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Hydraulic steering on a v-drive is the shit, We put it on the last 22 day cruiser we built, Dunsmore put it on Herbst's 21, and Lynch's 21 also has it....
The stuff is amazing, really eliminates arm fatigue and let's you worry more about driving the boat rather than holding the wheel.
The only thing is it's pretty expensive to do it right, Char-Lynn powered steering is the only way to go, so between the pump, cooler, hoses, helm, collumn, etc you have spent near $2k in parts alone, plus rams, if you want a balanced system (even # of turns left to right) you need to run dual rams, or a balanced single ram (the kind where the shaft protrudes out both sides....
You are looking at $3,500 to $4,000 for the setup.
Since Teleflex bought Morse out and stopped making the command 2 rotary steering (the red cable type) almost every new v-drive v-bottom is going to full hydraulic, look at all new Schiadas, Danny's DCM etc, there is just no other option for good strong AND comfortable steering, Calgo works but it is always under constant wheel tension, you have to drive with both hands at all times, it's one thing to have this type of feel on a flat bottom but on a pleasure boat it sucks. It's a shame that they stopped producing the the Command 2 cable steering because it was far superior, had very good wheel feel, and cost about 1/6th what full hydraulic does....
Couldn't you use the hydraulics and power steering off a Merc sterndrive in a v-drive application? Seems like the parts would be considerably cheaper then.. (Like 500 bucks total?)
RD
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Couldn't you use the hydraulics and power steering off a Merc sterndrive in a v-drive application? Seems like the parts would be considerably cheaper then.. (Like 500 bucks total?)
RD
if you want a sloppy single cable setup, and a crummy looking, cumbersome, and nearly wider than the stringers cable actuated merc inboard steering system sure....
if you want real hydraulic steering the Char-Lynn helm costs $500 alone.
Edit: no comparison in the feel between a full hydraulic and a cable assist setup.
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why use that Char-Lynn helm? Couldn't you just use a Howe control valve and mount it down on the bulkhead? Then a guy could keep his old skool steering post.
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why use that Char-Lynn helm? Couldn't you just use a Howe control valve and mount it down on the bulkhead? Then a guy could keep his old skool steering post.
You can, or you can mount the charlynn on the bulkhead, We have adapted more than one long column systems to charlynn and kept it all up at the dash, and the look of the column unchanged, i prefer to have the helm at the dash, it opens up a lot of room under the deck by getting that long post out of the way.
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you guys know the Charlynn steering valves come stock on alot or equipment, like forklifts etc. Charlynn makes different length bodys and you can change the oil orfice to control the volume to any size rams. you can buy the steering valve and rams cheap but may want a check valve to control the hydrolic drift. most charlynn valves are 3 1/2 turns lock to lock. you can buy alloy rams ( light weight ones ) at alot of surplus yards and they look way cool. we ran this stuff on monster trucks for years. for the do-it your selfers and save a few $$$
Last edited by Sleek Freak; 02-05-2010 at 10:43 PM.
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