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Author	Topic:   No Feed Back Steering
blackdog	posted 11-18-2000 04:36 PM ET (US)         B Bear or anyone, How’s the no feed back steering on your Dauntless 16'? Very tight on my Dauntless. The rep said it was normal but I have my doubts. I meet a guy this weekend who told me that it should not be hard to steer and tight. The cause was probably a sharp bend in the rigging. Blackdog
B Bear	posted 11-19-2000 12:53 AM ET (US)             Blackdog, I made a post on this on the other thread. It does feel tight, yet I had let my 10 and 12 year old girls drive the boat and they were able to make couse adjustments and turns without too great an effort. There seems to be a slight change in the steering resistance with the speed of the boat. It is something that seems to be in common with the no feed back steering that is installed on the boat. If the steering was to be loose it could likely allow the engine to push back against the helm (feed back), change it's position and direction of the boat. That can be a problem, I have had to muscle the wheel in turns on another boat before, and have it wander at low speeds, it is not a relaxing way to drive. Bear
dgp	posted 11-19-2000 07:10 AM ET (US)             Guys, the purpose of no feedback steering is to reduce the feel of engine torque on the steering wheel. This is accomplished by use of a clutch in the steering box. By design in normal operation you'll initially feel some resistance when starting to turn the wheel until you release the clutch then the wheel should turn freely. If then it's still hard steering it could be due to the trim on the motor. This of course assumes that the steering cable is installed correctly and that a minimum 8" radius is maintained on the cable. My Whaler manual has the following "WARNING: on no feedback steering systems, it is possible to overtrim the engine and increase the steering torque to the point that the steering cannot be turned..." Don
B Bear	posted 11-19-2000 09:43 AM ET (US)             Thank you Don, That would explain the differences in steering feel at different RPMs and trim. I had mentioned on another thread that at times I needed to keep the engine trim all the way down to keep from propoising. I noticed in Performance there is a thread on porpoising and Trim tabs that share the same char. as with my boat. It sounds like that installing a hydrofoil on the caitation plate may help with the trim adjustment and in turn the tight feeling on the no feed back steering. I will also ask the dealer to check the cable. Maybe Blackdog will confirm his feeling on how he needed to set the trim of his engine. Thanks again. Bear
dgp	posted 11-19-2000 11:29 AM ET (US)             BBear, if you have trim all the way down to keep from porpoising you may have too much weight aft. Try moving people, gear, etc. forward and see if that helps. Don
blackdog	posted 11-19-2000 08:22 PM ET (US)             Thanks for the warning Don! B Bear, There is constant pressure on the helm which is slightly less if you plane the engine up. I dropped the boat off for the 20 hours Engine check, Hull repair and winterization. They are going to check the steering for me also as I think the cable may have some pressure on it. I’ll get back to you on that.. I can plane my engine up to about the 1st quarter mark or better on the trim gauge or so before it starts to purpose( 2 people and no gear, full tank of gas). B Bear your Honda is a little heavier so Don’s suggestion to move gear forward may help. Blackdog
blackdog	posted 12-05-2000 10:04 AM ET (US)             OK let's get this Neo Forum moving again with an update. The cause of the tightness in my no –feedback steering was that the cable was dry and needed lubrication. I haven’t tried it yet but that is what I am being told. I wonder if there was any damage or excessive wear that occurred? Blackdog

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