boat not steering straight

downunder · Post by **downunder** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:19 am

I have just joined your forum from australia.Ihave a 1989 10 meter exprees that I bought 2 years ago and couldn,t be happier with it.One thing that bothers me is the way it weaves in the water at low speed.Itdoesn,t steer straight until I get to about 10 knts I read in this forum something about rudders being too small does that apply to twin engines boats. Any info to help me solve this problem would be great. Thanks Rex

g36 · Post by **g36** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:19 am

i dont know anything about your model, but on my f32 i have noticed if i dont have the trim tabs all the way up at slow speed my boat wanders around all by itself. when i trim them up all the way its straight no wandering. if you have tabs you may want to check that they are moving correctly and that they are fully up. just a thought.

Lookout · Post by **Lookout** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:57 am

Also make sure the rudders are set up right. I dont know the specs for the 10 mtr, but I imagine they will be toed in a few degrees, as should the tiller arms. If someone at some point disconnected the linkage, or pulled a rudder, and didnt set it up right on re-installation, that could lead to steering problems.

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 11:39 am

Lookout is correct. Chances are, the alignment of rudders is out...

Call John at Marine Tech, he can probably give you the specs for the toe.

717-684-4145

chumwithabottleofrum · Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:24 pm

put down the Pussers and the boat will steer much straighter-I speak from experience (Appleton Estate XV in my case).

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:32 pm

chumwithabottleofrum wrote:put down the Pussers and the boat will steer much straighter-I speak from experience (Appleton Estate XV in my case).

Now that's funny!!

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:42 pm

The ten meter has nicely sized rudders.

Check the toe in/alignmant issue.

Also check your hydraulic steering. If here's air in the lines (or not enough air pressure if you still have the Hynautic system) she'll be squirelly at slow speeds.

RWS

yorklyn · Post by **yorklyn** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:46 pm

Rex,
I have a 1987 10 meter express. Mine steers fine at slow speeds. make sure your tabs are up, that will affect you some. Check your rudder alignment, If you don't have the owners manual let me know and I'll look it up in mine. Are both your engines and props in good shape? When I purchased my boat the props were the same but one had more pitch than the other which caused it to pull to port. I contacted a prop shop and they had me spool the engines to wide open throttle for a few moments and write down the Rpms, the one engine was running 4300 rpm and the other maxed out at 3800. I had them check the props before rebuilding the one motor, they found the problem and fixed the props and both engines were then within 50rpms of each other. Good luck

downunder · Post by **downunder** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 2:31 am

Thanks for the feedback guys.I checked the toe in and tiller arms when I bought the boat they were fine. The trim tabs are all the way up but when you mentioned the tabs I have noticed that the boat floats with the transom up out of the water a fair bit,as though the fuel tank is empty even when itsover half full. Icut a small hole in the floor infront of the water tank and sucked out about 10 gallons of water but it made no differance is there any more hidden spaces up further.Im pulling the boat out of the water in a couple of weeks I will check the props out then.
Thanks Rex

yorklyn · Post by **yorklyn** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 7:58 am

Rex,
My boat floats the same way, with the stern high. I also was having a real problem with the bow being very high while running. I was running with the tabs almost all of the way down to compensate. I read some advice in another forum and extended the tabs 3 more inches with some stainless plate. This made the tabs much more efficent (more area). I saw a big improvement with the boat planing at slower speeds. I have had no issues with the rams on the tabs and now only need the tabs down 1/8 to 1/4 to keep the bow down. Just a little tip that may help.
Good luck.