Boat turns sharper in one direction then

Hey y'all,

I have a '77 American Skier (not a CC) and am having a little problem with the steering. The boat turns very sharp to the left but no where near as sharp to the right. It also has a funny vibration when turning very hard. Any Ideas? also does anyone make a easily removable rudder for towing. Mine is VERY low to the road and gets dragged once or twice everytime I trailer it. (our roads suck around here)

Thanks!
Bobby

Do you have the trailer hooked to a high ball mount say on a pickup? The ball mount should be of a height so the trailer frame is level.

All boats due to the torque steer from the prop rotation will steer better in one direction but you may want to ckeck the cable adjustment to see if you get equal rudder travel in both directions. Have you changed the cable lately?

Have you checked the shaft alignment lately? How's the cutlass bearing?

RSWORDS wrote: You can also hear a whining type noise while it turns. I take it no one makes a removable rudder? Guess I have to bust out the welder and make a brace... Back to the turning... it seems like sometimes the boat is level (side to side) when turning and sometimes it lens into the turns. Any ideas?

The rudder could be vibrating while turning. It could also be prop vibration/cavitation. Many on here have noticed a whining and/or vibration after changing props. Your prop could also be dinged and causing the issue. Or, it could just be harmonics from the hull causing issues. Have you replaced the floors and/or stringers and if not, are they wet and need replacing?

And then the boat leaning into the turns sometimes and sometimes not. The only thing I can think of is that you have water soaked foam in the hull and it's time to replace the floors and stringers. That just doesn't make sense at all. The boat will always lean into the turn unless you're idling through it.

Check the alignment and strut condition like Pete suggests too.

Robert
This may sound like a pain in the butt, but I carry two hitches in my Avalanche for towing my BFN. My trailer has no prop guard ( I am working on that situation ), so I carry a hitch that lowers the tongue and raises the rear of the boat in case I need to.
Lefty

Robert, The search feature is a great tool on this site. I just put in "alignment" in as a key word and found the thread that Eric our on site trans guy did. It even has pictures! Here is the link:

alignment

Links can be created by using the world globe icon above. You will be asked to put a description in the first window and the the second window will be the address that you can copy and paste.

Backfoot has asked about the condition of your stringers. Do you know their condition?

8122pbrainard wrote: Backfoot has asked about the condition of your stringers. Do you know their condition?

Not a clue on the stringers. Any way to check them w/o tearing up the whole floor? The floor is VERY solid except for a very small spot by the drivers feet that if you press real hard with your feet you can feel it give a little.

I did go and look at it some moe and the rudder turns ALOT more to one side, wonder if that is the problem (<- Sarcasm). The alignment thead is kick ass. Thanks

Robert, I used the search feature again and found this post by Bill (ski bum). I didn'tcreate a link because I just wanted his post and not the whole thread. Bill (ski bum) did a stringer replacement thread with pictures if needed. It's very good.


Checking your stringers by skibum:     

SkiBum
Senior Member



Joined: 17 November 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 481 Posted: 12 March 2007 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | Report Post    

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Probably save you some time. Is it a twenty year old boat? Were the stringers ever replaced before? If you answered yes to the first question and no to the second question, then the answer to your question about whether or not you have stringer rot is yes, you do.

Look along the base of the stringers for any cracking. This indicates that rotten stringers are separating from the hull. Look for obvious weak or soft spots that are damp. The wood behind these spots will crumble when touched. Use the base of a screwdriver and systematically tap on the stringers. Listen for a change in the sound. When you find an area like that poke the tip of an ice pick into that area. If it goes in easily, the wood is rotten. Tighten any bolts that go into the stringers. If they just turn and turn without getting any tighter, the wood is rotten.

You may even try some exploratory surgery. Cut away a small patch of glass from a suspect area. You'll see what is back there. That can be patched.

__________________
Bill

Former Owner
1987 Ski Nautique

backfoot100 wrote: Pete, Robert has an American Skier so the construction is different than a CC. .

Sorry, I didn't know that the American Skier didn't use wood stringers. So they had the composite stringers before CC?