Hard Steering on a 97

I"ve got a 97 SN on which the steering is becoming really hard. Do I need to replace the cable? rack? Any ideas?

Any help is appreciated.

Caleb

Don't fool around: replace the cable. I have a '97 and the steering was tight, especially at the ends of the travel. I replaced the cable, and now I can spin the wheel with one finger. If you do it yourself (I did), count on it taking several hours, and about half of that spent cursing. One hint that helped me: when you pull the old cable, tie a strong nylon rope on the back end where the rudder attaches. This way you can re-route the new cable in the right place. As you pull out the old cable, have some rags and WD-40 ready, and clean the cable as it comes out of the hole under the bow. It will be filthy, and you don't want bilge grease all over your boat. By the way, this is a three-person operation: one to lay under the bow pulling/pushing the cable, one supporting the cable, and one getting clean rags/tools/beers, etc. It's a pain to do, but it's worth it.

Boy I'm glade I have an older model. it took me about a hour and I had to get the beers myself.