Stiff wheel steering on Ericson 28+

[philscho]

Greetings,

I have a 1981 Ericson 28+ with wheel steering, that has been very stiff,

as in difficult to steer. Feels sort of like the steering lock is on but it's not?

It has been this way since I bought it used, and I have just dealt with it

till now. I am getting ready to haul the boat out for some work and wondered

if any of you have experience this and what may have caused it? My first

thought is that the previous owner may have hit something with the rudder

( log, rock, mermaid) but there wan no evidence of any damage. I

wondered if the cables in the pulley system could get caught or have some

kind of drag on them? Any suggestions or ideas to fix?

Thanks,

Phil E-28+ Russell James

 

[u079721]

One thing I will suggest is that if the cables are way over tightened you can get very stiff steering. So as a first check I would try backing off on the turnbuckles to relieve some of the tension on the steering cables and see whether that helps.

If that does not do it I would think about disconnecting the cables altogether to try and isolate the issue. That is, is the stiffness from the wheel-pedestal area even with the cables disconnected? If so it might help to remove and clean and lube the chain. If that isn't the issue then it must be the rudder tube itself. Stiffness there might be caused by someone over tightening the rudder stuffing box perhaps? Maybe try lubing the rudder at the zerc points?

 

[philscho]

Thanks......

Steve,

Thanks for the suggestions. I will go through these before dropping the rudder

Phil

 

[Chris A.]

Just to reinforce what Steve said, when I was trouble shooting my steering I found that going too tight with the stuffing box is exactly like putting the wheel brake on.

Good luck,

 

[treilley]

Also make sure the sheaves are aligned properly. My steering was stiff because of overtightened cables and misalignment.

 

[Loren Beach]

I once found that our sheaves that had so much wear in the center bushing that they were several degrees off kilter. If one of those ever went too far, cable would slip off. Probably not your situation, but something to check on while you are ensconced under the cockpit communing with the cable steering system stuff.

Pics of ours in reply #2 in this thread -- http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?t=3473&referrerid=28

Loren