Hard pull to right

[Paul Hammons]

I have just bought a 94 Nitro 170Dc with 115Rude. At speed, 50MPH it takes two hands and shoulders to keep from turning right. Torque is really tough. Is there a cure. Heard of a skeg trim tab but can't find who sells them or how to get one. any help?????? The one on the motor doesn't do anything at speed.

 

[Gilbert Scales2]

Dunk, the skeg trim tab should already be on your motor. It is the piece on the cavation plate. It is usually not painted, and has one bolt in it. Here is the cure, losen the bolt... and move the tab in" YES", the same direction it is pulling. If you are standing at the rear of the boat looking toward the bow, and your boat is pulling right... more it about a 1/4 " at a timein the same direction. Put it in the water, if it needs to move move adjust it again. The tab acts as a small rudder, and will correct the problem. Need more help with it, email me.



Bubby

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Are you trimmed up @ WOT ?

 

[cq]

Had the same problem with my 96 170 DC w/115.

Just keep working with the tab.



cq

 

[Paul Hammons]

yes trimmed up almost full at WOT. If it pulls hard right, and the small adjustable skeg acts as a rudder, wouldn't I want the rudder angled to the right which would be moving the back of it to the left. If I am standing at the back of the boat / motor and looking at the small skeg, which was to push the closest edge of skeg to me. THe furthest edge away from the boat should go left / right?? I was also told this small skeg is out of the water at trim and wot at 50mph so how would it help at that speed.

 

[Jim in VA]

Dunk50 - the trim tab should be below the cavitation plate and therefore should be in the water even at full trim. Past full trim and you start to lift the prop out of the water (not a good thing unless you're going really really slow or in neutral!). By turning the trim tab in the direction your motor is pulling, the tab will redirect your direction the other way. Best analogy is running with a tiller motor. You push the tiller the opposite direction you want to go - same with the trim tab. As you face the back of the motor, rotate the trim tab to the right. Good luck.

 

[Jim B]

I think what you are looking for is a torque tab that rivets to the motor skeg. Here is a link to one that bass pro sells.



On my last boat i has a similar problem and the tab on the cavitation plate didnt make one bit of difference. It seems to work much more at cruise speed then it did at wide open. A torque tab helped a bunch and at ~16 bucks its a very cheap fix. The ultimate cure was a no feedback steering system that i installed when my cables froze.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...artNumber=22972&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=Searc

 

[Paul Hammons]

Thanks for the info guys. I am going to ry both. Is this a great Web site or what

 

[Texas Transplant]

Like many others, I've had the problem myself, and simply had to keep adjusting (in small increments), the adjustment on the caviation plate until it fixed itself. I used to have the same 'two hands and a death grip' on the steering wheel of my Stratos. It has a 150 Rude on it.



Tex

 

[Mini]

Get NFB or Hydraulic steering....



Other than that, adjust the tab slowly till you get it right.



Mini

 

[Pat Goff]

Excessive wheel torque is a symptom of a bad setup. Hydraulic steering doesn't "fix" anything, or a torque tab. Just hides the cause.



Usually your motor is too high for the prop you're running, causing excessive surfacing of the prop, which equals a very inefficient setup. Drop you motor until the torque tames, and you'll see your speed and boat lift increase.

 

[Paul Hammons]

Prop is going to Mark on monday. Thought I would get that taken care of first. I will then do as described Pat. I do think it was breaking loose a little also which would mean it was to high also. Thanks