2400 Steering Effort

[Bruce J]

My 2016 2400TRS with a 250 SHO requires pretty considerable steering effort. It’s been that way since new, so I don’t think it’s anything that has more recently developed.  At normal cruising speed of mid 30’s i need both hands on the wheel pulling/pushing firmly to steer.  At mid 40’s or higher it’s both hands almost wrenching the wheel. Engine trim makes some difference, not much.  I think the effort is pretty similar whether turning to starboard or port. I usually run the jackplate at about 3  

I know these descriptions of effort are pretty subjective, but I just think it’s quite a bit harder than I would expect for hydraulic steering.  I have the factory standard hydraulic steering - Seastar I guess.  Any input on what you think is proper effort or feel for the steering?  Any ideas for a fix?  Have any added further assist of some type to the steering?

[Bamaskeet]

When I trim very high at high speed, my steering gets considerably harder to turn.  Otherwise it doesn’t take much effort to steer.

I suggest you disconnect the steering, to determine if it’s your motor or hydraulics.

[fin-addict]

 Should not be like that at all. I can steer using two fingers. Let go of wheel and will hold course for a few minutes. The higher rpm the lighter the feel on the wheel.

Have you checked the trim tab on you lower unit for its position.

[NCTribute]

My 2016 2200 TE is the same way, the SHO motors do not have adjustable trim tabs on the lower unit. Some people have said it is also due to the prop, PT OXF4. For me one direction is worse than the other, but both directions seem way harder than it should be. My previous boat with cable steering was easier to steer than this boat with hydraulic steering.

[smilemaker]

Look at the connection of the motor to the steering system.  There should be a single  bolt. Disconnect it and check the steering. If it is hard to turn go to the helm and look for obstructions.  If hydraulics turn easy look at connection of motor.

When disconnected from steering the motor should not  be difficult to  swivel.

When reconnecting you should not have to twist and force the connection.  That will  only bind and make it  harder to  steer.

When  on plane and trimmed properly the steering should be very easy to turn as just a finger pressure.  An old way of knowing that  you were trimmed properly was how easy it would turn.

[Bruce J]

Thanks for the responses.  The steering is easy and the wheel spins quickly while docking, so I don’t think there’s any binding of the motor itself.  Is that a fair test or should I still try disconnecting the steering?  It just gets progressively worse with speed, and trimming out makes it worse, but I don’t trim much anyway. As NC mentioned above, there is no trim tab on the 250 SHO so that’s not it.  

[jh141]

I do not think you have a binding problem though like Smilemaker said it is easy to check. The feed back I have gotten is it is our setup.  

My 22 TRS  with a 2?? SHO and the Atlas 10" jack plate can be trimmed to be easy to steer. If I have my jack plate all the way "down" and the motor trim up a bit under half way or just to where the boat feels like it releases and rpm increases a bit my boat steering gets easy port or starboard. If I have my jack plate up to three than "nothing" I do with my motor trim or throttle will make the steering any easier. I believe this is a combination of the Skeg design on the SHO, look closely its curved,  the "Step" in the back of the hull, the 10 inch set back of the Atlas and the Prop. I do not know if your 24 foot is that much different than my 22 foot but I run my Jack Plate full down unless I am needing clearance in shallow water. I find no speed, comfort or economy raising MY Jack plate. Now I am sure the prop has a ton to do with it. My HS4 21 was very comfortable and easy to steer in cruse mode, My Turbo FXP 22 was about the same. My Power Prop OFX4 was much harder to steer no matter what. My FS1 Bravo Can be very hard to steer when I am trimmed for speed but also very easy to steer when Trimmed for cruse as stated before.

[jh141]

There is a SeaStar Power Assist pump you can install that will reduce the steering effort, About 1700 bucks. I was going that direction and pulled back at the last minute. I am still thinking about it as I get older. 

[SC_Fisher]

I had the same issue with the amount of effort it took took to steer at speed and thought it was just normal for the setup (22TE w/200 SHO).  I changed out my OFX3 prop with a Yamaha SWS for other reasons and it made a huge improvement. Not saying this is your issue but may want to try another prop as an easy fix. 

[Bruce J]

Thanks for that input jh. I will try dropping the jackplate all the way down to see if it makes a difference in my boat.  One reason I like to keep it up around 3 is so I can trim it out without damaging the steering arm/ram on the transom.  I don’t understand why a prop would make that much difference, but I am running a PT OFX4 so that does seem to be a common issue. 

[fin-addict]

On my last boat, always ran with JP down unless in the shallows. Buts that me.

[NCTribute]

15 hours ago, SC_Fisher said:

I had the same issue with the amount of effort it took took to steer at speed and thought it was just normal for the setup (22TE w/200 SHO).  I changed out my OFX3 prop with a Yamaha SWS for other reasons and it made a huge improvement. Not saying this is your issue but may want to try another prop as an easy fix. 

What pitch do you have the SWS in, I have the same boat and motor? Is it the saltwater series II or the series II HP?

People suggesting running with the jack plate all the way down, with the tendency for porpoising of these boats, is not one way to counteract it is raising the jack plate? Guess I need to mount a GoPro back there to see what is going on.

Not sure why saltwater boats have almost zero input for props from the manufacturer and/or dealers. When I bought a bass boat the dealer went out of their way to suggest the best prop and dial it in for me. Seems saltwater dealers just throw on whatever they have lying around, at least that is what happened to me when I bought my Pathfinder.

[jh141]

The OFX props

14 hours ago, Bruce J said:

Thanks for that input jh. I will try dropping the jackplate all the way down to see if it makes a difference in my boat.  One reason I like to keep it up around 3 is so I can trim it out without damaging the steering arm/ram on the transom.  I don’t understand why a prop would make that much difference, but I am running a PT OFX4 so that does seem to be a common issue. 

The OFX4 has that distinctive blade design. Straighter cut on the back side. That prop for me seemed to create torque to one side. Can not remember if it was port or starboard but it was very noticeable.  With the "curved skeg" for lack of a better term of the 200, 225 and 250 SHO I think it made things hard. 

When I had the Yamaha HS4, it was the best all around prop for my setup. It has very symmetrical BLADES.  I damaged it and was not able to replace it. They became very scarce. That's when I jumped to the OFX4 and I was never really happy with it. I have since moved to the FS1 Bravo but have made other changes that kind of puts me on a dessert island. 

51 minutes ago, NCTribute said:

 

People suggesting running with the jack plate all the way down, with the tendency for proposing of these boats, is not one way to counteract it is raising the jack plate? Guess I need to mount a GoPro back there to see what is going on.

Not sure why saltwater boats have almost zero input for props from the manufacturer and/or dealers. When I bought a bass boat the dealer went out of their way to suggest the best prop and dial it in for me. Seems saltwater dealers just throw on whatever they have lying around, at least that is what happened to me when I bought my Pathfinder.

I have not had success using the JP to help the dreaded proposing. I have found more power and or less motor trim and more trim tabs when at lower speeds.  

I will mess with that this weekend.

[Miss Jazzy]

I’d say it’s prop as well. I’ve been running a Mercury 4 blade for years and steering has always been easy. Well I bent that prop and bought a OFX4 to replace it. The steering went to very difficult to turn. Got the Mercury fixed and sold the OFX 4 and now it’s back to normal.  Those PT OFX’s really grab a lot of water. 

[SC_Fisher]

18 hours ago, NCTribute said:

What pitch do you have the SWS in, I have the same boat and motor? Is it the saltwater series II or the series II HP?

People suggesting running with the jack plate all the way down, with the tendency for porpoising of these boats, is not one way to counteract it is raising the jack plate? Guess I need to mount a GoPro back there to see what is going on.

Not sure why saltwater boats have almost zero input for props from the manufacturer and/or dealers. When I bought a bass boat the dealer went out of their way to suggest the best prop and dial it in for me. Seems saltwater dealers just throw on whatever they have lying around, at least that is what happened to me when I bought my Pathfinder.

Mine is SWSII, 3 blade, 19P.  It certainly does not have the bite when cornering like the OFX3 did, but I am satisfied overall for my setup/use.  I have not tried the Bravo but seems like I have seen positive results on here with the SHO.

[Fish5]

I also have the OFX 4 on a 300, have mot been satisfied with performance, and i have thought the boat is difficult to steer, i keep checking steering fluid thinking its low, its not.

[fin-addict]

Off topic. Why or those motors running with curved skews. Reduce prop torque ?

[jh141]

4 hours ago, fin-addict said:

Off topic. Why or those motors running with curved skews. Reduce prop torque ?

I believe so, never found any official explanation. Where most Yamaha's have an adjustable trim skeg to help with running straight the 4.2 L SHO have a water pickup in that spot that scopes water and cools the lower unit inners. The curved skeg, I think, replaces that to help run straight.  I ask Mike when he resealed my lower unit and he said yea that sounds right and he is Yamaha Certified. Who Knows. I only know what I feel when I run my boat LOL

[SCFD rtrd.]

Don't know if this will help, but when I bought my boat (new) in 2013, it steered find for about 6 months, then started having the same symptoms you are describing. Turns out that the pivot tube was not greased at the factory and their was some other pivot or trim area that did not have a grease fitting. Dealership greased up everything and replaced a part that did not have a grease fitting. Motor has steered prefect ever since, even at top speed and trimmed out. 

Just saying, it might be an issue of grease or lack of grease.  

[ChrisB]

Unless you are jumping up or running shallow keep the jackplate between 1-1.5 it will steer a lot easier and also keep the water pressure up.

I put the OFX 4 on all 22 and 24 TRS and top speed and best cruse is with jackplate around 1. The OFX will stay hooked up with the jackplate high but 

you are semi surfacing it and creating a lot of torque making steering hard. You have to remember the TRS transom is 25 in and your SHO is a 20 in motor with 

a 10 inch set back so you are already running the prop high. You must have had your water pump modified if you can run on 3 without getting an overheat alarm.

[Bruce J]

I did a bit more testing yesterday.  Dropped the jp all the way down.  I think it did help a little with the steering effort and will keep experimenting with that.  I usually ran the jp around 3 and occasionally higher because of shallow water I’m often in around Rockport, TX.  However the motor runs fine at higher elevations and I’ve never had the heat alarm go off. The nose cone pickups on the SHO motors really must help, plus they keep from getting wrapped by grass. 
 

I did notice that the steering takes more effort to port. At my normal cruise rate of mid-30’s, I think the steering is okay.  Relatively firm, but not difficult.  It gets “too firm” to me above about 45, but that’s probably about 5% of my running time.  It might not be worth considering a prop change for that, but thanks for all the input and I’ll keep playing with the trim to see how much that helps. 

[BradM]

What prop are you running? Like others have said, steering was less than ideal for me with an OFX/4, and is substantially better with a Merc. Bravo. The steering effort went up with speed, and just like you describe, above 40 was a pain and above 50 was down right ridiculous. Swapping out props and steering port to starboard, hole shot to hauling A, is effortless. 

[Bruce J]

 Brad, my prop is an OFX4 18P.  I guess the P might mean ported.  What are you running?

[BradM]

49 minutes ago, Bruce J said:

 Brad, my prop is an OFX4 18P.  I guess the P might mean ported.  What are you running?

The ports only help with ventilation during take off. I meant to mention that I have a 23 HPS, and am running a Merc. Bravo FS series prop. I’m not here to knock PT props, but with the heavier hulls and 4 stroke power now, the old tried and true wheel of 15+ years ago isn’t the best option anymore. 

[Wanaflatsfish]

check to be sure there is NOT a kink in the hydraulic line....

I have been working on my skiff and I kinked a line..I did alot of research on any fixes - none, replace the line or cut it at the kink and replace the fitting...the kink will restrict flow and increased steering will result..

bottom line.....check your hoses and be sure there is not a kink in the line...

dc