Hydraulic Steering

F

fjcruiserchaparral

Cadet
Joined
Jun 17, 2009
Messages
6
Can I Convert to hydraulic steering? I have mercruiser v8 7.4 liter 454 with bravo one stern drive. Is there a conversion kit? Thanks
 
Bondo

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
71,133
Re: Hydraulic Steering

Ayuh,.... Sure,.... You can convert about Any boat to Hyd. steering,...
It takes a Helm, 'n an Actuator, along with the lines, 'n any valving that particular system calls for...

You may not find a "Kit", exactly for your barge, but most are easily adaptable...

Most of what I've seen starts at about a Grand, all said, 'n done, then the costs rise Quickly for the Hi-end stuff...
 
R

rodbolt

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
20,066
Re: Hydraulic Steering

that set up typically has power steering already on it.
now the steering actuator can be actuated by a cable or a hydraulic cylinder.
if your trying to remove the mercrusier power steering and eliminate the actuator then yes it can still be done but the cyl is going to be bigger and more costly.
 
Don S

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: Hydraulic Steering

Just a guess here, but can I assume you do have power steering with cable steering and it's still very hard to turn, correct? If that is the case, converting to hydraulic steering will probably cure your problem, but probably isn't necessasry.
90% of the time the stainless steel end of the cable gets corroded inside the aluminum tube that goes through the power steering cylinder.
Usually removing the cable, cleaning out all the corrosion and greasing cable end that slides through the tube turns the steering back into 1 finger on the wheel turning.

But you sure can change to Hydraulic steering but you still have to remove the cable from the tube to install the new hydraulic cylinder to get the same thing.
 
H

HT32BSX115

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Dec 8, 2005
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