Steering Alignment??

[alexr254]

Pardon my ignorance... I am in the middle of a fixer-upper project on a 26 foot family cruiser with my aging dad , which has 2 engines. We had to replace the steering cable due to it being frozen beyond repair. We did put in the new cable and all works well.

My question is, with the dual outdrives, Must they be perfectly aligned? We put the steeing back in as was and noticed they are not exact on the alignment, we can fix it if needed. Problem is we have never done this before and are not sure if it is needed. Or are they not perfectly aligned for some reason we are not aware of?

Thanks for the help!!

 

[Don S]

Re: Steering Alignment??

What engines, and what drives?

 

[alexr254]

Re: Steering Alignment??

Mercruiser 470's with Alpha 1 Gen 1's 1.84:1 ratio. Both are standard rotation. When centered, the port side is straight, the starboard side is tilted roughly a 1/2" to the left.

 

[alexr254]

Re: Steering Alignment??

After doing alot more searching, i found that this is actually intended for displacement. Since this is the way it was i wont try to change it... If anyone can confirm that, it would put me at ease...

thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: Steering Alignment??

Ayuh,.... While I rarely mess with Twins, 1/2" seems extreme to me....

I do know, ya should have 1/16" to 1/8" of toe-in, or toe-out,...
Just to help keep the slop out of the tie-bar...

Pretty much the same as auto alignment...

 

[alexr254]

Re: Steering Alignment??

cool, I will determine the exact off-set and if its a bit too much then i will try to fix it. I am just trying to get this perfect, since the engines are out now its easy access to the steering. Once those bad boys are back in its tough to adjust anything.