HYDRAULIC STEERING ??

[basfish]

I wanna replace steering this winter,your thoughts on Uflex Protech 2.0 or Seastar Pro HK7514A-3. Motor is a 1992 Evinrude Intruder 150, 60+ mph.

[lpugh]

Uflex is far superior to seastar

[basfish]

Uflex is far superior to seastar

Kinda what I have learned after doing some research. Uflex doesn't seem too popular, guys say it is "beefier" and less prone leak at the cylinder.

[basfish]

I find it hard to believe that after 129 views only "lpugh" has responded.

[OldTimer57]

I am a uflex fan also. I had a seastar that used a sintered o-ring seal in the center of the cylinder. Over a few years of driving straight, that sintered o-ring wore right into the cylinder wall and started to allow accelerated "wheel creep". By the time I replaced it, I was slowly turning the wheel left continuously just to maintain a straight path.

Saw a uflex cut apart at a boat show. Looked good internally. Even better, the attachment from the cylinder to the motor's tiller arm is MUCH improved over seastar. Seastar uses a hinge joint which wears over time (also), leading to some slop. It also rotates the cylinder, which requires a little bit of movement up/down where the hinge attaches to the tiller. More wear. The uflex connection uses a link arm that has robust bearings at every point of contact, including where it bolts to the motor's tiller arm. I used the silver steer version which really looks modern (aluminum finish rather than black paint, looks machined rather than a rough casting, etc.) No cylinder rotation, everything moves in a straight line left and right. The pivot on the arm allows the motor tiller to retract away from the cylinder as you steer, with zero rotation.

Another complaint I had with seastar was that the pushrod through the cylinder was ONLY supported on the ends by the soft seals. That will let the shaft move perpendicular to the axis of the shaft, straining/wearing the seals. I can't budge my silver steer shaft/cylinder. Very stiff support in there.

I also did not like the seastar attitude. Would not sell me any parts. For ANY problem I had (or for anyone else I have heard of) it was always "send it back and we will fix it." And then there is the $24/quart hydraulic fluid. I go to O'reillys and buy a gallon of their AW 32 and have had zero problems with it in 25+ years of using it (I installed Seastar on my pervious boat in the very early 90's right after the "seastar pro" system came out. Using aviation-grade hydraulic fluid, which only increases the flash-point of the oil, is a waste on this application since nothing hot comes near the hydraulic steering cylinder or lines. It is a rip-off.

I have been running this for a year and really like it. For reference I still use the 2.0 cu sestar helm. This results in about 3.5 turns lock to lock, which I really like. Tad faster than the 4.1 for the seastar helm/cylinder.

One thing of note. The silver steer pushrod is slightly larger than the seastar. So if you use the plastic clips to keep the motor from tilting to one side while trailering, they most likely won't work unless you have the ones made of rubber, not PVC. Also you have to be careful. The silver steer end seals are bigger, and are flexed a bit so that they extend beyond the aluminum gland. You don't want the clips touching those seals. I don't use 'em any longer (had to on Easter or motor would turn to one side or the other seriously while trailering.) So far, my silver steer doesn't budge from where I set it before hitting the road. This on trips up to 500 miles one way.

[basfish]

Wow, that's what I was looking for! THX

[lpugh]

OldTimer prety well sumed up my sentiments

[Talon man]

I to switched over from sea star 3 years ago. Had
Don over at European Marine install my U-flex and to this day
just as tight as the day it was installed. Very satisfied

[willwork4fish]

I just installed Uflex Protech on the boat I'm restoring (89 Sabre, 92 150XR6). I bought it from a place in FL who sold both. The guy told me his preference was Uflex even though it was a little less money than Seastar. One thing to keep in mind though is that if you want to attach a Teleflex blinker trim you're going to have to get creative. I had to make a bracket for mine because the holes don't line up. Uflex sells a blinker unit (paddles really) but it's like $200. The Teleflex was $60.

I also had to remove the lower cowl to get enough clearance to get the main bolt in but I probably would have had to do that with SeaStar too.