Steering cables

[hsb]

My steering cables are completely shot. I know its a Teleflex dual cable rack and pinion system. How hard would the cables be to change out or would I be better off with a whole new r & p system. As much as Id like to do hydraulic, just not in the budget, then again neither are the cables, but atleast they would keep me going. And for an 18'9" boat, how long would my cables be? Im being lazy and I can either look at the cables for the numbers or measure them, but again Im being lazy.

[185er]

my 1997 185 had 14 foot cables when i removed them, to install hydraulic,,,,,,should have saved them,but went the easy route and cut them,,,,are you would be welcome to them...

[Melton Jason]

My DV200 had 14 foot cables and its 19,3. Mine had started to seize up last year and I was going to go to hydraulic, but got sticker shock when i started adding everything up. I just couldn't justify dropping almost a grand into steering on my old hydrasports. I couldn't find the cables for mine last year when I needed to replace them, I believe they was made by a company called Mylar?? (can't remember for sure) From what I could find they had gone out of business. I found some people that still had some but they wanted a ridiculous amount of money for just the cables. I bought a whole new dual cable kit with new tilt helm (Teleflex) off EBay. Had to cut the hole out bigger and lots of measuring. Wasn't really sure about the tilt (it was a great price on it, little under 400.00)but after using it all last year, I kind of like it now. It brought the steering wheel out a little bit farther and it's handy when you just want to start the big motor to idle across the cove, you can flip it up and it's in the position that most center consoles use. Oh and I can now turn the wheel with my pinky now.

[hsb]

Thank you sir, thats what I thought they were, just wasnt sure. Chit doesnt want to move to easily now, so time to replace the cables. Spent a good 15-20 mins today trying to get the motor to turn and finally got it to move some, but not enough and I know if I let it sit it will tighten back up.

99% sure I can get new cables for it, they started using the Teleflex NFB rack and pinion steering the yr mine was built and I know they are still available, so now its time to save some coin and work alot of extra OT.

[stinkfishpot]

had to replace one cable on my 205. just undo it under the consol and at the motor. take it out and there will be a number on it. take the cable to your local marina and they should be able to match it up. i had it changed in about 2 hours. cost about $140.00

[swamprat]

the company that went out of buisness was detmar,short for detroit marine

[tbowe2]

Melton Muskie/Jason R....I have a 1990 DV-200-WT, and i had the steering system all apart this past weekend because my steering is so stiff that it takes everything in me to turn it. Removed everything and narrowed it down to only 1 of the cables being a problem.......

Under my console, my helm appears to be a Dual Cable Helm, but has 2 completely separate Rack Cables, each with their Own Gear connection to the helm itself (Versus newer dual cable systems that both cables use the same gear).

is this similar to how yours was originally? I have to do something with mine because its darn near unsteerable at the moment.....

what Teleflex system did you Install (NFB?) and was it a terrible pain in the arse to remove the old cables and install the new ones?

[hsb]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by tbowe2 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Melton Muskie/Jason R....I have a 1990 DV-200-WT, and i had the steering system all apart this past weekend because my steering is so stiff that it takes everything in me to turn it. Removed everything and narrowed it down to only 1 of the cables being a problem.......

Under my console, my helm appears to be a Dual Cable Helm, but has 2 completely separate Rack Cables, each with their Own Gear connection to the helm itself (Versus newer dual cable systems that both cables use the same gear).

is this similar to how yours was originally? I have to do something with mine because its darn near unsteerable at the moment.....

what Teleflex system did you Install (NFB?) and was it a terrible pain in the arse to remove the old cables and install the new ones?</td></tr></table>

For now, until you get the new cables, raise the motor some and grab hold of it and start working it back and forth, should loosen the cables up for a couple weeks. Once you get it loosened up, just keep working the steering wheel back and forth. Mine will stay loose for a few weeks, esp if its warm out.

[Melton Jason]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by tbowe2 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Melton Muskie/Jason R....I have a 1990 DV-200-WT, and i had the steering system all apart this past weekend because my steering is so stiff that it takes everything in me to turn it. Removed everything and narrowed it down to only 1 of the cables being a problem.......

Under my console, my helm appears to be a Dual Cable Helm, but has 2 completely separate Rack Cables, each with their Own Gear connection to the helm itself (Versus newer dual cable systems that both cables use the same gear).

is this similar to how yours was originally? I have to do something with mine because its darn near unsteerable at the moment.....

what Teleflex system did you Install (NFB?) and was it a terrible pain in the arse to remove the old cables and install the new ones?</td></tr></table>


Yes. sounds exactly how mine was, I used a sawzall and just cut off the ends of the cable and pulled everything out, I bought the NFB system with 14 foot cables, I did have to take the boat over to my cousins house and we used his tractor to support the engine and swing it out while I reinstalled the cables. Overall it wasnt really bad.

Some helpful hits when installing the system is when you pull your old cables out, attach 2 pieces of small rope or I used weedeater line so that you can pull the new cables back through. Also make sure you get the cable ends where they screw onto the motor bracket straight. If you go with a system like mine you will need a hole saw to make room for the bigger helm. I still have it hanging in the garage and will get the size for you when I get home.

[tbowe2]

Great, thank you very much for the info! that is a big help. I was assuming i would probably just have to suck it up and purchase a whole new kit etc. Did you buy the NFB Rack steering kit, or the NFB Rotary style kit? Just curious.

Thanks for getting me the hole saw size info later. One other dumb question, i'm not understanding what you mean by using a tractor to support the motor and swing it out while you reinstalled the cables? Do you mean you just used a tractor hold the Outboard all the way to Port Side so you have
more room to access starboard to pull the cables etc.?

thanks again for all the info - it's tough finding people with the same DV200 model! ;-)

[Melton Jason]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by tbowe2 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Great, thank you very much for the info! that is a big help. I was assuming i would probably just have to suck it up and purchase a whole new kit etc. Did you buy the NFB Rack steering kit, or the NFB Rotary style kit? Just curious.

Thanks for getting me the hole saw size info later. One other dumb question, i'm not understanding what you mean by using a tractor to support the motor and swing it out while you reinstalled the cables? Do you mean you just used a tractor hold the Outboard all the way to Port Side so you have
more room to access starboard to pull the cables etc.?

thanks again for all the info - it's tough finding people with the same DV200 model! ;-)</td></tr></table>

I got the NFB 4.2 Rotary. here is the link.

http://www.teleflexmarine.com/...tary/

The hole saw size was 2 1/2


There wasn't enough room because of the angle to attach the cables to the motor, I unbolted the engine and used the tractor to hold it up. I made a bracket to support the engine that attaches to the flywheel. It has 4 bolts that screw into the flywheel and a forged eyelet (it was capable of supporting 3000lbs, the regular eyelets only was rated for 400lb) I believe the bolts was 5/16 24 thread and was grade 8 (got them all at Lowes)

I will try and put some pics up so you can get a ideal what it looks like

[Melton Jason]

Here is the helm



And here is the cables

[tbowe2]

Thanks VERY MUCH for all the info and the photos!!!!! That gives me a good feel for getting these dang things replaced haha!!

hopefully i can find the same deal on cables on ebay as you did...... :-)

thanks again!!!

[Jarcon87]

Thanks VERY MUCH for all the info and the photos!!!!! That gives me a good feel for getting these dang things replaced haha!!

hopefully i can find the same deal on cables on ebay as you did...... :-)

thanks again!!!

hi I have a 1990 hydra sport dv200 its has a Johnson 1978 115hp motor I was wondering I anyone knew what cables I need if I need a single or dual setup. this is my first boat don't know to much about it. its 19'3" if anyone could please help me and if possible a rough price I would greatly appreciate it thank you!!!!!

[Melton Jason]

More than likely you have the detmar system if you see to separate racks, you can search online but I think the cables (14 foot), are hard to come by. I ended up ordering a new kit for little less than 400.