I have been meaning to upgrade the steering in my boat for about a year and a half and I finally had the chance 2 weeks ago. My 96 proline had the original cable steering which still worked but required trimming of the boat to minimize steering resistance instead of using it to run cleanly through the water. This alone was reason for me to upgrade. However, anyone that has been on or seen my boat notices that the console is poorly setup and is designed to be driven sitting down. Well at 6'1" I cannot see over the console when seated, so I don't know who they designed this boat for. I have always run it standing up but my height requires me to stand somewhat spread eagle and hunched - not comfortable when running long periods. While replacing the steering head I decided to move the wheel up in the console as much as possible and also change the mounting from 20 degrees to 0 making it parallel with the face of the console. It took me 2 half days of work to remove, glass, cut and then install the new. The worst part being 16 years of rust/corrosion which seized the wheel to the shaft. The quick and easy fix was to hack saw the shaft and work with the wheel on a bench. After removing the wheel I had access the the bolts holding the steering head to the console. A spray of blaster and a quick turn of my wrench and the head was out. Now, I measured the console and determined that I could move the wheel up 2 inches without major surgery to the console, that plus the change in angle gave me enough to comfortable stand and drive. A wooden plug was cut and glassed in place. After several layers and a chance to dry overnight I was ready to begin installation. I used a holesaw mounted to my drill and drilled the new hole exactly 2 inches above the old centerline. I then spread epoxy over all exposed wood to seal it from the elements. Next I mocked up the bracket and drilled the mounting holes and bolted everything in place. Attaching the old cables was easy with just a couple of nuts/bolts and then the steering wheel went back on with antiseize applied everywhere the dissimilar metals made contact.
First test Drive- I dropped the boat in the local canal just to make sure everything worked and there were no issues.
Second test run - Sunday I got to take it out for the first time and the 20-25 mph winds out of the west and northwest promised some good chop. I ran it for 2 hours ranging in speed from 20-35 mph and the new steering is amazing the no feedback makes a word of difference in how I can trim the boat for conditions instead of pull. It allowed me to run hard and stay on top and not get fatigued fighting the torque of the engine.
latest test - Tuesday I tried to get out diving, winds were out of the northwest at 15 and I hoped for decent viz but it just wasn't there. I did however get a chance to run in some smoother water at WOT and again was impressed by the difference the no feedback system makes. I think I had it up to 42mph over long rollers and a light chop. The ability to trim the boat for optimal speed is great and the lack of effort keeps me from being exhausted when I get to a dive spot. Before I absolutely had to keep both hands on the wheel and fight it to run fast, now one handed operation is possible in even rougher conditions and faster speeds.
Quite possibly the best $120 I've spent on the boat!
steering wheel removed notice the hole location
hole patched up
no feedback head mounted
this one shows the angle being parallel with the console