How to Install a Steering Mechanism on a Small Boat

When you make the switch from using the tiller on an outboard to using a steering wheel to control your boat, you're no longer trapped at the stern steering station. Instead, you can sit forward in the cockpit with friends and family. Installing steering on a small boat requires you to mount the helm (the under-dash component of the steering system), run the steering cables from the helm to the rear of the boat, and attach the steering cable to the outboard.

Things You'll Need

  • Pencil
  • Drill
  • Hole saw
  • Drill bits
  • Screwdriver
  • Torque wrench
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Instructions

    • 1

      Lie the steering system template, included with the system, on the dash and trace the location of both the hole for the steering column and the mounting screw holes for the helm with a pencil.

    • 2

      Use a drill and hole saw to cut the hole for the steering column. Switch to the drill bit sized for the mounting holes and drill the holes for the helm mounting holes.

    • 3

      Push the steering column up through the hole in the dash. Turn the helm so the arrow on its back points up.

    • 4

      Remove the rack screw connection with a screwdriver. Install the steering cable to the rack. Tighten the screw.

    • 5

      Push the steering cable through the cable mounts on the side of the boat. Allow extra length for the right-angle turn onto the transom and toward the outboard.

    • 6

      Push the motor end of the steering cable through the outboard's tilt tube, the horizontal tube on the front of the outboard on which the motor tilts up and down.

    • 7

      Position the motor-end of the steering cable on the steering link rod. Thread the steering link washers and lock nut onto the end of the steering link rod to secure the cable end. Tighten the lock nut to 20 foot-pounds with a torque wrench.

    • 8

      Press the steering wheel onto the steering column. Secure with the steering shaft nut. Tighten the nut with a large adjustable wrench.