C310 Steering

[Ray Carless]

Our steering is very tight and whilst it helps to sail a steady course the downside is the effort needed by the fairer sex. My dealer tells me the steering is typical of all 31's and there is little that can be done. Has anyone else had a similar problem, and more importantly, is there a way it can be lightened ?

 

[John J]

Steering

We also have the 310 and I would not describe our steering as tight. My wife or guests have not ever mentioned that the steering felt heavy or tight. But with the thought in mind I will pay more attention this weekend and get back to you. (#23) Just a thought? Were there any changes made when they moved the production of the 310 from California to Florida. Ours was made in CA

 

[Jon W]

Tight Steering

I wouldn’t go so far as to classify the steering on our C310 as tight. I don't have a lot of experience with wheel steering, but no one who has steered my boat has ever mentioned any thing about the steering effort. While it's not exactly friction free, I wouldn't say it took any real effort. If I let go of the wheel and don't have the steering brake on, due to the (highly) balanced rudder, the wheel will sometimes take off on me when we’re in the upper speed range. My steering cables haven’t been greased because I don’t like the thought of the grease attracting dirt, but I might get around to doing it some day. I do have the proper slack in them though. Actually, most of the steering friction that we do have seemed to come when the Raytheon Autohelm autopilot was installed.

 

[Kurt]

Not tight either

We have hull #52 and I wouldn't qualify our steering as tight either. If anything, she steers quite easily; perhaps a bit too sensititve if anything.

 

[Gary Larson]

Don't believe everything the dealer says...

I took delivery about 5 months ago and I have had numourous items that I have brought to the dealer and there immedate response is that: First I am wrong, and then later "Oh, you may have something there but it is; 1) Not a problem, 2) Nothing can be done (in your case) or 3) It said in the promotion materially that the specs were approximate (as in head room being 2 1/2 inch shorter than advertised). Out of all of this I have learned that I would not accept thier word along. You need to have someone look at the steering. That is one problem I have not had so I would assume that it can be adjusted. Good Luck,G. LarsonPS How was the finishes on your boat. I am not happy, the trim, e.g. vent caps looked tranished from day one and they replaced them with ones that are as bad or worse. I also had a lot of construction materials, e.g. sanding disk, etc. left in the bilge and under the floors.

 

[Guest]

Check the cable slack

Check how tight the cables are on the steering quadrant. They shouldn't be 'bar tight' according to Edson. Your manual should describe how much slack there should be. About 1" if I remember correctly.

 

[Mark Geigel]

Ours Seems Tighter Than It Was At Launch

I just noticed a few weeks ago that our almost 1 year old 310 now has much tighter steering than it did when we took delivery. I have yet to find the cause for this. If anyone has any ideas what could have caused this please let me know. There is some friction from the autopilot but that came with the boat so it's not the problem.