Installing Hydraulic Steering on 1995 Sea Ray Sundancer 370

GooseNWater

GooseNWater

New Member
Apr 12, 2021
9
Boat Info
1995 Sea Ray Sundancer 370
Engines
7.4 Blue Water Mercruiser Inboards
Has any 370 Sundancer peeps replaced your cable steer to hydraulic? For the life of me I do not understand why a boat this size has cable steer. I have owned this boat for 5 seasons now and absolutely love this boat! My only gripe is the cable steer is stiff as hell and I am tired of sitting my ass at the helm for countless hours on long trips. I did find a 1996 370 Sundancer manual online and it shows a SeaStar 1 Tilt Helm Pump was used, I am assuming the SeaStar 1.4 is the newer version? My navigation/electronics is all Garmin, so I am wanting Garmin autopilot equipment. I am doing research but if any of you have replaced your cable steer to hydraulic steer, I would love to hear your suggestions and comments.
 
Before you get too deep into this, go into the engine room and lubricate all your rudder linkages. We had an issue with our 500, very stiff and it was hydraulic. Lubed all the linkages twice and could then turn the wheel with 1 finger.
 
We just did this 2 seasons ago. We lubed everything, changed out the PS pump, the ram and had the cable commercially lubed. (The service guy removed both ends and cleaned inside cable and re-lubed with a pump of some sort until the new lube came out the other end. Nothing helped it. So decided to go Hydraulic. Installed SeaStar system with the dual pump (in the bilge) that has AP included. We also are all Garmin and added a Garmin Shadow Drive AP. During the install we found out why the steering was so hard (it was really hard, like trying to turn a car steering wheel with no power). When removing the steering cable we found that it had apparently been replaced by the PO and it was not routed correctly when put back in. It made 2 very sharp turns in the area under the arch which we figured was the cause. There was a different route that it obviously should have taken. May want to investigate your cable first.
With that said, we love the SeaStar with the Shadow Drive AP. Don't have to have the engine that has the PS unit on it running to have steering. Got caught with no Stbd power and lost steering, that was a PITA. Had to turn motor over with starter when wanting to turn more than I could with the tabs. SeaStar System pricy, but one of the nicest upgrades we did. It also has a remote for the AP that is point and go. Allows you to engage/disengage, change heading +1* or +10* and more. We use this mainly when we are just puttin around sight seeing.
 
bahamabreisus said:
Before you get too deep into this, go into the engine room and lubricate all your rudder linkages. We had an issue with our 500, very stiff and it was hydraulic. Lubed all the linkages twice and could then turn the wheel with 1 finger.
Click to expand...

Yes, that will help for sure, but I am doing away with the cable steering to go hydraulic so I can add autopilot.
 
Korkie said:
We just did this 2 seasons ago. We lubed everything, changed out the PS pump, the ram and had the cable commercially lubed. (The service guy removed both ends and cleaned inside cable and re-lubed with a pump of some sort until the new lube came out the other end. Nothing helped it. So decided to go Hydraulic. Installed SeaStar system with the dual pump (in the bilge) that has AP included. We also are all Garmin and added a Garmin Shadow Drive AP. During the install we found out why the steering was so hard (it was really hard, like trying to turn a car steering wheel with no power). When removing the steering cable we found that it had apparently been replaced by the PO and it was not routed correctly when put back in. It made 2 very sharp turns in the area under the arch which we figured was the cause. There was a different route that it obviously should have taken. May want to investigate your cable first.
With that said, we love the SeaStar with the Shadow Drive AP. Don't have to have the engine that has the PS unit on it running to have steering. Got caught with no Stbd power and lost steering, that was a PITA. Had to turn motor over with starter when wanting to turn more than I could with the tabs. SeaStar System pricy, but one of the nicest upgrades we did. It also has a remote for the AP that is point and go. Allows you to engage/disengage, change heading +1* or +10* and more. We use this mainly when we are just puttin around sight seeing.
Click to expand...

I haven't checked the routing; it appears to be original, but the cable steer is going to the curb. We are doing lots of much longer trips now and it would be nice to not be at the helm all the time, although we do take turns. I am definitely going the SeaStar route, I may have to call them to see which unit I will need for my 370. I do plan on getting the shadow drive for sure and a remote, I am looking at the GHC50 package, but I need to call Garmin to see what size pump I will need. I was hoping there would be a 370 owner out there that has already done this and would have all my answers. Thank you for your response.
 
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