Play in steering! How much is to much?

[YOUNG]

I have a 99 Baja Boss Hammer with a 7.4mpi and a Bravo One outdrive. When driving the boat at low speeds(between5-10 mph)the boat wants to wander from side to side. You have to do a lot of correcting to try and keep it straight, and this doesn't seem to work. When I checked the lower unit for play you can move it side to side about 1" with out the steering wheel moving. Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be the problem and what would you suggest to fix and or replace. Thanks

[shadow]

I have a 99 Baja Boss Hammer with a 7.4mpi and a Bravo One outdrive. When driving the boat at low speeds(between5-10 mph)the boat wants to wander from side to side. You have to do a lot of correcting to try and keep it straight, and this doesn't seem to work. When I checked the lower unit for play you can move it side to side about 1" with out the steering wheel moving. Does anyone have any suggestions on what might be the problem and what would you suggest to fix and or replace. Thanks
Look on the back of your drive there is 2- 9/16 nut just behind the top cap.Tighten those down you will probablly get a few turns out of each one.Then try moving the drive back and forth by hand see if that helps.If look closely there you will see there is a shaft in there and those 2 nuts are attached to a u bolt and will tighten down chances are the gimbal ring is wearing around that shaft.pretty common.

[Havasu47]

Shadow is right. Check that first. If the nuts are tight and the Gimbal Ring is not worn, it is pretty common for a bravo to have a little slop when the engine is not running. If everything is tight, wandering at "idle" speeds is usually caused by the bottom design or the drive being installed off center.
Hope this helps

[YOUNG]

The boat wanders side to side only when is in gear and idling along. I will check the nuts you told me about and see what happens. Thanks

[Bondo]

The boat wanders side to side only when is in gear and idling along.
It's a V-hull......... They All Do It,.... To varying degrees.......
If you do alot Less Correcting,.. it'll come back by it's Self...........
Just a "Touch" of the wheel is enough on My boat........

[Raisin Wake]

I had the same thing. Several people on the boards pointed out the bow steering issue. Bondo is correct, small corrections is the key. I also trim my drive up.

[YOUNG]

Thanks for the info! The wandering is just a pain when idling through the marina. I was thinking that maybe something might be wrong with the steering itself.

[phebus]

Like was mentioned earlier, play with your trim (trim up), and if an open bow, keep some people out of the bow while idling. All will help eliminate the bow steering your experiencing. Try to correct as little as possible, as that will just make it worse. Just let it wander, unless a steering correction is necessary to avoid something. All vee's bow steer, just some worse then others, and you will get used to what is necessary, and it will all smooth out.

[Cat Skinner]

If you have tabs put them down , it helps some.

[BADBLOWN572]

The slop that you are talking about probably comes from the cable. Between the Brazil valve, cable, and helm, 1" is pretty common. No big deal and doesn't mean that there is a problem. If you want to fix it, switch to full hydraulic steering $$$. Only way to get rid of it 100%.