Pulling hard to the left. No trim tab..No power tilt

BLPen163

Cadet
Joined
Sep 22, 2014
Messages
7
Hello, first post here and I'm already asking for help!
First time out with this boat after purchase....1964 Starcraft 15' runabout. 1964 Johnson 75hp motor.....I noticed as soon as I backed it off the trailer it handled like a slug at really low speeds......Once I got into open water and accelerated it seemed to come up to speed and move along pretty well.....When I got to full throttle I had to hold the wheel to the right as the boat wanted to go left and if I would have let go of the wheel I would have been in a world of hurt!! It felt out of control......I backed off the throttle and it became easier to handle but was still hard to make right hand sharp turns. Boat has the original cable steering system that works smoothly and does not bind. It has no power trim and after researching this problem for hours I have realized it does not have an adjustable trim tab on the motor.
What course of direction should I start on to resolve this issue?
johnson tab.jpg
 

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roffey

Commander
Joined
Nov 22, 2012
Messages
2,184
Sounds like a torque steer problem (rotation of the prop and motor), some steering systems have a nob you can tighten, some power steering and some just hang on.
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
Normally the steering torque pulls to the right, the same direction as the prop rotation making it tough to turn to the left. I guess your old Johnny could be a counter rotation? The trim tab (anode) wouldn't do much to fix the pull. The best thing is power trim to cure it but since you don't have it then try raising the tilt lock pin up to the next hole. It may help some but there's a trade off with getting up on a plane slower the higher up you go.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,030
That prop looks to be left-handed, although it is hard to see clearly. You can move the tilt pin up a hole and see if performance is still acceptable. The only other thing is to add a small wedge to the port side of the skeg. I use a piece of a zinc anode and ground it down until most of the torque steer was gone. I riveted it to the skeg.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,030
Also, some of those 60's Johnnyrudes had hollow skegs. If yours is hollow, it would be best to epoxy and clamp the wedge to the skeg.
 
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