Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

[lncovert]

Hi, I bought an old 1959 wooden boat. You can see the steering wheel in my picture. The steering system is a pulley system where the cables wrap around the steering drum behind the dashboard. There is a big nut that holds the steering drum onto the bolt. But...there is a little tension pin that locks the steering column bolt to the steering drum that the cable wraps around. Every time I drive the boat and turn a few times, the nut loosens up and if I don't tighten it in time, the steering drum slides down and that tension pin will fall out onto the floor and slip through the cracks in the wood planking on the floor down to the inaccessible bilge area. When that happens, I have no steering anymore. I have to hopefully have a spare tension pin in the toolbox to be able to get back home.

Here is my question...surely, other people have had this problem...is there a way to keep the nut from unscrewing when you turn the steering wheel back and forth?

If I can figure this out it will keep me from having to stand up, reach behind the dashboard and tighten the nut after every 4 or 5 turns of the boat.

Also, what other kinds of steering are there? Haudraulic? Is the mechanical pulley system also called Rack and Pinion?

Thanks for your help!

Lance

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

sorry i double posted

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Ther may be a bushing worn out leting the pressure work on the bolt making it come loose. However if you place another nut the same size beside the one you keep having to tighten and lock them together. It wont come loose then I garantee it.

 

[lncovert]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Ok, you mean screw another nut just like it directly behind it? Ok, It's a big nut, I hope Home Depot has one.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Yes if you can get another nut on it just tighten the 2 together tight and binga bang its fixed. Its an old school mechanics trick when you dont have a lock nut.Then spray any wear points down with a little W-D40 type lube or white grease spray.

 

[lncovert]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Ok, thanks, I will try this out!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

The cable and pulley steering system is a leftover from the time before your 1959 boat was designed and the engineers were still dreaming about 115HP outboard motors. You might want to replace your steering system with a mechanical system because things happen quickly at speeds over 30 mph. In fact, your boat may not have been designed for that much power. Be safe!

 

[lncovert]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Hey, thanks...what is another type of steering system I could replace it with? About how much would that set me back in the wallet? Thanks.

The cable and pulley steering system is a leftover from the time before your 1959 boat was designed and the engineers were still dreaming about 115HP outboard motors. You might want to replace your steering system with a mechanical system because things happen quickly at speeds over 30 mph. In fact, your boat may not have been designed for that much power. Be safe!

 

[Willyclay]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

You can find out the answers to your questions at the iboats.com Marine Store on this website. I have the Uflex brand for my current boat and have used the Teleflex brand to retrofit previous boats.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Just double nut it..

 

[govols019]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

The nut behind my steering wheel is pretty screwy too.




That's what my wife says anyway. lol

 

[AllUrBassRBelong2Us]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

How about some Locitite? Use a lower strength formula so you can get it back off if need be. Inexpensive and easily available from your local auto parts store.

 

[lncovert]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

I checked the nut. It's too big and another nut will not fit onto the bolt. I will try to find 2 shorter nuts so that they can fit, but I doubt I will be able to find these at Home Depot. If I can't find them, I will try some loctite.

 

[Sorrento 25]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Try Mcmaster-Carr. They have most sizes of the thinner nuts.

 

[burroak]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

The nut behind my steering wheel is pretty screwy too.




That's what my wife says anyway. lol

The the answer to Incovert's question on your boat is just to get a tighter grip!

 

[burroak]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

I checked the nut. It's too big and another nut will not fit onto the bolt. I will try to find 2 shorter nuts so that they can fit, but I doubt I will be able to find these at Home Depot. If I can't find them, I will try some loctite.

Place the nut in vise and drill a hole through one flat of the nut into the center.Tap it and insert the proper inset hex head screw (much like a set screw in a pulley on an electric motor shaft). Secure the nut properly, apply Locktite to the set screw and tork it down. Mark it, "Good to go."

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Place the nut in vise and drill a hole through one flat of the nut into the center.Tap it and insert the proper inset hex head screw (much like a set screw in a pulley on an electric motor shaft). Secure the nut properly, apply Locktite to the set screw and tork it down. Mark it, "Good to go."

OH yea, thats a sure fire fix. We have our novice mechanics and then we have some at a differant level.How about just tightening it up and then distorting the threads on the back side? This is another old school trick Ive used or you could "brad the head" by hammering the bolt end sorta flat against the back side of the nut, but this isnt to good when you ever need to take it back apart.

 

[burroak]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

OH yea, thats a sure fire fix. We have our novice mechanics and then we have some at a differant level.How about just tightening it up and then distorting the threads on the back side? This is another old school trick Ive used or you could "brad the head" by hammering the bolt end sorta flat against the back side of the nut, but this isnt to good when you ever need to take it back apart.

I doubt if the tapping exercise is that challenging. If that is beyond the skill set of the boat owner, one of two things will happen. He will get on the fast track on the learning curve or he will shell out big bucks to a marine mechanic. The methods you have suggested will irreparably damage the shaft threads and are not a guaranty a good outcome. Less invasive possibilities are the use of a star lock washer and Locktite.

 

[lncovert]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

I figured out the size of the nut...3/4"-10.

I took it to home depot and they only had 1 thickness of this size...the same exact nut I already had. So...I couldn't do the double-nut trick (McMaster-Carr makes you order a lot of nuts at once). I resorted to the loctite (the blue, non-permanent type). I also put a washer behind the nut and put some engine grease on it, so the steering drum may slide against the washer and so that the torque won't get to the nut. I'll test it tomorrow after the loctite is cured fully.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Nut behind steering wheel keeps loosening - Help me!

Try simply drilling a very small (1/16) hole in one of the flats horizontal ways..
Then drill another in the shaft...piece lockwire...through the nut hole, clockwise a turn or two, and twist in the shaft hole.. done