175 osprey steering cable length

[flyboyo2]

AARGG, King Kong would break a sweat steering this little boat. I'm going to put in a new Teleflex NFB  rotary and need to know what cable length to order. The current cable must be original from 1989 as I can't find any numbers on the sheath other than made by Teleflex.  I'm sure several members have replace the steering cable on an  175 Osprey so if any one of you sees this please give me the cable length that you ordered.
Thanks

[mshugg]

Here are the Teleflex Instructions for measuring your existing cable- always safer than trusting someone else’s memory.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=694

[flyboyo2]

I certainly  agree with you about taking your own measurements; I want to check mine against someone's measurements that have worked out OK.  Just in case I'm about three feet off and need to remeasure...again.

[wingtime]

I put a NFB kit in my 170. Best upgrade I've done.

https://youtu.be/6Y9f8JagU-E

https://youtu.be/Sc5i2G1CzfI

[flyboyo2]

Thanks Wingtime, I sure wish the 175 had the tray.  Fishing a transducer cable through the chase on my Osprey was a nightmare, a stiff steering cable will be, shall we say, problematic. 

[RickK]

The tray is a handy feature.  It does get funky but makes it so easy to pull out the wiring and trace stuff. I kept mine for 40ish years until I rebuilt her.
Now I have 2" & 3" pipes under the sole to handle everything - it's still tight.

[CTsalt12]

I replaced the steering cable probably 3 years ago on my 175.  I can try and dig up the size I ordered, but I just used the Teleflex measuring instructions as someone else mentioned.  It's actually not too bad of a project to snake it through the rigging tube.

The trick that really made a difference for me was covering the new cable in dish soap to act as a lubricant.  I was having all kinds of trouble, then I did that and it was a piece of cake.  Sounds silly I know....But I felt I had to share that.

[flyboyo2]

CTsalt, thanks for the soap tip. I measured according to Teleflex directions and came up with 12' and 13'. Quit for the day and was looking at my batt voltage and saw the embossed Teleflex length of 14'. It was embossed on the cable about 1 foot from the helm not the engine as I had been led to believe.
The cable looks relatively new but the helm looks weatherworn. I think I'll buy he NFD Safe-T 11 kit change the helm and go from there, maybe I won't have to drop the motor.

[wingtime]

It doesn't cost much more for the NFB kit than just the cable.

[flyboyo2]

That's the plan, I'm buying the kit and changing the helm first 'cause the cable looks OK and maybe I won't have to pull the motor.
I'm going with the NFB Safe-T 11 as the 4.2 is 2" dimensionally larger and would impinge on my VHF in the dash tray.
Also I'm still a little wary as the installed 14' cable being the correct one to use. My measurements keep coming up 13'.

[Capt. Bob]

In the case of cable length, a foot more is better than a foot less. I would suggest you stay with the 14'.
Making the loop a little bigger will not affect the steering function but making it tighter could.

Good luck.

[flyboyo2]

Roger that, Capt. Bob,

Murphy strikes, when loosening the motor mounting transom bolts the lower right was smaller than the other three. Also the lower bolts were mounted heads inboard in contradiction to Mercury's recommendations. I dread removing the small bolt because of what I will find. Wish me luck again.