gofastpilot

I saw in one of the boat performance mags (can't remember which one) a replacement or upgraded Brazil-Merc steering valve that eliminates the o.e.m. hyd. steering cylinder inside the transom. This setup of course is designed to be used with external hyd. steering. Has anyone seen this ?..........gofast

thespy

I would contact Marc at Bam Marine, Fort Lauderdale.
www.go-fast.com

RonS

Are you sure this was'nt the valve for an add on hydraulic system,
There are to versions, one for the old style merc cylinder and another for the new cylinders, both still retain the hydraulic cylinder from mercury.

gofastpilot

RonS, I thought the thing I saw eliminated the Merc cylinder and there was a special bracket where the steering cable attached to and still would actuate the valve. I guess there would be a weight savings by eliminating the Merc cylinder. I have a 32 Active Thunder with Mayfair external cylinders hooked up to the Merc valve. The fittings on the Merc cylinder were blocked off. Right now the Cylinder is rusting through but is still needed to hold the braketry together..............gofast

RonS

If the set up that you have is the same as the one on Active Thunder Todds boat "Best Revenge", its a dual cable rack setup.

I'm not sure how they tie those in to the merc part of the setup but if you have to replace the cylinder I would think of converting the system to full hydraulic, merc will probably want an arm and a leg for the cylinder anyway.

gofastpilot

RonS , Yea I was looking at the thread on a $500 hyd. helm setup which is where I'm leaning towards. I know where the is a huge combine graveyard as the thread attested to, combines use dual hyd. steering.Like what you said Merc wants big dollars for replacment parts ..................gofast