Tracman86 Steering Mod - Fail Safe

[JF660R]

If anyone hasn't seen Jared's post regarding boat steering, boat prep, kill switch usage, and PFD usage.... read it. It just might save your life.

Jared is my cousin and good friend. We regularly fish together, and I have been in his boat many times. Even in that same tournament. 

The call I received that night following Jared's boat accident was easily one of the most stressful I have ever dealt with. I can assure you it is not a situation you ever want to face, or put your family through. While I am lucky that I wasn't in the boat that evening, I also wonder if I might have noticed the steering issue ahead of time...and could have prevented this ordeal for him.

Preceding this incident I rarely wore a PFD, and essentially never wore my tether. Like many others, I grew up riding motorcycles without a helmet, gear or sometimes even a shirt on... so needless to say... not too concerned about water safety.

Following this incident, and reviewing how the steering failed. I planned to make some changes to my boat and his to prevent this from happening again.

You can see that the nut on my steering linkage is also top side. The arm is threaded, so the nut is acting as a jamb nut. 

 

[JF660R]

As a preventative measure I have sourced a slightly longer bolt and drilled it for a cotter pin. When doing this it helps to thread a die up onto the bolt first, so that removing the die cleans the threads after drilling. 

[JF660R]

Now that we have test fitted this solution I will source a proper stainless bolt, as stainless was not available in this thread pitch locally. 

The grade 8 will do fine for quite a while. And while the nut and bolt may never have vibrated loose, I feel better knowing it's pinned in. 

I also feel better with my life jacket on, and my tether attached these days. 

[Basfis]

Thanks for the write up. I checked hardware after the initial posting and like the pin. 

[fishinwrench]

Good stuff!

Now let's go to the other end of the steering link rod. 

[JF660R]

3 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Good stuff!

Now let's go to the other end of the steering link rod. 

Pinned it too. No hardware required, had enough thread showing to drill. 

Here it is before drilling.