MacGregorSailors.com

After reading this forum for years, I was finally able to buy a 98X a few weeks ago. I have been working on cleaning it up( the hatch had been left open and rain got in, so lots of mold and mildew to remove), and have begun to do some upgrades to the systems. In regard to the steering, it appears as if I have the original steering configuration, After reading about many of you having the steering break, I have decided to replace mine with the U-Flex Rotech system. The questions I have are as follows.
It seems that my steering cable is the 96" cable. By looking at other pictures here, It seems that my cables exit at different locations than the other 26X's that I have seen on this board. Are these put in, in the factory , or by the dealer? Should I get a longer cable and route it over the the far wall. Also can I screw tie wrap clamps into the ceiling of the aft berth, And If yes, what screws shoud I use. It took me a lot of looking , but I finally have my 26X . This is a great forum, and I am happy to have joined the ranks of an owner. Now if I can just finish all that has to be done. Maybe one day I can get it in the water .


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I would strongly suggest you get a longer cable, maybe a 12' or 13'. You should have a loop inside the pedestal to prevent water running down the cable into the aft berth area. (Experience talking )

MCO98,

Congratulations on your new boat. I replaced the steering cable on Saturday. I used the Teleflex 8 (recommended by BWY) and it fits perfectly. Your cable routing seems standard to me for an X. It took me 4 hours counting removing the old cable, installing the new one, cleaning and beer breaks. Removing the wheel was tricky.
I would make sure that the surroundings of the two pvc pipes in the pedestal are well sealed as it is a good leak source. Plenty of people on this board have installed the longer cables, 10 or 12 feet long. I did not see the need to go longer as the factory length is 8 feet and the bent on the cable was within the recommended range.

Sea Wind

I don't have anything useful to add other than Wow, that's clean back there!

Disregard previous post. I was mistaken . The cables that will run water down into the aft berth are the throttle/shifter cables, not the steering cable. I have replaced both and just got confused, but I'm old and allowed to be every once in a while.

Ken

Thanks for the information. I ordered the U-Flex with the 8 foot cable today. If someone has screwed cable tie mounts into the ceiling of the aft compartment, I would be interested to know what type and size screws you used. I am not sure how thick the material is there. That area is tight to begin with, so I want to secure the cables as close to the top as possible and I am sure that the sticky back mounts will not hold. So I want to screw them in if the material there is thick enough.

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I am in the process of doing something similar, but since I want the kids to sleep there, I want the cables to be completely covered and out of the way. I am using 4” pvc pipes cut in half. Then, I am gluing J channel on the inside of the pipe and will use Velcro to attach it to the ceiling. 90 degree elbow pvc used for holes from pedestal.
Sea Wind

You can remove the black panels in the liner sides of the overhead and get access to a large area of the liner. The area is filled with flotation so it is messy. There is about 1-1.5" between the liner and the cockpit floor. You could use expanding toggle nuts in that area.

Just a word of caution on the velcro. We are in las Vegas and the radiant sun heat and also high temps causes the vecro adhesive to melt or turn brittle over a short time and it fails to adhere. The velcro itself stays together but the sticky backs fail. Hate to have you do a great install and have to rework a short time after. I used # 10 SS round phillps head 1/2 sheet metal screws and screwed directly into the overhead liner. Used small piece of old rubber garden hose as a cushion with a pipe support bracket and this has held for last 6 years no problems. Good Luck 99

Aluminum rivits.
Dave

MCO98 wrote:Thanks for the information. I ordered the U-Flex with the 8 foot cable today. If someone has screwed cable tie mounts into the ceiling of the aft compartment, I would be interested to know what type and size screws you used. I am not sure how thick the material is there. That area is tight to begin with, so I want to secure the cables as close to the top as possible and I am sure that the sticky back mounts will not hold. So I want to screw them in if the material there is thick enough.

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/i37 ... eMount.jpg