Out drive/steering tech question

[Breakaway]

I have a 1984 stinger 260(Han knows my boat,lol) and I'm in the process of replacing both out drives due to exterior corrosion on the case. My question is about the drag link or tie rod(whatever you like to call it)between the two out drives. Is this tie rod really nessesary? I have seen many other types and brands of twin engine boats and none of them have it. Is this something unique to the stingers or is it simply for added stability of the out drives? Will it put extra stress on the transome or other steering components if I eliminate it or does it need to be left in place? Thanks, Kev

[ccstinger]

Kevin - good to see you here.  You are making me miss my boat again :-).  If I remember correctly there was a steering pump on one of the engines - thus only one outdrive is actually turned and the tie rod would turn the other.  I'm not sure if this was a standard setup or not.

Han.

[stinger390x]

You are correct Han.
The Starbourd engine has the steering pump and the thus the steering link or "Tie Bar" assists in steering especially if you have two matching drives.
Even if you have a counter rotating drive on the one side the tie bar helps immensely.

My 260 did not have one when I fisrt bought it and it handled ok. I put one on it after the first season and I found it handled mutch better and easier to steer.

My friend has an offshore racer and he has pumps on both engines tied to his "Imco" system. It's super efficient but you don't want to pay for an elaborate system like that as its very expensive!
Tie bar is your best bet unless you have deep pockets.

[Breakaway]

Thanks for the reply guys. I'll leave it on. I'm took everything apart today on the starboard side. I want to replace the boots and probably shifter cables while I have it apart. I found one of the pins for the starboard bell housing is stripped so it will have to be replaced....always something,lol.

[wannabe]

You want to keep that part on. it aligns the drives also.

Wannabe