Zero effort controls

K

KentnSuzi

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
RO Number
27284
Messages
30
Just curious if any of the cruiser owners on board have ever switched to a zero effort type of remote control? I really am not impressed with the factory Quicksilver 2 lever setup and going to change to a high end remote control in the next couple of days. Just curious if anyone has gotten fed up with the stiff controls and spent the money to change. IMHO high end boats should have come with high end controls.
 
The Quicksilver controls have got to be better than the Morse controls Regal put on mine.

Cheap plastic, stiff, slop, too much travel between accelerate & decelerate. Did I say "butt ugly"?

Always wanted to go electronic controls, but I'm too cheap to spend $thousands to upgrade. Maybe next boat! :)
 
Well finished up my Zero Effort project today. Have only run the engines on the hose, but they shift like a dream. You can push the shift levers forward into gear with one finger. I would recommend these controls to anybody looking at replacing there stock hard shifting Quicksilver shifter. Also replaced all the standard shift and throttle cables with new Mercury premium cables. Can't wait for the weekend to give it the real life test. I would post a picture, but can't quite figure out how.
 
Please try! Most here use Photobucket. Upload to it, copy the 3rd link down from the pic--the one starting with
 
Good job!

What brand are they? Are those levers & base plastic or powder coated?

Roughly, how much--if you don't mind.
 
They are Mercury controls. Everything on them is stainless or aluminum and powdercoated. They are also available in black, but I kind of liked the white. They can be configured any way with the shift levers both on one side and the throttles on the other. This is the way they came so I think I will try them this way first. They were quite expensive to do. With new cables and the controls I have about $1200 in the conversion.
 
Hi Kent,

These look very nice... these are my personal favorite on the shifters, but I've only seen 1 other 322 with them, and I questioned if the boat came this way from Regal or if they we added later... I never did get a reply on my inquiry about it.

Let us know how they work once you get it back in the water.. I assume there was no need to pull the drives back off for this installation/upgrade??
 
No need to remove the drives to do this. However, the standard Mercury cable cannot be used. The controls are set up for Morse 33C type cables. The threaded control end just hooks into the control and then you have to buy the Mercruiser cable end adapters for the engine bellcrank end. I used the Mercury Premium cables that are a Morse 33C copy (probably made by Morse) because Mercury no longer recommends their standard cables for lengths over 18 feet.
Putting the boat back in the water Sunday morning, so I will keep you posted on how they work.
 
All I can say is wow!! Took about ten minutes to get used to. Silky smooth shifting and throttles. I would recommend these to anyone looking to upgrade from the POS Quicksilver controls like was used in mine.
 
Hi Kent,

Thanks for your feedback.. I'm glad they are working so nice for you.. I think all of us with Merc's have the same "POS controls" you mention... :)
 
Kent,
I'm very impressed with your upgrade. It looks like something I'd like to do to my 322 as well. Where did you get the controls from? I could certainly order them through my marina's service dept ($$), but I'd like to save as much as possible. Do you have a part number? I'll certainly check with boatfix first.

Also, is the button on the port handle for the trim? Does it operate both drives off of the same switch? Just curious how that works.

Thanks in advance.
 
Jeremy,
The single trim button works both trims together. I was a little sceptical of the concept but they worked great when watching them out of the water and then real world test. The one thing that you do lose, is one trim gauge They only operate one gauge. I guess that makes sense, but it looks a little wierd with one dead guage. I may take a little harder look to see if I can rectify that this winter. The part #'s I used for the conversion were:

844632A93 Control
897979A16 16 foot cable
897979A17 17 foot cable
897979A19 19 foot cable
897979A20 20 foot cable
892790A01 Adapter kits for the shift bellcrank on the exhaust manifolds (2 needed)
 
Kent,
Thanks for the info. Since we both have 322's I could most likely order the same length cables. What year is your 322 and what engines are in it, 350's or 7.4's? I'd imagine that you could splice the trim gauge wires together so both gagues read instead of having one not read at all. I'll have to look into that.
Thanks again,
Jeremy
 
Mine is a '96 7.4L's and Bravo III's just like your setup. Cable lengths should be exactly the same. You could double check though, as they are marked on the cable engine end about 18" from the end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top