Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

So, I have my boat stored at a Stealer who winterized it and noted that the steering cable needs to be replaced. They want $350 for the part and $650 for the labor. Is this crazy talk? I've done steering cables in jet boats, but not a "real" boat. Anyone have an idea of what this should cost?

It sounds way out of range to me. Although I have not done it on my Axis I did replace mine on my old DD Malibu. It took me around and hour and the cable was around $150.00 I would do a little research before you drop $1000 to have them do it.
I know when I did mine, I taped a rope to the old cable and then pulled it through the hull. Then I taped the new cable to the rope and pulled then new one through. It seemed way easier then the dealer made it sound.
Good luck.

Ya, the time and cost you mention are about what I experienced with my jet boat. The issue is that I have to drive an hour to get it, bring it back, drive it back down, etc, etc.

What year is your Axis? Seems way to soon for any of them to experience steering cable failure. Is there any maintenance or lubrication to prevent this?

It is a saltwater model, that may explain the short life. 2011.

Did it on my previous boat... a 2001 Tige 21V, cost for the cable was about $185.

What should have been about a 2 hour job turned into a 5 hour job because it routed under the the fuel tank and the clearance was so tight that the 1 1/4" nut on the end was a struggle to thread through and under, even with a pull rope tied to it.

After hours of pushing, pulling, finessing and cussing finally got it through but had to jack the tank up a little to get it done.

The dealer wanted about $500 for the job, makes sense now. Though I would'nt be afraid to do it again...I'd hope for the best but plan for the worse.

I've got a few build pictures (of my Axis) that show the routing and it looks like an all afternoon project, not to mention the access room in the engine compartment is tight. Good luck, let me know if you want me to send you the pictures I have.

I replaced a stock cable for a 1' longer cable in a A22 to make room for a larger sub box. Cable was under $200 and took about one hour to replace. Super simple job.

Take pics if you do it yourself and put em up here!!

Do you have a model number for the cable you purchased or the length of the longer cable?

spkrfrkr….. don't pay them, that is way too much. They are overcharging for the cable and for the labor. like wet box said, it is super simple. I almost replaced mine when I thought it was going bad, so I spent some time trying to figure out the best way I was going to do it…. then as I detached the end of the cable from my rudder, I came to realize it was not my cable… my cable was buttery smooth, it was my rudder and rudder box.

Long story short, drive down there with some tools and remove the cable from the tiller arm of the rudder. If you can easily pull and push your cable then you know its okay. Then grab the tiller arm and make sure the rudder moves effortlessly side to side. What they were using in OUR year Axis (2011) is an unserviceable rudder box. No zerk fittings to grease it, and no grease is used to lubricate it. It is lubricated from the lake/river/ocean water. The bottom seal of the rudder (the seal that touches the water surface) is not a true seal, it is a porous one that is supposed to immediately allow water to enter into the steering box, keeping the rudder nice and slippery, but on mine, the rudder shaft got so tight in there that it almost seized… got worse and worse as the weeks went on.

I now have a serviceable rudder box with 2 zerk fittings and my steering is better than when it was brand new. I think I wrote up a thread about this… i will look. My dealer had to sledge hammer my rudder out of the rudder box, it was bad.

If you do have a bad cable, then the way that I was going to run it (wet box correct me if i am wrong) was to cut the rack off of the cable under at the steering wheel size, safety wire the rudder end of the new cable to the cut off end of the old cable, then detach the old cable from the rudder and pull it out from the rudder side. Thats how I did my old tige a few years back, and how we did my buddies VLX.

good luck