Anyone installed a Cobra Jet or other low speed control device?

[captainmike]

Still breaking in my 195 HO Impulse, which replaced my old BRP Celebrity 200. The 195 handles like a dream at high speed, but a real challenge when just putting around the lake. I can handle it fine, but the wife and kids don't like driving the new boat so I am catching some heat

Has anyone put on the aftermarket Cobra device or another device? The Cobra device looks too simple to actually work well, but I am not a naval engineer so I am open to being wrong.

Do any of you use docking mode when you are just cruising around (4-8 mph)? Won't help steering but easier to control the throttle for wife and kids.

Thanks

 

[njmr2fan]

Almost immediately I installed a set of Thrust Vector XL fins on my AR190. It was funny how we would spin in circles and side to side at first, we were new boaters after all.... That got old fast. Fins helped immensely with docking and maneuvering around. I can't even imagine my wife (who was never even on a boat before ours) trying to pilot it without fins. We wanted full time rock solid control though, so my wife would feel comfortable driving and I could get on the tube with the kids or get to wakeboard myself, so we switched to a set of Cobra fins installed as 100% deployed full time running fins. It was a night and day difference to have that level of control at all speeds. When we just recently added Jeff's Cobra "Fangs" attachment we were blown away. Wife can drive, strangers can drive, a friend who never drove a boat said he had no idea boats were so easy to drive! If that isn't a testament to how well steering gets then I don't know what is. Try a full set of Cobras with Fangs, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 

[captainmike]

Thanks! I just sent an email to Jeff seeing which of his addons would work on my Scarab.

 

[JetTech72]

Docking mode is a good feature to use in long idle mandatory zone, it will only slow down the rapid throttle response of the engine.
Like anything else, it just takes some practice to get better at driving jet drive.
The key is to do less steering input, new owners have a tendency to do steering "lock to lock" around dock.
I tell people to keep their hand on top of the steering wheel & as far as you can go left to right, that's how much you would need.
Than use the reverse gate movement if need be.
Going straight is a similar situation, people over correct, than over correct the correction ... less steering input is the key.

 

[captainmike]

Good advice. Thanks. I have been finding less is more, and more is trouble

 

[Julian]

Lots of us have steering fins on our boats. @JetBoatPilot and @Cobra Jet Steering LLC are both members here and can reply with if they make them for your boat.

 

[funbobby]

Thanks! I just sent an email to Jeff seeing which of his addons would work on my Scarab.

Hey @captainmike, any update? I'm in the same boat with my new 195 HOI. Considering the Cobra Jet, but don't want to be the first one to try them on a Scarab.

 

[captainmike]

Sorry, missed email with notification there was a reply. I have spent more time in the boat and gotten much more comfortable handling the boat. I am finding time and practice, and not thinking about the Scarab like it is my old BRP stern drive boat have helped.

I think I am going to pass on the Cobra Jet for now.

 

[funbobby]

I just installed Thrust Vectors this weekend and I'm not really impressed. They might help a little, but nowhere near as much as I expected for the money. Maybe the Cobra Jets would be more effective since they look bigger, but you have to drill. I also think these things make the steering a little heavier at times, like you had power steering but now it's not quite working at 100%. I think I will keep them on for a while and then take them back off to do the old A-B-A evaluation.

 

[Janguh Lang]

@funbobby did you do that A/B?

I got the only cobra jets that work with our nozzle. Yes you had to drill but very easy for the mechanically inclined. Just have to take your time with the holes to make sure the fins are level and use a small level and vice grips when drilling.

Better low speed handels. More feedback at high speed. Does not feel like 'loss of power steering' . A great thing however, It DOES feel responsive at the wheel but in a good way like a High end arcade racing simulator. Totaly not hard to hold but you can feel it through the turns.

I suspect that this extra 'force' and drilling holes may be a reason why it would void the warranty. To me, I dont feel as it would bend any steering linkage rod or anything but you know how it goes, any reason to not cover defective part A or B because of what was done to part D. @cobrajet please chime in here pally. Thanks for the stickers got them today

 

[Big Shasta]

Thrust Vectors...Excellent product and customer service second to none.

 

[Janguh Lang]

Dut doo do dooo!Proclamation Here ye here ye <best old english accent> ''Where ever thyne bee thee cobrajet thyne be thee Mighty Vector of Thhhhrust here to sieze thine waterwayz from the slippery serpent of Jet! I shalThrust uponThow'

 

[swatski]

I would read this thread. A lot of very good information. Some food for thought, too.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2-questions-1-thrust-vectors-2-removing-pump.10772/#post-187582

 

[funbobby]

@funbobby did you do that A/B?

I got the only cobra jets that work with our nozzle. Yes you had to drill but very easy for the mechanically inclined. Just have to take your time with the holes to make sure the fins are level and use a small level and vice grips when drilling.

Better low speed handels. More feedback at high speed. Does not feel like 'loss of power steering' . A great thing however, It DOES feel responsive at the wheel but in a good way like a High end arcade racing simulator. Totaly not hard to hold but you can feel it through the turns.

I suspect that this extra 'force' and drilling holes may be a reason why it would void the warranty. To me, I dont feel as it would bend any steering linkage rod or anything but you know how it goes, any reason to not cover defective part A or B because of what was done to part D. @cobrajet please chime in here pally. Thanks for the stickers got them today

I have not, but maybe tomorrow.

 

[ScarabMike]

Stay away from these until the vendor redesigns them. They will contact your reverse bucket, and can possibly block its operation. This will leave you without reverse in an emergency situation.

Thrust Vectors...Excellent product and customer service second to none.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

@funbobby did you do that A/B?

I got the only cobra jets that work with our nozzle. Yes you had to drill but very easy for the mechanically inclined. Just have to take your time with the holes to make sure the fins are level and use a small level and vice grips when drilling.

Better low speed handels. More feedback at high speed. Does not feel like 'loss of power steering' . A great thing however, It DOES feel responsive at the wheel but in a good way like a High end arcade racing simulator. Totaly not hard to hold but you can feel it through the turns.

I suspect that this extra 'force' and drilling holes may be a reason why it would void the warranty. To me, I dont feel as it would bend any steering linkage rod or anything but you know how it goes, any reason to not cover defective part A or B because of what was done to part D. @cobrajet please chime in here pally. Thanks for the stickers got them today

The federal government passed a law about manufacturers voiding a warranty due to someone adding an aftermarket part. It explains that in order for them to do that the burden falls on them to prove the aftermarket part caused their part to fail.
And rightfully so, however in 15 years of making steering for jet boats and p w c's and making them with screws attaching the steering to the nozzles, this practice has never been an issue, another point of interest on the federal law about warranties, is that if the part was proven to cause their part to fail they could only void that part of the warrantee and nothing unrelated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act

In any event Attaching screws to the nozzle will not cause any issues that I am aware of, and I have sent in many a jet ski of various makes and models for warranty work with my fins attached to the nozzle.
My experience is that something like a steering cable it's normal wear and tear so those would not be covered regardless, Rotax nozzles are extremely strong. and one of the few companies that use a nylon bushing between the aluminum casting of the nozzle and the stainless steel stand off that the nozzle pivots on.
Yamaha does not use any bushings on their nozzles for comparison. Also the fins I make for those pumps are made of stainless steel like the early Yamaha fins There were and still are thousands of those in use. On this setup for Rotax pumps I have the fins positioned between the reverse hood and the ride plate to keep them away from peoples feet.
Now back to the warranty question, Your manufacturer will NOT ever cover your boat under warranty for slamming into a dock or backing into a sea wall or any similar issues that would cause damage to the boat due to lack of steering control regardless , so fins are a good thing. I never understood how people could enjoy their boat if it does not handle the way they want it to. Been there done that and here is where it landed me, fixing the issues with steering deficits for thousands of people just because I had a jet boat and hated how it handled.
So I am currently working on a video for installing these fins on your pumps like I did with the Yamaha steering systems. Your boats do not need the amount of added control that the Yamaha hulls need, actually I have spent years refining the size of the Rotax fins and making them smaller rather than larger like the others.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

 

[Briwhy]

So here is my 2 cents on the steering enhancements. I have a Glastron GTS 207 and I have had both thrust vectors and cobra fins. Both owners of the companies are great people to deal with and are a great asset to this forum. As for the fins I like the cobra's better then the thrust vectors on a rotax product. The slow speed steering is more responsive and the thing turns on a dime even with the fine being deployed at all times and I feel like I have better tracking with them. If you have a rotax I'd go with the cobra's but that's just my experience from having both products.