Hello Mike.
That's an interesting concept and I'm sure it would work. The gearing ratio would be infinately variable simply by increasing the diameter of the drum.
I think on boats, the cable is fastened to one sid of the outboard or rudder, guided through a series of pulleys to the steering shaft, wrapped around the shaft a number of times to create sufficient friction, then through another series of pulleys to the opposite side of the outboard or rudder where it is terminated.
I think were I to try it on the Toylander, I would have the two cables wrapped around seperate drums on the steering shaft, with enough extra turns on each cable to allow full lock when unwound in each direction, and terminated securely.
I think I would terminate the two cables at the front in the middle of the track rod, with a pulley in line at each side of the tub. It would be possible to use a single piece of stainless rigging wire rope, clamped centrally to the track rod and each tail of the rope then taken back to the steering shaft.
The only downside I can think of off hand, would be the tensioning of the two cables, but this is not insurmountable, just fit a pair of cycle brake tensioning adjusters, all bits available off good old Ebay.
I think a second consideration would be the diameter of the pulleys, these need to be a reasonable size, say 25mm plus to stop the rigging rope aquiring a tight set as it passes around the pully thus giving an initial tight spot when commencing a turn.
I have operated my front fitted disc brakes in exactly that manner on my grandsons T2, (See my postings in "My Grandpa's got a new project").
You can buy all the bits from a ships chandlers, and in stainless steel, why not give it a try.
Regards,
Brian.
