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On a Mercury engine, before installing a Steersman grease zerk nut, you have to first remove the factory o-ring seal inside the port side of the tilt tube. Since the Steersman has it's own o-ring seal, with the Mercury o-ring in place, you have a 1" long space where the grease can go, trapped between the two seals. You will not be able to get grease into the tube and past the Mercury seal. With a Steersman, this inner seal is no longer needed, since it works against the Steersman principle.

The Steersman nut also replaces the factory port side tilt tube nut. The principle is simple - with the factory inner tilt tube o-ring removed, and with the Steersman nut slid out on the steering arm, you can work grease easily into the tilt tube lubricating the steering rod and prevent freeze up. Then with the nut tightened back up, you can inject a grease "plug", behind the Steersman seal, keeping the steering rod well lubricated and working freely, and keeping dirt and grit out. But yet even with a worn out seal in place, you still can't get new grease in behind it, nor keep the tilt tube clean.

The Steersman can also be completely taken off the steering rod, and a new seal installed in the nut, as needed.

The problem with the Mercury tilt tube seal is that it can't be serviced and replaced without pulling the steering cable partially out of the engine, often a problem. So the seal never gets replaced, and the dirt and salt gets in, seizing the steering.

The main purpose of a Steersman nut is that it makes the steering rod easy to lubricate as needed, and to work grease in BEHIND the seal.