My Hunter 28 has been suffering from a lower loose bearing problem. Now I am beginning to find out this is not uncommon. fault The design of the rudder bearing assembly leaves a lot to be desired. You may ask why... and here is the answer. if you look under the radial wheel which turns your rudder you will find two Delrin or Nylon Spacers ...(they look like bearings)....They are simply cut to give the right height for the steering cable from the pedestal to be in line with the radial wheel.
Thats fine but the fact is these are not bearings (they just rest on the surface)......they are not rigidly attached to the surface ...WHICH THEY SHOULD BE.
Although Mr Luhrs who designed the boat is a very knowledgable person there seems to be a common fault. The lower bearing on some owners boats suffers great wear problems and you cannot see this bearing unless you remove the floating bearing (that really is a spacer to prevent the rudder from hitting the bottom of the boat) which is stuck in place with 3M 5200. Why some boats lower bearings suffer this great wear problem is unknown....Maybe a poor quality Delrin ??
However with this excessive wear the loading on the upper bearing (about ten inches above) tends to become worn also causing not only the radial wheel to rock but the rudder shaft will tear the lower spacer bearing from its 3M adhesive mounting adding to more increased wear.
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You will feel when it is loose by unusual little movements of the wheel when turning or if you stick you finger down on to the radial wheel and turn the steering wheel you will feel an erratic initial movement.
So you Hunter 28 owners ..next time your boat is out have a look at the lower bearing..check if it is either loose in its mount... or you can rotate the bearing by hand ??? ... in my case I found it frozen to the shaft so it rotated with the rudder.. This required lowering the rudder enough to be able to free the bearing from the shaft and polish the area* causing the bearing to stick to it plus a good application of a waterproof grease to the shaft whilst sticking it back in place as per the 3M manual.
If this is the case I suggest you remove the radial wheel(use plenty of release agent on the bolts as they were put in without any anti seize grease). In my case two bollts welded themselves in and snapped..... and I had to order a new wheel from EDSON. After you have lifted the wheel off and then managed to lift the two lower spacers off. you will probably find the lower spacer has ground into the fibreglass ..also will find a rather poorly cut hole for the rudder shaft to come through...and you will see the main Delrin/Nylon bearing about 2" below.
To do the job properly you need to drop the rudder and with a solid wood spar and mallet try and knock both bearings out or or pull them out if you are lucky to possess a puller. NOTE: you need to remove all the surrounds of sealant to permit the removal of the bearing. You can contact Hunter for the manufacturer of White Delrin bearings or find a machinist that can cut them for you. I would like to have machined an additional bearing above the raised mounting platform and bolted it to that floor to provide additional stability. but time prevailed
NOTE:- Have you checked to see how loose your steering cable is or how corroded your Radial wheel has become. In my case I did not check the cable and it became loose enough that the radial wheel tilted enough (due to the worn or loose bearings that the cable slipped above the radial wheel and I had no port steering and hit the dock hard !!! So check your cables and bearings.
Happy sailing.
John Tennant
PS. I wonder who was also responsible for placing the plastic fuel tank under the floor in the rear where you cannot read the fuel contents unless you are ET !!!!!
Thats fine but the fact is these are not bearings (they just rest on the surface)......they are not rigidly attached to the surface ...WHICH THEY SHOULD BE.
Although Mr Luhrs who designed the boat is a very knowledgable person there seems to be a common fault. The lower bearing on some owners boats suffers great wear problems and you cannot see this bearing unless you remove the floating bearing (that really is a spacer to prevent the rudder from hitting the bottom of the boat) which is stuck in place with 3M 5200. Why some boats lower bearings suffer this great wear problem is unknown....Maybe a poor quality Delrin ??
However with this excessive wear the loading on the upper bearing (about ten inches above) tends to become worn also causing not only the radial wheel to rock but the rudder shaft will tear the lower spacer bearing from its 3M adhesive mounting adding to more increased wear.
.
You will feel when it is loose by unusual little movements of the wheel when turning or if you stick you finger down on to the radial wheel and turn the steering wheel you will feel an erratic initial movement.
So you Hunter 28 owners ..next time your boat is out have a look at the lower bearing..check if it is either loose in its mount... or you can rotate the bearing by hand ??? ... in my case I found it frozen to the shaft so it rotated with the rudder.. This required lowering the rudder enough to be able to free the bearing from the shaft and polish the area* causing the bearing to stick to it plus a good application of a waterproof grease to the shaft whilst sticking it back in place as per the 3M manual.
If this is the case I suggest you remove the radial wheel(use plenty of release agent on the bolts as they were put in without any anti seize grease). In my case two bollts welded themselves in and snapped..... and I had to order a new wheel from EDSON. After you have lifted the wheel off and then managed to lift the two lower spacers off. you will probably find the lower spacer has ground into the fibreglass ..also will find a rather poorly cut hole for the rudder shaft to come through...and you will see the main Delrin/Nylon bearing about 2" below.
To do the job properly you need to drop the rudder and with a solid wood spar and mallet try and knock both bearings out or or pull them out if you are lucky to possess a puller. NOTE: you need to remove all the surrounds of sealant to permit the removal of the bearing. You can contact Hunter for the manufacturer of White Delrin bearings or find a machinist that can cut them for you. I would like to have machined an additional bearing above the raised mounting platform and bolted it to that floor to provide additional stability. but time prevailed
NOTE:- Have you checked to see how loose your steering cable is or how corroded your Radial wheel has become. In my case I did not check the cable and it became loose enough that the radial wheel tilted enough (due to the worn or loose bearings that the cable slipped above the radial wheel and I had no port steering and hit the dock hard !!! So check your cables and bearings.
Happy sailing.
John Tennant
PS. I wonder who was also responsible for placing the plastic fuel tank under the floor in the rear where you cannot read the fuel contents unless you are ET !!!!!
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