Beneteau First 305 Rudder Bearing

[fjbrawn]

Good afternoon,

After 37 years my trusty First 305 is in need of new rudder bearings. There isn’t too much information out there regarding this issue, mine is getting water in under way, luckily no play. Beneteau’s new rule is that you have to go thru their dealers for parts now and with my 1985 boat I was talking ancient history to them. After digging around I was able to get in touch with Beneteau in Marion. They were extremely helpful. They provide me with the parts number, prices, lead time and a PDF with the procedure. I believe this info could help others so I posting the pictures with parts numbers and today prices. Also the contact info for Beneteau Parts Tech support so others in need can benefits from this. Officially we cannot order parts directly from them but they said to feel free to call them for technical advise.

Jon Boston
Beneteau Parts Dept.
Marion SC
1(843)629-5300

Regards

 

[BigEasy]

There are some informative videos on You Tube that address replacement of the rudder bearings as well as rebuilding / resurfacing worn fiberglass surfaces that sometimes occur between the rudder bearing and the fiberglass housing within the rudder tube. In addition to replacing the bearings, the frp surfaces may require buildup to adequately capture & retain the bearings. Again, these problems & fixes were detailed in the videos.