First 405 Rudder Parts

[Adam Marvin]

Hello, I'm looking for some advise on an issue I am having with my rudder. I noticed some play (about 1") in the rudder up and down. It has no play laterally at the upper or lower bearings. I have spoken with Beneteau and looked at diagrams with no success. Im wondering if I lost a spacer below the stainless retaining collar and above the upper bearing (pic attached)? I removed the quadrant for ease of work, and have confirmed the spacer is in place that sits between the rudder and hull.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jssailem]

Adam.
Welcome to the SBO Forum.
Is this boat new to you?
If so did you have it surveyed? I would want to ask the former owner if they had damage to the rudder and did they replace the rudder?

Just as easily there could be a spacer to fill that 1" gap on the upper end, there could be a spacer between the hull and the rudder down in the water.

I would reach out to the manufacturer to inquire about the design.

 

[Adam Marvin]

Thanks for the reply. I have had the boat for 6 years and have even dropped the rudder a couple times. For the life of me though, I cant remember if there was a spacer under the collar or not. I contacted Beneteau and got a diagram on the rudder stock. Being a 35 year old boat it is unclear if there is a spacer or not. I was hoping someone with the same boat could take a pic of their setup.

 

[JohnShannon]

Probably was a spacer, a gap between the rudder and the hull reduces efficiency and the First series are performance oriented they wouldn't have left that on the table. Tap plastics has Delrin I think.

 

[Mechone]

Where's your quadrant? Above or below in pic .On my boat the shaft collar sits against the delrin then quadrant. Hopefully your shaft is not pulling out of rudder.

 

[APP314]

Hello Adam,
I'm not familiar with the First 40.5 but in the 38 the upper bearing is held in place within a stainless steel socket and flange. The size of the socket is suspiciously close to your offset (pic). So it's possible that something was originally there. The wear marks on the upper bearing suggests that it has been operating like that (collar against bearing without spacer) for quite some time. In my installation the bearing (black delrin in the picture) matches the diameter of the upper retention collar while yours is oversized. This makes me wonder if the whole assembly was modified at some point. You mentioned checking the lower bearing during your inspection. The lower bearing sits against the hull and there is a second bearing race on the upper surface of the rudder (this last one is just a flat gelcoated surface). The two are pulled together when the upper collar is placed on the shaft and the tapered pin put in place. Did you check that there was no damage to either of these surfaces? Also the receiving socket on the rudder post tube? The lower bearing should protrude about 0.5 in from the hull surface.
Just some ideas.
Alejandro

 

[Adam Marvin]

Mechone... The quadrant clamps around the square top of the rudder post. just above the collar. I thought about the rudder separating from the post as well, but I just had the boat out to paint. I painted the rudder and tapped around and it sounded solid. I would think there would be some evidence of delimitation going on. I may have to pull the rudder to confirm.

App314.. thanks a lot for the pics. The 405 was based on the 38 and has a ton of similarities, but i guess the the upper rudder area is different. I have confirmed the lower spacer (that sits on the rudder) is in place. Oddly everything appears to be in good shape.