Has anyone else repair / shimed their rudder post?

[jrowan]

Good day,
Has anyone else repaired the banging or creaking of their rudder post?
I have a creaking noise which occurs when sailing downwind, where the top cap of the rudder post creaks / rubs against the fiberglass tube surrounding it. I read a link in the C 30 website which suggests shimming the gap created by wear between the rudder post & tube with mylar film shims.
I just hope inserting these shims doesn't cause jamming later on if they begin to overlap - I was thinking about just using some heavy duty rubber bands to cushion between the metal cap & the fiberglass surrounding the post. I'm assuming that this steel cap which connects the emergency tiller to the post is the only piece of hardware that keeps the rudder from falling out. If you released the retaining bolts on the cap will the rudder slip out?
I'm a lil wary of messing with it for this very fear.

 

[Anonymous 121765]

J,

The quadrant assembly holds your rudder in place. Also the rudder has positive buoyancy and floats. It will not fall out the bottom. I had the cast rudder attachment and got tired of banging it all the time.

I removed the fitting, went and had some hard 2 3/8” ID x 3/8”+/- x 1/4” thk. Nylon washers made to take up the play.

Here's what I did. I removed the rudder attachment and hooked it to my emergency tiller. I got a white 2” PVC pipe cap, slipped the washer down on the tube and matched-drilled a hole straight thru the cap for the bolt. Take care to leave 1/4" between the bottom of pipe cap to the fiberglass for the washer. Now, nothing sticks out to whack your legs and the washer has taken up much of the play. No more wearing of the fiberglass, the washer stops this. Pick up an extra cap as it may take two tries to get it right. Remember when measuring where to drill the holes thru the cap, that you PULL up on the rudder to reduce up & down play for a precise measurement. This will stop the banging in following seas a lot.


I change these washers out about every two years. There are also shims/take-up washers at the bottom of the rudderpost where the rudder slips into the tube. You can get to them by dropping your rudder. This is a bit of a job as they can wear out or crack over time too. With the pipe cap & washer measured correctly, you can take up play. I had six washers made up and these will last me for years.

I also made a groove from the center top point of the pipe cap (in line with the rudder position) to use as a rudder indicator and painted the 1/4" wide groove black. A quick look down and your rudder angle shows.

Also with the rudder attachment piece attached to the emer. rudder, it is a quick change out. Just remove the cap.

Hope the is helpful, as it also gives it a nice look.

CR

 

[jrowan]

Thanks Capn Ron,

I appreciate the info. I think that this is a rather common wear area on the C 30.
Do you happen to have any photos of the alteration that you made? Pictures are worth a thousand words as they say.
Cheers, Jeremy

 

[jeffmacdonald]

I purchased some mylar (I think its the stuff archetics use to draw on and trace) at a school supply store. Then I cut them into +- 4" long by 1" wide and slide them down along side the rudder post in the cockpit. This thin material seems to be water proof and it has tightned up the post. Believe it or not it has taken the slop up and once in a while it squeaks but I just think its salt from the kids getting out of the water. I just take the bottle of water Im drinking and dump a little on the affected area.