@kjdoyle1 If that is a fiberglass shaft (not shaft tube, but actually the shaft) IMHO you are about to lose your rudder!!!
If you are using the boat, STOP. Call Edson, they are very helpful. email the pictures to them. They will advise. If you are in the water alongside of a pier don't take the boat out.
I just replaced my rudder so have some first hand knowledge as so should
@JamesG161. I may be wrong, but I'd get professional advice directly from Edson (who makes your steering) before I used that boat.
Rather than Fiberglass, my rudder shaft is stainless steel, but otherwise the setup looks exactly the same. The radial drive (the big Aluminum disk that attaches to the steering cables) is what should clamp tightly on the shaft and it is designed to turn the shaft, and hence the rudder. The fiberglass thing you are seeing turning that the bolt goes through is the shaft itself, not a bearing. There is no bearing at that point. The bearing is immediatly below the aluminum disk. If you go to the Edson site and click on the quadrant/radial section you'll see that the radial drive is supposed to be machined to within a few thousandth of an inch of the shaft. The turning is done by the clamping force of the radial drive, not the bolt. Although they don't say it, the bolt is there as a "backup" but primarily to allow something for the emergency rudder to fit onto to turn the shaft and hence the rudder. The shaft and the radial drive (the disck that the steering cables attach to) should move in lockstep, regardless of the bolt or not. It is obviously not clamped tigh which means that without the bolt, as
@JamesG161 said will drop right out the bottom of the bolt.
It looks very much like the fiberglass shaft above the bolt where you can see the elongated hole is cracked! So, if you thing about it, with the little or no clamping force of the radial drive, the only thing supporting the shaft is the very small amount of fiberglass that is above the bolt and on at least one side that little bit of fiberglass is compromised.
FAILURE ANALYSIS: This has probably been that way for a long time. Since the the clamping force of the disk (radial drive) was to low to be secure to the shaft, the only thing turning the rudder shaft was the bolt pressing on either side of the fiberglass shaft each time you turned the rudder. Couple that with the tremendous force on the rudder, transferred to the fiberglass shaft and thence to the bolt each time you go to the stop when you are in reverse and loose grip on the shaft. It is pretty severe.
Your boat will probably not sink since the shaft tube extends well above the waterline.. You can even have the boat in the water with the shaft completely out of the boat. Some people have even removed the shaft while in the water with the aid of a diver and straps holding the rudder.
