Has anyone replaced the rudder bushings on a 356? My boat was on the ground on stands and a friend grabbed the rudder from the bottom and pushed it sideways and said the rudder had too much lateral movement and that may cause vibrations that may lead to bigger problems... that I should change the bushings. Any comments?
replacing rudder bushings in a 356
- Thread starter miguelgdelrey
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Hi Miguel, no, but Hunter Marine...
Customer Service can tell you for sure. The rudder and post are one integrated unit on our boat and the top of the rudder blade clears the hull by about one eigth inch. How much play does your rudder have? I wrote the following article for the H42 Knolwedge Base (your boat should be about the same), based on my discussion with Hunter Marine: "Don Martin with Hunter Marine Customer Service provided me with the following information about our 1991 P42. I've edited his response a bit for clarity: The rudder bearings are sleeves that are made from UHMW material. The sleeves do not require any lubricate. There is no adjustment on these bearings. If they develop too much side-to-side play then the bearings would need to be replaced. Anything over 1/8th inch play would be considered outside of tolerance and the bearing would need to be replaced. In another e-mail to Don I asked him whether it was a matter of dropping the rudder and popping the old bearing out or did it require special tools? He said that after the rudder is removed you should be able to remove the bearings by driving the top bearing out and from the underside of the boat you should be able to insert something like a 1 x 2 up into the rudder tube and there should be a ridge at the bottom of the top bearing, you should be able to get the 1 x 2 on this ridge and drive the bearing up. This would be reverse for the bottom bearing." Hope this helps. Terry
Customer Service can tell you for sure. The rudder and post are one integrated unit on our boat and the top of the rudder blade clears the hull by about one eigth inch. How much play does your rudder have? I wrote the following article for the H42 Knolwedge Base (your boat should be about the same), based on my discussion with Hunter Marine: "Don Martin with Hunter Marine Customer Service provided me with the following information about our 1991 P42. I've edited his response a bit for clarity: The rudder bearings are sleeves that are made from UHMW material. The sleeves do not require any lubricate. There is no adjustment on these bearings. If they develop too much side-to-side play then the bearings would need to be replaced. Anything over 1/8th inch play would be considered outside of tolerance and the bearing would need to be replaced. In another e-mail to Don I asked him whether it was a matter of dropping the rudder and popping the old bearing out or did it require special tools? He said that after the rudder is removed you should be able to remove the bearings by driving the top bearing out and from the underside of the boat you should be able to insert something like a 1 x 2 up into the rudder tube and there should be a ridge at the bottom of the top bearing, you should be able to get the 1 x 2 on this ridge and drive the bearing up. This would be reverse for the bottom bearing." Hope this helps. Terry
Thanks
Thank you very much, Terry. Another question, is marine plywood the best material for thruhull donuts? what about solid mahogany? Miguel
Thank you very much, Terry. Another question, is marine plywood the best material for thruhull donuts? what about solid mahogany? Miguel
I understand that they are starting to use poly
I understand that they are starting to use polyboard for the backing board for the thru hull fittings. I would think that this would be an excellent choice for an area that tends to be damp and dank!
I understand that they are starting to use polyboard for the backing board for the thru hull fittings. I would think that this would be an excellent choice for an area that tends to be damp and dank!
Hi Miguel, marine grade plywood will work...
but I like Steve's idea about using polyboard. Karen Thorndike used donuts made from SS plate when she prepared her boat Amelia for their circumnavigation. The original plywood donuts on our 1991 model remain in good shape. Not sure whether I would use mahogany. A bit soft and not as torsionally strong as a good quality marine grade plywood, IMHO. Terry
but I like Steve's idea about using polyboard. Karen Thorndike used donuts made from SS plate when she prepared her boat Amelia for their circumnavigation. The original plywood donuts on our 1991 model remain in good shape. Not sure whether I would use mahogany. A bit soft and not as torsionally strong as a good quality marine grade plywood, IMHO. Terry
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