The rudder on my 1976 swing keel tends to wobble and "clunk" in lighter winds. Is this fixable, i.e. are there some sort of bushings or adjustments I can make? It doesn't seem a major problem, just annoying and seemingly imprecise. Thanks in advance.........Ray
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Brian
Rudder?
Sounds like it might be your Keel. The fix may be as simple as tightening your "kell lockdown bolt" or something more. There is ample info on the topic so check it out, lest your keel parts ways with your hull.
Sounds like it might be your Keel. The fix may be as simple as tightening your "kell lockdown bolt" or something more. There is ample info on the topic so check it out, lest your keel parts ways with your hull.
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Brian
Rudder ?
Sounds like it might be your Keel. The fix may be as simple as tightening your "keel lockdown bolt" or something more. There is ample info on the topic so check it out, lest your keel parts ways with your hull.
Sounds like it might be your Keel. The fix may be as simple as tightening your "keel lockdown bolt" or something more. There is ample info on the topic so check it out, lest your keel parts ways with your hull.
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Aldo
The Pintles are probably worn.
Ray: The pintles, or the pins on the rudder, are probably worn. It is also possible that the gudgeons, or the sockets that the pintles fit into that are on the stern, are also worn. I have replaced the pintles 3 times so far, and my boat is a 1980. I also now keep them greased with a very thick automotive wax called "grease stick". The clunk that you described drives me crazy too. I have never replaced my gudgeons, but the pintles that I now have were made slightly oversize. I now keep my rudder kicked-up and out of the water when the boat is in the slip, to keep the forces on the rudder minimized. I'm sure that you can buy replacement pintles. It can be challenging getting the old ones out of the rudder aluminum casting. There's a great amount of galvanic corrosion potential there between the cast aluminum housing of the rudder, and the stainless steel pintles. I now wrap the replacement pintles with a thin piece of shim plastic, to keep them from corroding together. You certainly want to at least use anti-sieze when you reassemble new pintles into your rudder. You might start trying to get yours out by putting penetrating oil onto the nuts that hold the pintles in. Aldo
Ray: The pintles, or the pins on the rudder, are probably worn. It is also possible that the gudgeons, or the sockets that the pintles fit into that are on the stern, are also worn. I have replaced the pintles 3 times so far, and my boat is a 1980. I also now keep them greased with a very thick automotive wax called "grease stick". The clunk that you described drives me crazy too. I have never replaced my gudgeons, but the pintles that I now have were made slightly oversize. I now keep my rudder kicked-up and out of the water when the boat is in the slip, to keep the forces on the rudder minimized. I'm sure that you can buy replacement pintles. It can be challenging getting the old ones out of the rudder aluminum casting. There's a great amount of galvanic corrosion potential there between the cast aluminum housing of the rudder, and the stainless steel pintles. I now wrap the replacement pintles with a thin piece of shim plastic, to keep them from corroding together. You certainly want to at least use anti-sieze when you reassemble new pintles into your rudder. You might start trying to get yours out by putting penetrating oil onto the nuts that hold the pintles in. Aldo
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Bayard Gross
Which rudder, standard or swing up?
In addition to swing keels, many C-22's have swing up rudders as well, but not all, and probably not as prevelent as the standard rudder. So, it sure would help if you could specify the rudder typre you have.
In addition to swing keels, many C-22's have swing up rudders as well, but not all, and probably not as prevelent as the standard rudder. So, it sure would help if you could specify the rudder typre you have.
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Ray Hodges
Thanks Bayard, Aldo and Brian
Bayard, The rudder is a "swing up". Even when tightened with the locking device it still clunks. Ideas? Thanks....Ray
Bayard, The rudder is a "swing up". Even when tightened with the locking device it still clunks. Ideas? Thanks....Ray
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Aldo
Plastic Shear Pin
Ray: I don't think much of the locking mechanism that is suppose to hold the rudder down. I know there are some people who do, but from my experience with my particular rudder, it never worked well. (I think that on later years, Catalina may have added a ball and spring method of keeping the rudder down, but mine doesn't have that). Anyway, I use a plastic 1/8 inch diameter pin that goes through both aluminum plates and also through the rudder. If the rudder ever hits the bottom, it shears, or at least bends the heck out of the plastic pin. You don't want to use anything too much stronger than plastic or you could damage something. Do you think that your rudder is loose between the aluminum plates? If you do, you should take it off the boat, then take the locking handle off, and try to push the screw out. I think that you may find that it is corroded in place. This could be the cause of your problem. Again, there are very dissimilar metals coming together here. I again made plastic bushings for the big dome shaped washers, so that they didn't corrode onto the bolt. By the way, that bolt can break, I think that someone wrote about that recently. I also had the bolt break a few years ago, (probably from trying to tighten it tight enough to keep the rudder tight, before I began using the shear pin method to keep it down). I only lost the locking handle and not the rudder. It could be very bad if you lost a rudder, so I recommend replacing the bolt, and when you do, use a high strength stainless steel bolt. When you do get the old bolt out of your rudder, make sure that it moves freely relative to the aluminum dome shaped washers, when you put the pieces of the rudder back together. I may have even put pieces of plastic shim between the aluminum plates and my rudder. I'm not sure, my boat is 100 miles away, and none of my rudder photos show this. I know that I have pieces of plastic shim between the domed aluminum washers and the side plates. I want all of these pieces to be able to move, and not get corroded together. Anyhow, as I said before, I can see how this can drive you crazy. You can figure it out if you just wiggle one thing at a time, and then take it apart and fix anything that is stuck by removing the corrosion, or by putting plastic shims in to take out the slop. If you do take it apart, just do it off the boat, so that you don't loose any pieces. There's enough fun stuff to spend your money on, not on a new rudder. Don't hesitate to reply questioning anything that I mentioned above. I must have worked on my rudder plenty in the past, since I had so much to write about it. Once you get it right, you won't have any problems for years, except for possibly adding new pintles every 5 years. Aldo
Ray: I don't think much of the locking mechanism that is suppose to hold the rudder down. I know there are some people who do, but from my experience with my particular rudder, it never worked well. (I think that on later years, Catalina may have added a ball and spring method of keeping the rudder down, but mine doesn't have that). Anyway, I use a plastic 1/8 inch diameter pin that goes through both aluminum plates and also through the rudder. If the rudder ever hits the bottom, it shears, or at least bends the heck out of the plastic pin. You don't want to use anything too much stronger than plastic or you could damage something. Do you think that your rudder is loose between the aluminum plates? If you do, you should take it off the boat, then take the locking handle off, and try to push the screw out. I think that you may find that it is corroded in place. This could be the cause of your problem. Again, there are very dissimilar metals coming together here. I again made plastic bushings for the big dome shaped washers, so that they didn't corrode onto the bolt. By the way, that bolt can break, I think that someone wrote about that recently. I also had the bolt break a few years ago, (probably from trying to tighten it tight enough to keep the rudder tight, before I began using the shear pin method to keep it down). I only lost the locking handle and not the rudder. It could be very bad if you lost a rudder, so I recommend replacing the bolt, and when you do, use a high strength stainless steel bolt. When you do get the old bolt out of your rudder, make sure that it moves freely relative to the aluminum dome shaped washers, when you put the pieces of the rudder back together. I may have even put pieces of plastic shim between the aluminum plates and my rudder. I'm not sure, my boat is 100 miles away, and none of my rudder photos show this. I know that I have pieces of plastic shim between the domed aluminum washers and the side plates. I want all of these pieces to be able to move, and not get corroded together. Anyhow, as I said before, I can see how this can drive you crazy. You can figure it out if you just wiggle one thing at a time, and then take it apart and fix anything that is stuck by removing the corrosion, or by putting plastic shims in to take out the slop. If you do take it apart, just do it off the boat, so that you don't loose any pieces. There's enough fun stuff to spend your money on, not on a new rudder. Don't hesitate to reply questioning anything that I mentioned above. I must have worked on my rudder plenty in the past, since I had so much to write about it. Once you get it right, you won't have any problems for years, except for possibly adding new pintles every 5 years. Aldo
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Ray Hodges
Hey Aldo ! "Clunk" solved
Aldo, Found the problem. The dome shaped washers on the outside have three "legs" that snug up the rudder when the lock down bolt is tightened. Turns out, my "legs" were formed exceptionally long. When tightened, the rudder would lock in position but would wobble because the longer legs allowed the domed washers to rattle against the aluminum sides. I didn't want to file the dome washer legs so I made a spacer from heavy 5/16" rubber that fits under the dome washer. Snugs up fine, no wobble, no clunk! Thanks for the ideas and input!! Ray
Aldo, Found the problem. The dome shaped washers on the outside have three "legs" that snug up the rudder when the lock down bolt is tightened. Turns out, my "legs" were formed exceptionally long. When tightened, the rudder would lock in position but would wobble because the longer legs allowed the domed washers to rattle against the aluminum sides. I didn't want to file the dome washer legs so I made a spacer from heavy 5/16" rubber that fits under the dome washer. Snugs up fine, no wobble, no clunk! Thanks for the ideas and input!! Ray
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