I just finished repairing some damage to the rudder on my 1980 Hunter 27, a friend came along to check out the repairs and in the process lifted the rudder from below, when he did the rudder post moved up approximately 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Anyone know if this much play is normal. Everything else seems to be fine.
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Check the tiller/quadrant alignment
Check to see if anything is miss aligned first. The rudder will float up in the stern tube once you put the boat in the water. There needs to be two thrust bearings installed. These keep the rudder in place and provide a low friction between the rudder stock and stern tube. One keeps the rudder from falling out when the boat comes out of the water (or it gets water logged and wants to sink), the other is the main and prevents the rudder from riding up when the boat is in the water. If either of these thrust bearings is missing you could have that much play. They are usually just a big nylon "washer" but can be more complicated. This could be nothing at all and just a design that has that much play.
Check to see if anything is miss aligned first. The rudder will float up in the stern tube once you put the boat in the water. There needs to be two thrust bearings installed. These keep the rudder in place and provide a low friction between the rudder stock and stern tube. One keeps the rudder from falling out when the boat comes out of the water (or it gets water logged and wants to sink), the other is the main and prevents the rudder from riding up when the boat is in the water. If either of these thrust bearings is missing you could have that much play. They are usually just a big nylon "washer" but can be more complicated. This could be nothing at all and just a design that has that much play.
Thanks for the info. Bill. The thrust washers are in place so I'm thinking that the play is a design thing. The original rudder repair was due to a leak to the port side of the rudder, got between the core and fiberglass skin. The fiberglass in the affected area was cut out with a Dremel tool, then re-installed using West System products. The entire rudder was then refiberglassed. Now solid as a rock and looking good.
Rudder Play
Hello Again Manny Well I had the entire stern portion of the boat apart this past week and weekend. Crawled back there so many times I can't remember the count. Checked everything, found nothing loose, worn, missing, et. etc. Most I found was some rusted hose clamps on the rudder stuffing box, replaced those, and we were done. Replaced and rebedded the new prop strut and then closed the whole issue up in the engine compartment. Rudder and prop strut are now a good, hope to get home from my present posting to splash the boat on Thursday. Thanks for the information, hopefully everything is good to go.
Hello Again Manny Well I had the entire stern portion of the boat apart this past week and weekend. Crawled back there so many times I can't remember the count. Checked everything, found nothing loose, worn, missing, et. etc. Most I found was some rusted hose clamps on the rudder stuffing box, replaced those, and we were done. Replaced and rebedded the new prop strut and then closed the whole issue up in the engine compartment. Rudder and prop strut are now a good, hope to get home from my present posting to splash the boat on Thursday. Thanks for the information, hopefully everything is good to go.
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