Tightening upper rudder through hull fitting?

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Zac Penn
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Tightening upper rudder through hull fitting?

Post by Zac Penn »

I have tightened everything up with my rudder, but somehow over the years the upper through hull fitting has come loose so the rudder post can move around. I slipped under the deck today and tried to access the nut, but I can't reach my hands up there because of the black tubing attached to it. I can't loosen the clamp on the tube because it is up in a tight spot. I am wondering if the boat can be put on the trailer, then loosen the bottom clamps on the tube, push the tube and upper fitting tight against the deck and then twist the upper part of the fitting to try and tighten the nut? Any tips on how to tighten that fitting?

Thanks,
Zac
boaternoob
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Post by boaternoob »

I've seen a thread addressing this but not sure where. Check Trailersailor or Sailnet. Also I have seen a video somewhere of a guy who had the whole assembly apart and made new replacement parts out of....Delrin I think he called it.
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CaptainScott
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Post by CaptainScott »

Hi Zac,
I've replaced all those parts on Lady Jo
If you can not get to the nut to tighten it, then you are in for some work.
Nothing rocket science at all. Just several steps.

My suggestion, while not the easiest is a way to do it.

When your boat is on the trailer . . . .
Run a strap or rope under your rudder to hold it tight against the bottom of the hull. You are keeping it from falling and hitting the ground.
Now you can loosen the collar that holds the tiller to the rudder post and remove the tiller handle and brackets.

Next carefully loosen the rope or strap holding your rudder up and gently let the rudder and rudder post slide straight down.

Next get aboard and remove the likely worm clamps holding the tube in place.

Wiggle the tube out of the way,

Now you have access to the lower fitting and the one you have that is lose.

It is indeed a lot of work. It can be done in a day easily however I did not enjoy stuffing myself into a lazerett of a 22' sailboat! LOL!


Scott
Zac Penn
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Post by Zac Penn »

Thanks Scott,
I have already removed the rudder because the stupid downhaul knot came untied, so I removed both the up and down haul lines, and reset a knot using two vice grip pliers and pulling it really hard. Hopefully that is the end of that. The black hose connecting the two rudder fittings has two SS worm clamps that are going to be difficult to get to the bolt. I hope I can find my ratcheting wrenches that will fit that bolt or else I am in trouble.

Wish me luck tomorrow.
Zac
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astrorad
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Post by astrorad »

My original upper thru hull didn't have a nut on it although it was threaded for one. It was held in place by 4 stainless panhead sheet metal screws . I am the guy who redesigned the upper and lower bearings and used Delrin to fabricate them. You may just want to try some screws from the top down thru the upper bearing into the fiberglass molded sole. That is if the bearing looks good and is not worn into an oval. You may also try to squeeze some 3M 4200 or 4000 between bearing and mounting surface as an additional bond to hold it in place.
Bill
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Post by Zac Penn »

My bearing was worn out, but not really into an oval. I had some 1/16" thick UHMW tape that I didn't use on a project and a strip of it long enough to take up the space between the rudder post and the bearing surface. It will work for the time being until I can fabricate a new bearing.

Bill,
You don't happen to have a video of that repair do you?
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astrorad
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Post by astrorad »

Zac...here is the video..it shows my new bearings compared to the old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8i_MKp1CpY
The drawings are located here...http://www.captainscottsailing.com/php/ ... ocList.php Scroll down to the C22 section, then to the manual section Rudder bearing upper and Rudder thru hull. Those are my drawings. I don't have an install video as I haven't installed them yet.
Bill
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Post by Zac Penn »

Pretty nice setup there Bill.

Well my dad and I got the repair done yesterday, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. Partly cloudy 70 degrees and 10 mph winds. A couple days ago I had dropped the rudder down the through hull fittings and out of the boat, so I could repair the up/down haul lines and put a couple coats of ablative paint on the rudder and metal housing. Without the rudder to assist in steering we had to use the outboard to steer and boy was that a PITA! Every two seconds making micro adjustments to the tiller and boy is my arm sore today from hanging over the transom for an hour and a half while we motored to the dock.

Everything went pretty well, except the bottom hose clamps were rusted out so I couldn't loosen them, but I was able to get the top ones off and bent the hose out of the way. I don't have exact measurements, but the hole in the deck for the through hull fitting was about 2" diameter and the hull fitting was 1 7/8" diameter so it could move around in the hole even if I tighten the nut. So used some more of my 1/16" UHMW tape and wrapped it around the fitting to take up the extra space. Once tightened down there is no more slop in the system and boat steers like a dream now. You move the tiller just a little bit and the boat actually turns ;) Who would have thought?
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astrorad
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Post by astrorad »

Zac, sounds like you have solved your problem. The reason that I am replacing my upper and lower is because they were both in very,very sad shape. Since I am building a completely new rudderpost/cheek setup I decided to replace everything and beef them up somewhat. Time will tell if I have done the right thing.
Bill
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CaptainScott
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Post by CaptainScott »

Congrats!!

Scott
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