Hardcrab wrote:Don't forget to put either some teflon/nylon thin sheet stock cut to size or old CD's (have been used by others) as big, full contact washers between the rudders and the SS brackets.
Perhaps even a little lube of some sort wouldn't hurt.
Tight, but not to tight, is the ticket to eliminate just one of the many factory rudder slop points.
Raising/lowering the rudders with the lines should be a semi chore, not a breeze.
Also, check that the rudder stop bolt adjustment allows for a perfect vertical when fully down.
(Hard to do on the trailer- runs out of room with the ground unless you dig some holes)
Crikeys welded Mod certainly can't hurt if you have the means, but it seems like overkill and not a real big failure point, IMHO only.
(No offense meant to Crikey).
None taken!
Like my Admiral says to me often "Why do you always use a sledge hammer, when a simple claw will do!"
Actually the method to my madness grew out of the additional flexing that would occur from me dropping the rudders an additional two inches as well as the maddening play that the entire system represented at the helm.
I've also tried the CD/DVD gap fix, and had welded my reinforcing plates into position with them factored into the final positioning, but they began to shatter very early, from UV exposure. I will replace them with some kind of teflon sheet, cut to size, in the spring.
As I pointed out in an earlier post, the running pressures on a rudder blade must be (considerably?) higher than when properly positioned in a vertical orientation. I can't see bending unless that has happened, or the bolt(s) have been allowed to remain too loose. I noticed large differences between mine, as well as neither of them being properly straight up and down (by a matter of inches!).
Ross
. The treasurer quietly said that one boat is enough to have at any moment in time. When I was packing it up with the new owners, I decided to take off the rudders and store them in the cockpit rather than put the second bolt through. When they were off I noticed that the stainless plates that hold the rudders vertical had flared out considerably.
