I have a '99 , and every couple of years I need to replace my rudder bolts. These are the bolts that I leave in while trailering, and they have either become so corroded that I can no longer remove the nuts by hand, or they have bounced enough that the bolts themselves have become slightly bent, and getting them out of the holes or back into the holes requires the skill of a brain surgeon. So, I'm wondering if anyone has a a clever alternative to the bolts?
Thanks!
Kelvin
No trees were killed to send this message, but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
I’m not familiar with the X setup, but it sounds like you are using non-stainless bolts. Switching to stainless should solve the corrosion issue, and if you are currently using the inexpensive stuff from the hardware store, it should be a fair bit stronger as well.
Blue Water Yachts sells these "quick rig" pins that I have for the mast pins. Instead of bolts, they use ring dings.
The idea is they make it faster than needing wrenches on the bolt pins.
My crew has trouble INSTALLING the safety pins and getting them lined up.
THIS year one of my crew removed the safety pins and after launch the rudders would not go down. Turns out he removed the hinge pin not the safety pin. Truck and trailer already long gone I had to fix it while the boat was in the water.
Perhaps if the pins looked different this would not have happened.
Curious why you have quick pins on your rudder hinge bolts? Do you take them off often? If they were still bolts and your safety bolts were quick pins, maybe they wouldn't have pulled the wrong one?
When trailering short distances I usually don't put the rudder safety bolts in and just let the rope and cleat hold them up. Only trouble I've had with rudders is once when they were hanging down when I pulled the boat out of the water and up the ramp. SCRAPE....
With my :
I do not use the bolds that hold the rudder upwards:
Reason: once I used and then this bolds cracked the rudder...
so just I use a rope to secure...
I run a rope through a hole in the corner of my rudders when I'm trailering any significant distance. For short trips I've been known to use a dock line from one rear cleat, around the rudders, and back to the other rear cleat.
I don't think bouncing down the road with a bolt through my rudder would give me warm and fuzzy feelings. That sounds like a crack waiting to happen.
Bill
2001 26X Simple Interest
Honda BF40D
"If I were in a hurry I would not have bought a sailboat." Me
LordElsinore wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2024 7:59 am
Curious why you have quick pins on your rudder hinge bolts? Do you take them off often? If they were still bolts and your safety bolts were quick pins, maybe they wouldn't have pulled the wrong one?
When trailering short distances I usually don't put the rudder safety bolts in and just let the rope and cleat hold them up. Only trouble I've had with rudders is once when they were hanging down when I pulled the boat out of the water and up the ramp. SCRAPE....
I don't use quick pins for the rudders. BWY included them for rigging so I can pin the mast faster to the pulpit. I was suggesting as an alternative to bolts for the OP.
I don't let the bolts hold any weight. They are backup for safety. But honestly, I doubt they would ever be needed because I've never had the rudders drop from their normal secured cleats.
This year, my son removed the wrong bolts and when we got floating, trailer parked, realized the mistake and had to fix it in the water.
Now once I did forget to pull the motor up from the ramp and it started to drag.
PhysicsTeacher wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2024 6:03 pm
I have a '99 , and every couple of years I need to replace my rudder bolts. These are the bolts that I leave in while trailering, and they have either become so corroded that I can no longer remove the nuts by hand, or they have bounced enough that the bolts themselves have become slightly bent, and getting them out of the holes or back into the holes requires the skill of a brain surgeon. So, I'm wondering if anyone has a a clever alternative to the bolts?
Thanks!
Kelvin
I still use the bolts, with a hand-tightened nylock nut so I don't need tools to remove. An alternative, which I use at the boom and the spreaders, is a stainless trailer hitch pin like this. On my X, there are no tools required to entirely rig or de-rig the whole boat. One roll of electrical tape is all that I use when getting the boat on the trailer.
Just have to verify that it fits for your purpose:
, and every couple of years I need to replace my rudder bolts. These are the bolts that I leave in while trailering, and they have either become so corroded that I can no longer remove the nuts by hand, or they have bounced enough that the bolts themselves have become slightly bent, and getting them out of the holes or back into the holes requires the skill of a brain surgeon. So, I'm wondering if anyone has a a clever alternative to the bolts? 
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