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E-27 rudder bushings

ronaldmreis

Junior Member
Does anyone have experience in servicing the lower bushings on an E-27 rudder post? Are there detail drawings available to show how it was designed? Are parts currently available, and from whom? I was unable to check the amount of lateral movement during the last haul-out, but the feel through the tiller seems like .06 - .1 inch clearance, which seems like a lot.
 

bigd14

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
On my former 1972 E27 there was not really any lower bushing per se. Just the glassed in rudder tube. There are ways of improving the fit in this area using epoxy and graphite powder, or I have heard of people placing shim material to take up some of the slop. I had a very sloppy rudder too but it was caused by significant wear in the tiller plate. This was solved by a machine shop over drilling the tiller plate and pressing a bronze bushing into it then machining the top of the rudder shaft to match. It was perfect after that.
 

ronaldmreis

Junior Member
On my former 1972 E27 there was not really any lower bushing per se. Just the glassed in rudder tube. There are ways of improving the fit in this area using epoxy and graphite powder, or I have heard of people placing shim material to take up some of the slop. I had a very sloppy rudder too but it was caused by significant wear in the tiller plate. This was solved by a machine shop over drilling the tiller plate and pressing a bronze bushing into it then machining the top of the rudder shaft to match. It was perfect after that.
Thanks for the reply. Can you elaborate on what the tiller plate is? I assume it is the bronze upper support that bolts to the cockpit deck and has the zerk fitting in the rear. is that right? Was the boat out of the water when you took the plate off?
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
While Big replies, the upper bearing is often the issue. On other models it gets loose, and only has to be tightened up. Symptom is rudder slam and banging.
 

bigd14

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Hey Ron yes the tiller plate (what I call it, I’m not sure of the proper nautical term, if any) is bolted through the cockpit floor and supports the upper portion of the rudder shaft. The tiller fork is attached to the rudder cap which sits on top of the rudder post and is held in place with a through bolt. There could be play in any of these connections: tiller to tiller fork, tiller fork to rudder cap, rudder cap to rudder post, rudder post to tiller plate (maybe that should be called rudder plate), and the tiller/rudder plate can be loose in the cockpit floor. It’s a good time to look at all of them and especially to ensure that water is not getting into the cockpit core through the tiller/rudder plate bolts. I did do all this work on the hard. If in the water the rudder should float and be held in place by buoyancy, but if it has saturated it can sink and then you’ll have water coming in! Would be smart to run a line or net under the rudder to keep it in place if doing this in the water.
 
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