Rudder Bearing Questions (E36-RH)

[rgraham]

Sorry I borrowed a picture until I can get out to the boat and take some... Is the bronze piece in the picture with the arrow pointing at it supposed to rotate with the shaft or is it supposed to stay stationary with the fiberglass tube? I've been finishing up a re-power and I noticed last night while running the engine in forward gear tied to the dock at about 2000 rpms that I'm getting about 3/8 of an inch of vertical motion in the rudder shaft. When I rotated the shaft from the quadrant by hand while under power still I noticed that this piece was rotating with the shaft and I could move it up from the tube about 3/8 of an inch. I don't know much about these but this looks like a packing gland that should be fixed to the rudder tube and the rudder shaft should be rotating inside of it. Anyone know the answer to this. Am I looking at a serious problem here? Any help would be appreciated.

Seth any ideas?




Thanks in advance
Robert

 

[Seth]

Packing gland

Ya shure-dot's a packing gland, and IIRC should not be moving.. You seem to have more slop in the system overall (happens over time)than you should. If you go with new bearings, look into something better than the orginal-the feel of the wheel will be SO much better, and with little to no slop. I would look up some rudder manufacturers-Foss may have something nearly like the original, but this is a chance to improve things.

I would check with Buzz Ballenger at Ballenger spars-if he does not make one, he will likely know a good source (my sources have mostly folded years ago-Lightwave, etc.). Tell Buzz I sent you.Dennis Choate in Long Beach Ca may also have an idea.

I will bet sme of our brethren Vikings will have some good leads onthis as well..

Cheers,
S

 

[rgraham]

What holds the rudder shaft?

Seth,
What holds the rudder shaft from falling down through the rudder shaft tube? Last night (from what I recall) it looked like the only thing holding mine in is the quadrant bearing down on the packing gland. If this is the case I can see why the packing gland started rotating with the shaft. I didn't see anything on the top bearing that would support the rudder shaft. So what is the proper arrangement of this assembly?

Thanks,
Robert

 

[Loren Beach]

Until Seth drops in again...

Most all spade rudders float up, and that's why there is a composite washer between the rudder blade top and the hull. Also, the quadrant is clamped (and often thru-pined) to the shaft just above the stuffing box.
That shaft certainly will not fall out.
Note that when or if the blade core gets some water intrusion, it will gain weight and may become slightly negative-bouyant.

My .02 worth. YMMV.

Class? Bueller? Bueller??!!



Loren

 

[rgraham]

Thanks for the reply Loren...

But is the weight of the rudder supposed to be riding on the stuffing box? Or is it supported in some other fashion?

BTW what does IIRC & YMMV mean?

 

[Loren Beach]

YMMV is 'net shorthand for "your mileage may vary" -- just a little caution that what works for the advisor may not alway succeed for the advisee.

Not sure about the other acronym... just enter it into Google and hit the return key...
:nerd:

As to rudder shafts wanting to go up or down, I believe that the one on our '88 has some sort of clamp involved with the top bearing but I cannot see up there. The quadrant does ride above the stuffing box an inch or so, and that may be solely due to the floatation inherent in the foam rudder core.

Anyone else??

Loren

 

[Frank Langer]

IIRC is "if I recall correctly"

 

[rgraham]

Here are the actual photos of my rudder

Well I got out to the boat and took the following photos showing the top of the top rudder shaft bearing the underside of same bearing and the quadrant pressing against the packing gland and the gap, which turns out to be about 3mm so not as bad as I thought. Looks like this is how they set it up at the factory, so the only thing holding the rudder in is the quadrant pressing against the packing gland. It must have always turned in the rudder shaft tube. I just hope that it is rubbing against a bronze bearing inside the tube. Any other 36 RHs out there who can look at their rudder assemblies and see if they are the same?