West System Rudder Bearing Fix

[JSM]

After a few years of a mysterious on again off again rudder clunk I dropped the rudder and found that the lower bronze bearing was worn on the starboard bottom and port top sides.
I read everything I could find on the subject and decided to go with the method described in the West System Fiberglass Repair Manual.
After lowering the rudder I lightly sanded and cleaned the bearing, coated the rudder shaft with paste wax and drilled a 3/16" hole thru both sides of the bearing from the outside of the boat. The rudder was then put back in place and I injected 1/2 of a West System syringe of the epoxy/graphite/406 mixture into each hole.
Returned to the yard this afternoon to discover that the rudder moved freely ( yeah.. I heard about that guy ) and the side to side slop was gone.
Managed to get the job done by myself in a day using wood blocks , the jack from my truck and way too many trips up and down the ladder to lower and then raise the rudder. Having a helper to align the spacer and quadrant as the rudder was reinstalled would have made this a fairly straight forward job.
As a side note over the years I have attempted to pump grease into the rudder tube via the factory installed zirk with no luck and discovered after pulling the rudder that there was never any grease in the tube from day one.
The zirk at the top bearing makes sense as the grease goes directly into the bearing.
Injecting grease into the void between the packing box and the lower bearing just doesn't seem to make any sense.
I'm tempted to install a zirk in the lower bearing but will leave well enough alone.

 

[Dave G.]

Injecting grease into the void between the packing box and the lower bearing just doesn't seem to make any sense.

Oh it definitely works though. Had the same problem and as my lower zerk was fubar. I finally got around to installing a new one, per a post on this site(Christian Williams I think ?)pumped in grease and no more slop ! Rock solid and smooth as silk.

 

[JSM]

Oh it definitely works though. Had the same problem and as my lower zerk was fubar. I finally got around to installing a new one, per a post on this site(Christian Williams I think ?)pumped in grease and no more slop ! Rock solid and smooth as silk.

Thanks Dave , I had given some thought to installing a new zirk and greasing the tube but was afraid that in might not fix the problem and I didn't want to find out after launching for the season so I went ahead and did the bearing fix. Having no grease in the tube all these years probably contributed to my worn lower bearing. New zirk and grease goes in this week !

 

[Christian Williams]

Rudder tube Zerk (grease fitting) replacement is less challenging than it might sound. Often the original rusted Zerk can be left in place, and a new one installed nearby. A 1/4" stainless Zerk is available. My original was plated 1/8th , and didn't stand the test of time.

Forum experience suggests that keeping the void filled with grease helps seal not only the bottom bearing, but also the packing gland at the top of the rudder tube. It does make rudder turn easily.

More here.

 

[JSM]

Installing a new zirk should be no problem. A few years back I put this inspection port in to get better access to the packing box rear adjusting bolt.
This may be the new zirks home.

No more crawling into the rear lazarette . Imagine being able to grease your post in the comfort of your berth !

 

[Pete the Cat]

After a few years of a mysterious on again off again rudder clunk I dropped the rudder and found that the lower bronze bearing was worn on the starboard bottom and port top sides.
I read everything I could find on the subject and decided to go with the method described in the West System Fiberglass Repair Manual.
After lowering the rudder I lightly sanded and cleaned the bearing, coated the rudder shaft with paste wax and drilled a 3/16" hole thru both sides of the bearing from the outside of the boat. The rudder was then put back in place and I injected 1/2 of a West System syringe of the epoxy/graphite/406 mixture into each hole.
Returned to the yard this afternoon to discover that the rudder moved freely ( yeah.. I heard about that guy ) and the side to side slop was gone.
Managed to get the job done by myself in a day using wood blocks , the jack from my truck and way too many trips up and down the ladder to lower and then raise the rudder. Having a helper to align the spacer and quadrant as the rudder was reinstalled would have made this a fairly straight forward job.
As a side note over the years I have attempted to pump grease into the rudder tube via the factory installed zirk with no luck and discovered after pulling the rudder that there was never any grease in the tube from day one.
The zirk at the top bearing makes sense as the grease goes directly into the bearing.
Injecting grease into the void between the packing box and the lower bearing just doesn't seem to make any sense.
I'm tempted to install a zirk in the lower bearing but will leave well enough alone.

Just remember the high density filler. That stuff is really tough if you have ever tried to sand it or drill it, so it makes great bearings.

 

[JSM]

50/50 high density and graphite powder mixed like mayo.