Rudder Play

[John Cotterill]

Hi
I have some horizontal play in the rudder of my 1993 walk through transom 34.
I have read posts about using Mylar sheets to shim the rudder shaft.
Is this still the preferred method and can it be done with the walk through transom model.?
I assume the shims are only used in the top of the rudder post.

John

[Roc]

John,
How much "wobble" do you have?  My rudder will move about 1/8" or less.  Been like that for years with no change. 

[Ron Hill]

John : There is another method of shimming out the horizontal rudder play.  It involves using epoxy, but I'm not familiar with that process.  Maybe someone will see this and explain it to you. 

The Mylar film worked great for me!!

A thought

[John Cotterill]

Roc
It has a fair bit of play and seems to gradually getting worse. I get a grinding sound when I take the boat out in large swell

[Roc]

John,
Give Gerry Douglas at Catalina Yachts a call.  Interesting to hear what he says and recommends...

[Ron Hill]

John : FYI, I also added another nylon bushing under the emergency till cap to take out the vertical play.

The grinding sound mean that you need to look at your steering quadrant and the cables/idler pulleys!!!

A few thoughts.

[KWKloeber]

John : There is another method of shimming out the horizontal rudder play.  It involves using epoxy, but I'm not familiar with that process.  Maybe someone will see this and explain it to you. 

The Mylar film worked great for me!!

A thought

I did the epoxy resin/graphite bearing surface on my (C-30) rudder post.  Worked quite well.  Can pass along tips if you decide to go that route.  Check the radial wheel and everything if you have grinding - to narrow down that cause.

KK

[r_bond]

John, I'm having the same problem - i.e. a grinding noise in the stern when the boat is in large swells.  My boat is also a 1993, hull # 1261.  Suspecting a problem with rudder or rudder tube but have had no luck determining where noise is coming from.  I have a very small amount of play in rudder, probably less than 1/8 inch.  Have checked all the steering components - installed new chain last year, idlers in good shape, wire adjustment is good.  Spoke with Gerry a few weeks ago but he didn't have much to offer - his suggestion was to go down into the aft section with a stethoscope to see if I could identify where the noise coming from.  Waiting for a breezy day with right conditions were to try this.  Let's keep each other posted on progress in resolving this issue.  If you'd like to conduct me, my email is r_bond@bellsouth.net.

[Benasutti]

I have a 1988 C-34 with the same horizontal rudder play problem.  It is not a lot of play but when I sailed her from Florida to the Virgin Islands last winter the problem slowly got worse.  I feel like I need to fix this before I sail her back to Florida this winter.

I have a lot of respect for Ron Hill (in fact Ron, you and I met at the Annapolis Boat show 2 years ago) but the mylar sheets just doesn't sound like a permanent fix and it doesn't seem like the wear in the rudder tube would be uniform from top to bottom for the sheet to slide all the way in.

I am seriously considering the graphite epoxy repair method I have read about here.  I would appreciate any tips, hints, or preferably detailed instructions on how to do this including what products to use.  She is currently on the hard in Puerto Rico so hopefully they are products that I can purchase at the West Marine or somewhere else down there. 

I plan on going down in January and I will post an update about how it went.

[britinusa]

During the purchase Survey, it was pointed out that there is play in the rudder. My definition - not a lot, but I looked into the options.

Catalina Direct has this


http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm/product/2791_754/rudder-bearing-epoxy-repair-kit.cfm

Paul

[KWKloeber]

I am seriously considering the graphite epoxy repair method I have read about here.  I would appreciate any tips, hints, or preferably detailed instructions on how to do this including what products to use.  She is currently on the hard in Puerto Rico so hopefully they are products that I can purchase at the West Marine or somewhere else down there. 

Sea Angel:

I did a quick search of some posts about my graphite/epoxy fix for my (ex) rudder slop (1984 C30). 
it worked very well and I am very happy with the result.

If you go decide that route, I can provide more detail on the steps I used and any I might improve on in a minor way.

I believe that you can read the posts w/o registering on the forum -- if not, I will copy paste.

Cheers,
Ken

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Catalina30/conversations/messages/67641
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Catalina30/conversations/messages/67614
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Catalina30/conversations/messages/90598
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Catalina30/conversations/messages/92477
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Catalina30/conversations/messages/92542

[Miles Henderson]

Guys, I just saw your post in re: "Rudder Play".  Sorry I didn't see this earlier.  You may want to look at my posts from 12/29/09 thru 12/31/09 with the header "Missing Rudder Post Tube".  It looks like the two C34's you are discussing (# 1257 and # 1261) are both MK 1.5's which is what I own (a 1992 C34, hull # 1204).  If you have the same configuration, you may also be missing a rudder post tube which should be attached to the underside of your helm flooring. 

The problem with my boat was that without this tube attached to the underside of the helm flooring with several layers of promat, there was little horizontal support for the top of the rudder post.  If you want to do a quick check, remove the rudder post cover just behind the pedestal steering.  Then wet your finger and draw a circle around the rudder post inside the bottom of the compartment.  If your finger comes out with pulverized fiberglass dust  , then you have the problem I had.  What happened to me is the top of rudder post was slowly eating away at the "top bearing housing" (what holds the rudder post up in the air and what you just wiped your finger around).  If you have the same problem (no Rudder Post Tube), then Catalina should be notified and they should put out a notice to all MK 1.5 owners that they may have this same problem.

As noted in my 2009 post, I installed the Rudder Post Tube with several layers of promat to the underside of the helm flooring and it has subsequently held up in big weather without a problem.

If you find out this is the problem, I can give you a few helpful hints (fine points) I addressed when installing the rudder tube.  Just give me a call at 440-554-1445.  Good Luck, Miles H, Kumatage 1204