Rudder stuck in housing

[sailnaked6842]

Hey guys, any of you ever removed a rudder from one of the newer model boats? Just discovered the other day that the rudder is cracked on my 08 so it needs to be removed, but it won't come out of the housing. I removed the steering arm completely (along with the bolt) but the key is stuck in the rudder shaft and a few good taps with a hammer on the rudder didn't even move anything. Any of you done this before?

[CJD]

You will definitely have to remove the key to get the shaft out. Use a hammer and punch, tapping on the end of the key in a downward direction. The shaft key slot has a radius at the bottom, so moving the key down will also force it out of the slot.

After that, if the rudder is cracked, it may also have a bent shaft. There would be no solution for that but brute force. And...if it is too bent for that, then you would have to resort to cutting the shaft off and removing the entire bearing assembly with the stub still in it. Hopefully it won't come to that.

[sailnaked6842]

Yikes, would you be able to feel a bent shaft when turning? The rudder has zero play in it whether it's up/down or side to side, even with the shaft arm off. It did not look this difficult...

[CJD]

Only if it was binding. It's not common, but then neither is a cracked rudder. Just one of those things to check while you're working on it.

[jasun]

Is it cracked because you hit something? Or manufacturing defect? If you hit something my guess is it's going to be difficult to get it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sailnaked6842]

Got the rudder out on Friday last week and dropped it off at a propeller repair company who was able to weld it. The crack was not a result of hitting something but actually a result of...well...being dumb and playing around with power turns. Apparently the force of a 4,200 lb boat going 30+ mph and then sharply turned is enough to crack the rudder where the shaft goes into it. So, for anyone who doesn't want to replace their rudder, don't do this.

As for how to get the rudder out you do need to hit the key with a punch and hammer to remove the key which you can expect it to take many beatings to get the key out.

[CJD]

Good info on the power turns! It wouldn't have occurred to me to take it to a prop shop. Good to know they'll work on rudders too.