Rudder Repair

After taking the day off from painting the house I decided to work on the 92' Sunsport. Since owning the boat 2 yrs now it has had some steering issues. While under power the boat is very difficult (nearly impossible for the wife) to steer to the left. I always assumed it was the steering cable until a little research on the forum turned up the possibility of a bent rudder.

Low and behold I unhooked the steering cable and felt no resistance. The rudder easily moved in on direction and sort of chattered in the other. Dropped the rudder and found that when placed on a flat surface then end of the shaft touches on one side and when flipped over the shaft is roughly 1/2 inch off the surface. I am thinking the shaft is bend roughly 1/4" side to side?

After viewing the rudder from the side I noticed the rudder shaft does not come out of the rudder at a 90 degree angle. Am I correct to assume the bottom of the rudder is bent backwards as if the boat had struck an object?

Couple questions, should I bring the rudder to a family friend (machinist) and have is straightened out replace the packing rope and reinstall? or should I go new? My understanding is that if I decide to go new I would end up having to by a whole new rudder assembly?

Thanks for the help!

might as well give a go at straighting it worst thing it will not work and you replace it.

The good folks at discount inboard marine will help with the packing or the rudder.

A good machinist or a good prop shop should be able to straighten it for you. No need for the $ and headache of a new one. We used to ski a course with a stump laden turnaround way back in a cove - I bent the rudder on an old SN & had it straightened & it worked fine, then sheared the rudder off the shaft the next season & had it brazed back on & worked fine again (until we sheared it again & couldn't find the rudder).

sybrmike My rudder has some pretty good play between the shaft and pivot housing but the boat steers fine under power and I dont hear or feel any vibration from it wiggleing. The seals seep just a little. Was thinking of replacing someday with the rudder kit from skidim.com. How far can i let it go before repair?

Repair the rudder. Perhaps start looking for another as a spare online.

I replaced my rudder assembly this year. I was surprised how much smoother & easier the boat steers. One finger with just a smidge of pull to the right. When you replace the rudder you will need to tune it to your liking by filing the back edge in the direction you want the steering wheel to pull to. I only did 2 strikes of the file.
The old rudder assembly had been straightened once and had about ½’ of play from side to side. I had installed a grease fitting but a greasing only seamed to last about 1 tank of gas. At the end of last year we found a sand bar the had way. Bent it once more not much but you needed to put more pull on the wheel in a turn. If everything is working rite there should be next to no pull on the wheel at all times.
I guess I’m just picky the other boat we pull with is a 05 190 Master Craft & I compare my 86 to that. With the new rudder parts the old comp steers really close to the MC.

Mine is a little harder to steer when idleing through the no wake zones mabe use one hand but when I'm under any kind of power it will steer with one finger. So it doesn't sound like it's bent just has some play. Has anyone heard of someone having a machine shop add material to the rudder shaft and milling it back to tighter tollerances? Any idea on cost? Not sure it would be cheaper than just buying a new rudder assembly.

I plan on dropping the rudder off to the farm (machine shop) this week and seeing what he thinks. I know he can get it straight however my one worry is that there will be to much play in the shaft and housing. Before removal it turned in one direction easily and the other way it really chattered. I guess before dumping nearly $500 on a new one I will at least give it a try, can't be any worse than it was for the past two years.

I had a bent rudder and spent the money to have it straighted and it didn't work. It is very difficult to get it back to the original position. Even with it just a little out of tolerance it still did not perform well. I ended up buying a whole new rudder set up. I can't remember what I paid but know it was less than $500.00 I actually had to take the whole collar to install the new one. It made such a difference...I can steer the boat with one finger. You can give straightening a try but not sure that you will be satisfied with the result. If you do go with a new one...be sure to pack the zerks full of grease. I forgot to do it and found that at high speed the rudder with turn and woudl give you quite a suprise...the boat seemed like it had a mind of its own and we took some crazy turns. I remembered that I forgot to pack the collar full of grease. I came back and greased it up and the problem went away.

Chautauquasun,

How bent was your rudder?

Do you remember the brand of the new rudder?