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?

So we ended up getting the rudder back, looks like he was able to get it just about factory, a wet test will tell for sure. When installing the rudder would you recommend putting grease on the rudder shaft before installing, my boat came with a rudder set up for packing material. My thought is that the grease will help keep things smooth. Any thoughts? We also go the interior back and if all goes as planned will be installing the rear seat and sundeck this weekend.

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Originally Posted by MESupra

So we ended up getting the rudder back, looks like he was able to get it just about factory, a wet test will tell for sure. When installing the rudder would you recommend putting grease on the rudder shaft before installing, my boat came with a rudder set up for packing material. My thought is that the grease will help keep things smooth. Any thoughts? We also go the interior back and if all goes as planned will be installing the rear seat and sundeck this weekend.

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Grease very seldom hurts anything that is intended to move. I'd grease it for sure.

I ended up greasing the heck out of the rudder before installation. After installing i can now barley move the rudder in any direction, let hope it don't pull either way. Hopefully water testing this weekend.

My rudder was bent from the previous owner of my boat; I drove it like that for 4 years, hard steering at speed, easy at idle. Little play in the rudder when out of the water but that does not always correlate with ease of steering. I fiddled with a handful of other inboards that I know steer easily and they all had some play. Replaced the cable once but really no difference.

I got a complete assembly from SKIDIM and with the 10% CCFAN discount code it was $376 shipped. As others have said, I can now steer with one finger at any speed. What a PITA though to reach the assembly from inside the boat. As far as I could tell, the gas tank was put in before the cap, it is literally impossible to remove (89 Bravura). But, the steering now is as good as any new boat I've driven, including 2012 Nautiques and Mastercrafts. For $376 it was WAY worth it.

The wife and I found a couple hours today to enjoy the boat. The rudder turned out better than expected it turns very freely in both directions. I had intentions of getting another year out of it then buying a new assembly however as long as I can keep from bending it again I don't see the need to replace it. The goretex packing rope from ski-dim worked out excellent as well. Now to trouble shoot the dysfunctional temp gauge, anyone have an idea which sensor is for the dash temp.?

On the top of the intake manifold, near the distributor on the Ford motors. Starboard side, and should have a little threaded bit on top with a ring terminal attaching the wire to it. Probably has a rubber cap over the wire connection...

Riveredge,

Thanks for the location ended up pulling the wire and cleaning the terminal. The guage does move it just seems to run warm around 140. I am not convinced this is accurate as I remember the needle point perfectly vertical at 160. I hope to get out boarding tomorrow and put some stress on the engine to figure things out for sure. I might just replace the sending unit for good measure.

And grab a laser / infrared thermometer (like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/non-con...ter-96451.html) at some point, they're worth their weight in gold in diagnosing something like this.

hagman,
my 95 labrisa lost surprise fight with rock and i had to put on all new undergear on her.....new rudder assembly from skidim steers much easier than original, but pulls pretty hard to the right. can you explain the 'filing the back edge' process to minimize this?
thanks,
james

Go for the attempted repair. I had a 3" crack in my rudder from the shaft entry point downwards. Our dealership quoted us nearly $1,000 to replace it. A $25 bottle of rum for a welder friend of mine fixed the problem. Has run great ever since. Good luck!

File the back (edge side) of the rudder on the side you want the boat to turn. Turn right file right. I like to cruse at 28, at that speed the rudder torque is 0 at 34 there is a slight pull to the right . Take a file out with you next time and go diving.

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Originally Posted by jthack

hagman,
my 95 labrisa lost surprise fight with rock and i had to put on all new undergear on her.....new rudder assembly from skidim steers much easier than original, but pulls pretty hard to the right. can you explain the 'filing the back edge' process to minimize this?
thanks,
james

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