Posted by sitchmo (sylvanm@…>)
I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?
Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
Posted by jon_jlh (jon_jlh@…>)
Mac,
We own a 1985 F30 and lost a rudder a couple of years ago. The rudder
post broke at the top where it goes into the radial steering. I would
recommend that you drop your rudder and look at it very closely.
BTW this would also be a good time to replace the steering cables.
Regards,
Jon Hart
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@…>
wrote:
I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
Posted by sitchmo (sylvanm@…>)
Thanks for the advice! I am having the yard take a look as we speak.
Mac
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “jon_jlh” <jon_jlh@…> wrote:
Mac,
We own a 1985 F30 and lost a rudder a couple of years ago. The rudder
post broke at the top where it goes into the radial steering. I would
recommend that you drop your rudder and look at it very closely.BTW this would also be a good time to replace the steering cables.
Regards,
Jon Hart
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@>
wrote:I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
Posted by Rick Higgens (higgens@…>)
We bought Fargo’s beautiful 1986 F30 in Nov last year which obviously
included a survey. Fargo had told me up front that his boat had some
rudder play that he had carefully monitored. It was there when he
bought the boat, he discussed the amount of play with Paul Dennis who
gave Fargo enough warm fuzzies to complete the purchase. When we
pulled the boat in Warren RI (right next to Paul’s boat yard), we had
Paul come over and do an inspection both from under and inside. He
saw no signs of wear either to the bearing or the post, and the amount
of play hadn’t changed in 2000+ miles of sailing, so his evaluation
was that the boat had probably suffered from an overtight bearing
initially, as many had. And that the fix was to “ream” out the
bearing. There was no magic to this process and sometimes they got a
little aggressive. So it was probably about as loose when they
finished the adjustment. What I found interesting was Paul said he
could replace the bearing BUT there’s still no guarantees that it
might not be a little tight and need to be opened up a little. And
that if we wanted to spend a lot of time and money hauling the boat,
dropping the rudder over and over we could maybe improve on it “a
little”.
That said, if your rudder was tight last year and now has developed
some play, then for sure something is changing. As for the new owners
of Fargo’s boat, we sure hope Paul knows what he’s talking about 
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “jon_jlh” <jon_jlh@…> wrote:
Mac,
We own a 1985 F30 and lost a rudder a couple of years ago. The rudder
post broke at the top where it goes into the radial steering. I would
recommend that you drop your rudder and look at it very closely.BTW this would also be a good time to replace the steering cables.
Regards,
Jon Hart
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@>
wrote:I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
Posted by tom (ketch_22@…>)
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@…> wrote:
I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
If you decide on a zero tolerance strategy - and - your rudder post is
a hollow composite as it is on the F39 - and - the play is a result of
the widening of the holes of the bolt that holds the rudder stock in
place in the steering quadrant, there is a reasonably simple fix.
You need to get access to the top of the rudder post and fill the area
where the bolt goes thru the stock with epoxy.
The epoxy needs to be mixed with fiber particles to minimize cracking.
You also need to clean the inside of the stock with acetone so the
epoxy will stick.
Build a false floor (use cardboard or an empty soda can on a string) a
few inches under the location where the bolt goes thru the stock and
fill it with expanding foam to prevent the epoxy from filling the
entire rudder post. After the foam dries, pour the epoxy/fiber mix in
the stock and let it harden.
Tom Marlow
Ketch 22
Posted by tom (ketch_22@…>)
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@…> wrote:
I was working on my F35 this past weekend and I noticed a little play
in the rudder post. How much, if any, is acceptable?Thanks -
Mac
Apsara
If you decide on a zero tolerance strategy - and - your rudder post is
a hollow composite as it is on the F39 - and - the play is a result of
the widening of the holes of the bolt that holds the rudder stock in
place in the steering quadrant, there is a reasonably simple fix.
You need to get access to the top of the rudder post and fill the area
where the bolt goes thru the stock with epoxy.
The epoxy needs to be mixed with fiber particles to minimize cracking.
You also need to clean the inside of the stock with acetone so the
epoxy will stick.
Build a false floor (use cardboard or an empty soda can on a string) a
few inches under the location where the bolt goes thru the stock and
fill it with expanding foam to prevent the epoxy from filling the
entire rudder post. After the foam dries, pour the epoxy/fiber mix in
the stock and let it harden.
Tom Marlow
Ketch 22
Posted by sitchmo (sylvanm@…>)
My boat yard just dropped the rudder from my 1993 Freedom 35 because
there is excessive play in the rudder at the bottom of the rudder post.
We thought that the bearings needed replacing, but they are in fine
condition.
Why would there still be excessive play in the rudder post area? Is
there a contact who is or was at Freedom that we can contact about this?
Thanks - Mac
Apsara
Posted by sitchmo (sylvanm@…>)
I thought other F35 owners would like to know the resolution to the
play in my rudder post. From my boat yard:
There is a sleeve that fits over the rudder post at each bearing
point. I noticed yesterday that the lower sleeve was a few inches
from the top of the rudder. Looking at it today, you can see where
the rudder has been slightly wearing on the edge of the inner
bearing. Aha! The sleeve has slipped up the rudder post leaving
only about a 1/2" of bearing surface to ride on. When I slipped the
bearing into that position, there’s a whole bunch of play. Easy fix,
reposition the sleeve and out the whole works back together. We
don’t even need to make up new bearings. The ones you have are fine
and have a long life expectancy.
Mac
Apsara
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “sitchmo” <sylvanm@…>
wrote:
My boat yard just dropped the rudder from my 1993 Freedom 35
because
there is excessive play in the rudder at the bottom of the rudder
post.
We thought that the bearings needed replacing, but they are in fine
condition.Why would there still be excessive play in the rudder post area? Is
there a contact who is or was at Freedom that we can contact about
this?Thanks - Mac
Apsara
Posted by ptecca63 (paul.tecca@…>)
Mac,
Thanks for posting the resolution, good information.
Do you know what caused the sleeve to slide up the rudder post and out
of position? How do you prevent it from happening again?
Regards,
Paul
Midnight Star
1993 F35