I have a (rotational) rudder play of around 2-3 inches at the tip of the rudder. No vertical play. Do I need to replace the rudder bearing? What are the issues if I wait until the end of the season ? Can it be replaced in the water? Any idea of cost? I would like to launch in 2 weeks but there is no chance of getting the yard to replace it in that time.
This sounds lore like the quadrant cables are loose and not the rudder bearing.
– Geoff
Geoff, the cables look new and are tensioned. From recollection the rudder moves without any movement of the helm or cables.
That’s very strange. A rotational slack like that is not rudder bearing wear. That would be a side to side knock (or fore and aft). I agree with Geoff on this. I’d check all linkage. If the helm and cable are not moving, check the quadrant where it attaches to the shaft for slack.
George
Not sure what model Freedom you have. On our old F 30, we had a similar problem and it turned out to be pretty bad news. On the (1987) 30, the laminate rudder shaft terminates at the uppermost end into a stainless steel sleeve. The sleeve clamps into the radial steering drive (quadrant). In addition to the pressure exerted by bolting of the two halves of the radial drive onto the sleeve, a bolt passes through the drive, sleeve and rudder shaft to prevent rotational slippage. On our boat, it turned out to be a factory defect/shortcut. Our boat was one of the last ones built by TPI before Freedom opened their own plant. TPI made the rudder shaft a couple inches too short - so that the laminate did not reach up to the top of the stainless sleeve - and in fact ended just short of where the bolt passed through. Instead of remaking the rudder or lengthening the shaft, they simply shoved the shaft into the sleeve and tightened it down with the bolts that hold the two halves of the drive together. They then poured resin into the top of the sleeve to fill it to the top. The stabilizing bolt passed through the resin plug rather than the laminate shaft. When the boat was about 12 years old, we began to notice that when the rudder blade was centered, the wheel was not always in the same place… later figured out that the rudder shaft was actually slipping inside the stainless steel sleeve. Two hours from home at the end of an 18 day trip, we went over a very large, short period wave and the boat pitched forward - momentarily thrusting her hind end into the air… rudder slipped right out of the sleeve and slowly sank out of sight. We were left without steering and in deteriorating conditions. Ended up calling Tow Boat US and getting pulled to safety. Fortunately, Freedom still had the molds for the F30 rudder laying in the grass out behind the plant. I sent them the stainless steel sleeve and resin plug - and they agreed to build and ship a new rudder at no charge. If by chance that you are having the same kind of problem, It would be a very good idea to inspect and make necessary repairs before loosing your rudder.
Our boat was built by TPI in 1990. Hull id 959306. Is there anyway of contacting them to check if I have the same design problem?
When I checked the steering quadrant on the boat last night. I thought the rudder play might be coming from the (through) bolt hole in the rudder shaft getting larger over time.
Philip
The records on all Freedoms built by TPI were given to Freedom Yachts when the two companies split. When Freedom went under, Tarten purchased the molds and documentation for the Legacy powerboats. I offered cash for all file drawers containing the Freedom drawings and documentation, but was rebuffed. Rumor has it that all these records later went into the dumpster.
Just a note, 595306 in not your hull number but your US Coast Guard Documentation number. Your HIN is a 12 digit number found on the starboard side of the transom. The first three digits are the Coast Guard designator for these builder, TSP or FYC for Freedom’s. The next five digits are assigned to the builder to designate your unique boat. TPI often used the first two of these digits to identify the model and the last three to identify the hull number. The final four digits are the build date and model year. The first of these digits is the month counting from January using letters, the second is the year of construction. The last two digits are the model year.
Example: the HIN on my Freedom 36 was TSP36071L687. This was built by TPI, model 36, hull number 71, molded November 1986, and the model year was 1987.
The problem with your rudder sounds like the hole for the pin has enlarged allowing the quadrant to wobble on the rudderstock. The pin should not be taking all this load. I would check to be sure the quadrant can be tightly clamped on the rudderstock. You can have a machine shop mill a slight amount off one half of the quadrant, effectively making the hole for the rudderstock smaller. This will allow the clamp bolts to securely clamp the rudderstock.
To get a tight fit between the bolt and the rudder stock, I would first look at the possibility of increasing the diameter of the bolt. When you drill out the rudderstock and quadrant the new bolt can then fit tightly in both.
Dwight, That is indeed an interesting story on the documentation of the Freedom sailboats and a shame if these documents were thrown out. Thank you for explaning my hull id which is TSP381251990…that makes a lot of sense now.
I believe your diagnosis is correct. I can see the pin is loose when I look straight down into the rudder post. I will try to tightened the quadrant for this season, if that doesn’t work i will get a small amount taken off the quadrant.
I’m guessing that the defect in my F30 rudder was a 1 time thing, and that Dwight’s diagnosis is probably correct. That said, it would probably still be a good idea to inspect the rudder shaft to make sure the laminate comes all the way up to and above the stabilizing bolt hole.
Because we are planning to take our current boat (F38) offshore, and because you only have to loose a rudder once to develop a healthy sense of mistrust, I beefed up our current rudder shaft by doing the following:
- Ground out the foam filler Freedom put into the top of the hollow inside of the rudder shaft.
- Filled the inside of the shaft with thickened/reinforced resin
- Drilled, countersunk, tapped and installed 6 flat head screws through the stainless steel sleeve, rudder shaft laminate and into the new reinforced resin filler.
Of course, as Dwight pointed out - the radial drive (quadrant) bolts need to be tight so that the sleeve doesn’t slip and place excessive load on the stabilizing bolt.