Rudders Removal and Stuffing Box Packing by Brian Barton May 31, 2013 Last year both rudders on my 38 Commander were leaking a little less than a water fall. An adjustment worked on the starboard side. The port was not cooperating at all. I needed more than the 16" pipe wrench to move the nut. I am ready to tighten things up a little and would like to replace the packing. I have some 1/4" from the shaft stuffing boxes which I did not use. Does the rudder stuffing box take the same size? Also having never had it apart. What is inside? Are there bearings? I was at the boat over the weekend and the rudders moves about 1/8". Ed Cox has a frozen rudder on his 35 Commander and asked Brian for advice. Here is how Brian fixed it. Yes, This task was completed. Boat launched, some leaking a final adjustment and we are good. It was a simple job but requires 2 people to remove them. To determine the one is frozen I will assume that the cross tie bar is removed and the main steering bar is also off. Your next step will be to free the frozen rudder. I would start with removing the jam nut and the packing nut. Apply generous amounts of your favorite penetrate (from the top and the bottom). Wait some and try to twist it from outside the boat. Don't be afraid to apply some pressure these rudders are solid cast bronze with a generous shaft size. My guess is the 35 might be a little smaller than the 38. Repeat until free. Do not remove the top disk It is at the top of the rudder and has 2 square head set screws in it. Once the packing nut is free and the bell cranks that do the turning are free that is the last safety item to hold the rubber in place. Take it off and the rudder is free to drop to the ground. On the 38 they weigh in at 41 LBS each. I would take the rudder out after you free it. This will allow inspection of the rudder and the housing. To finish removing the rudder. Remove the bolts for the bell cranks. They must be removed as there is a scallop in the rubber that the bolt passes through ( This does 2 things, fool proofs orientation and is and prevents the rudder from dropping out if the other components fail). With another person outside the boat holding the rudder, remove the safety wire from the top ring. Then crack each of the square head set screws. Remove one of them. Again make sure the person outside is ready and remove the other. a little wiggle and it will fall out. Clean it up. I have found hydrochloric acid to work well on bronze (gloves and goggles and out side are minimum requirements). This is nasty stuff, use with extreme caution and follow all manufacturer instructions. I used a brush to help it along. Apply baking soda to neutralize the acid. repeat baking soda again. Inspect the bell cranks. I found that one of mine broke at the corner of the square drive. The nice thing about the design of it is even with it broken, the screw will prevent the bell crank from falling off the rudder and a loss of rudder control. This should be the end of clean up and inspection. The packing size is 1/4 inch, about 4 feet will be enough. On my 38 there where 4 rings of packing in each nut. I did not like the packing nut engagement with all them so I only put 3 back in. There was only about 2 or 3 threads of engagement with 4 wraps. I bench cut the packing. Doing it in the bilge under the top brace would be a pain in many places. Wrap the packing around the shaft and using a fresh razor knife cut it. Then take the cut piece and wrap it around the shaft. The ends should meet perfectly. No gap at the ends nor should it be loose on the shaft 1
when the ends are butted together. Repeat until you have 6 pieces. Because I do not trust the manufacturing consistency during this era. I would cut to each shaft. Putting it back together is just the opposite of removal. Slide the rudder into the housing. As it is lifted, put the jam nut on first, Nut second, Bell cranks next ( one on the starboard, two on the port). up though the top hole, add the thrust washer and put the top disk on and tighten it down (do not worry about position at this point). Put the bolts into the bell crank(s). take a breather the person out side will be ready... With the bolts in the bell crank(s) have the person outside push the rudder all the way up. this will allow the disk to be adjusted so the drill points on the rudder to align with the square head set screws. Tighten it back down. Putting the packing in is another pain in several places.first screw the jam nut onto the housing. Screw it all the way down. Place the first piece of packing around the shaft. Carefully align the nut to the packing and work it into the nut so you can start the threads. I marked the nut with a marker so I knew where the cut was. The best case is each of the cuts are 90 degrees apart. After completing this task I believe that to be useless because as you set each of the packing wraps there is no way to verify that the packing does not turn in the nut. Once the nut engages the threads turn it all the way down. This forces the packing to the top of the nut and I think it cuts some threads into the packing. If the nut gets tight as you turn it, loosen it some and then continue. Now back the nut off the threads and repeat until all the packing wraps are installed. Tighten the nut on final time you will feel it seat. I backed it off some and then screwed the jam nut up to the nut (hand tight only). Tighten down the bolts in the bell cranks (I replaced mine with a protective coated steel and with nylock nuts. I was going to use bronze but there was an issue with available sizes and cost.) assemble the cross bar and steering bars with their thrust washers (replace cotter keys). Retighten the top ring set screws and wire tie them together(stainless or brass, not steel). Launch and inspect for leakage. Re-tighten and then tighten the jam nut. Mine leaked and I let that happen for a couple of days to allow everything to settle. Piece of cake... good for another 40-50 years. When doing any project I like to take lots of pictures. Sometimes it is a while before it goes back together and the pictures help. For instance, on the port side there are 2 bell cranks. For the life of me I could not remember which was on top or which was on the bottom. A quick measurement of the other rudder (matching the heights for the cross bar) and verifying that the main bar would clear the stringer as it moved for and aft determined the correct order. This is a simple case but at that point a little panic tried to set in. I noticed in Lawrence's pictures he used a pair of channel locks to remove the nuts. Because I had to content with the mammoth water tank in the middle, I used a pipe wrench. it allowed me to apply more torque during removal without the squeeze required with the channel locks. Rudders Removal Project Photos Here is the link to Lawrence s photos located in the Library Files section of the website. The next pages show some pictures of the project. 2
This is the Top Disk. There are drill points where the screws meet the shaft. I also replaced the screws, I could not find Square head set screws So Hex head screws were used. I had to drill the heads for the safety wire. The washer laying on the welded channel is steel (it is original), I had some dry lube laying around so I coated it. It will help with preserving the washer and rust stains. The last thing I did here is add a bronze thrust washer between the ring and the washer, trying to create a slip plane. 3
Here is an overall view from the stern. This close up shows all the components for the port side. Someone slopped some paint, Who would leave such a mess? 4
Here is another close up. You can see that the access room is very limited. Thus having to "thread the components on when assembling. Enjoy! 5