[C320-list] Steering "clunk"

[clburti at gmail.com]

Bushings or bearings are really not required with no more action than a rudder usually experiences. I’d bet on the nut being loose on a boat of your vintage. When Hurricane Ophelia deposited Commitment in the cypress swamp, the rudder post was bent dragging her out by the stern. They forgot to put the bolt in properly when they installed the new rudder and we endured the same symptoms until we got it back in correctly.



Fair Winds
Chris Burti
Commitment
Catalina 320, #867



From: Kaare Wold
Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎August‎ ‎16‎, ‎2013 ‎11‎:‎26‎ ‎PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com

Thanks so much for the information.  My mechanical engineering sense would 
suggest a bearing of some kind supports a rotating metal shaft on each end. 
Lessons learned.  Sort of surprised that this critical component simply 
rattles around in a plastic tube.   I will try the milk bottle shim 
technique you suggested.  Very clever!  Our slip is in very still water, so 
the wheel lock is not used.  However, I am unable to speak for the two 
previous owners and that may have contributed to the enlarged tolerances. 
Thank you for your help!
Kaare Wold


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <clburti at gmail.com>
To: "320" <C320-List at Catalina320.com>
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 6:27 AM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Steering "clunk"


> There is no bearing. Your boat isn’t really old enough to be that worn 
> unless you leave your wheel brake loose and the tide/wave/wake action at 
> your slip causes your rudder to constantly move back and forth in 
> response. There is a nut and bolt (4” x 5/8”?) going through the top of 
> the rudder to hold it in place. If the nut is loose or missing, the post 
> might make noise.
>
>
> Elliptical wear of the rudder tube and post was a common problem for those 
> of us that had 30+ year old boats built in the 1970’s with tillers. The 
> best solution short of a rebuild was to cut strips from plastic milk 
> bottles and slip them down the tube until the shaft was shimmed 
> sufficiently to stop ‘clunking’. The PE plastic is slick and self 
> lubricating and when it wears down, you just add more.
>
>
> Do not let some idiot talk you into pouring epoxy down the tube to 
> ‘rebuild’ it. The concept was to make a dam around the rudder post near 
> the top with waxed line or tape, wax the post with mold release wax so 
> that the epoxy wouldn’t bond to the post, re-insert the rudder into the 
> tube and pour epoxy into the top of the tube so that when it cures it 
> creates a bushing. While it sounds logical, the shafts wear elliptically, 
> not evenly round as you might suppose. Thus, when the epoxy cures, the egg 
> shaped cross section of the rudder shaft becomes almost impossible to turn 
> even though it isn’t bonded to the epoxy bushing.
>
>
>
> Fair Winds
> Chris Burti
> Commitment
> Catalina 320, #867
>
>
>
> From: Kaare Wold
> Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎August‎ ‎16‎, ‎2013 ‎12‎:‎39‎ ‎AM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
>
> Skippers,  This is our first season with our C320.  2003 #945.  We are
> experiencing a noticible "clunking" noise when moving the wheel from left 
> to
> right or visa versa.   Inspecting the steering cables, sheave on the 
> rudder
> post did not show any abnormal condition.  Further troubleshooting had us
> remove the emergency tiller access plate that clearly revealed the 
> problem.
> The metal rudder shaft appears to have excessive play at the top that
> results in the shaft striking the rudder tube when the steering wheel
> direction is changed.  Surprisingly, there does not appear to be any sort 
> of
> bearing (or maybe mine is totally worn out) at the top of the shaft.  I 
> may
> add that this clunking noise is not noticible if steering gently or 
> slowly.
> However, a rapid change in wheel direction results in this noise.
> Has anybody else experienced this noise and have any suggestions for a
> remedy.  Thanks for your comments.
> Kaare Wold   Sheet Music, #945