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Rudder's - shims or colar?

Discussion in 'Chris Craft Roamer Yacht' started by roamertim, Sep 26, 2005.

  1. roamertim, Sep 26, 2005
    #1
    roamertim

    roamertim Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2005
    Messages:
    31
    Location:
    Cincinnati Pool, Ohio River
    Hi Folks,
    Just got back in the water after blasting and re painting the bottom of my 1969 38' Aluminum Regal. I noticed that there is a lot of slop in my rudders. You can grab them and shake them quite a bit more than I'd expect. I am thinking that something is worn or missing from them.
    Prior owner had severe leaks in the rudder shafts and installed drippless packings. I get no leaks at all and they work okay, but the slop sure seems excessive. I'd say I have a good quarter inch of slop between the rudder shaft and it's log when shaking by the rudder.
    Boating pals offer opinions, including "needs shims in the shaft"; "probably has worn bushing"; "gee, I think mine moves that much"....

    Can anyone share how your rudder shafts are installed? How much slop do yours show? Did this have shims origininally that may be now gone?

    Insight is much appreciated,

    tim
  2. Garry Hartshorn, Sep 27, 2005
    #2
    Garry Hartshorn

    Garry Hartshorn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 14, 2005
    Messages:
    504
    Location:
    Directly above the center of the earth
    Hi Tim

    You should not be able to shake the rudder. I would suggest dropping the rudders and removing the bearing / and replacing with a new one the of the same type. Just as a quick not shims are flat plates of various thickness's used to align machinery so that interconecting parts lign up correctly, such as an engine and propellor shaft.
  3. roamertim, Sep 27, 2005
    #3
    roamertim

    roamertim Member

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2005
    Messages:
    31
    Location:
    Cincinnati Pool, Ohio River
    Hi Garry,
    Thanks for your feedback. I think I will drop the rudders in the spring when I pull again and see what CC did with these rudder shafts.
    FYI - the "shims" mentioned to me were on a 55' Kingscraft houseboat. It has two thin semi-circular shims that fit to each rudder shaft. The go up through the log with the shaft and rest at the bottom on the rudder itself.
    A different name perhaps, but "shims" what he called them. I never knew of them before either.

    Tim