Rudder washer and bearings

[elias]

Hi again to everybody ! Glad to be back !
So question , my rudder stock upper washer I believe because of use wears and needs tighten from this disc style nut on the top . I was thinking if someone has used a solution like a bearing https://www.skf.com/au/products/rolling-bearings/roller-bearings/needle-roller-thrust-bearings/productid-AXK%206085

Of inox material

[Mirror45184]

Hi Elias,
Please attach a photo of the bearing you are intending to replace with a roller thrust bearing. It is likely that the worn part is a PTFE (Teflon) washer which has worn down. If this is the case, I would not recommend replacing the worn PTFE washer with the roller bearing for the following reasons,
* The roller bearing will need to be regularly lubricated with grease
* this style of roller requires a precision bearing surface to run on
* The roller thrust bearing is not suited to an oscillating application such as the rudder
I would replace the worn plastic thrust pad

Cheers
M Hutton

[elias]

Hi Elias,
Please attach a photo of the bearing you are intending to replace with a roller thrust bearing. It is likely that the worn part is a PTFE (Teflon) washer which has worn down. If this is the case, I would not recommend replacing the worn PTFE washer with the roller bearing for the following reasons,
* The roller bearing will need to be regularly lubricated with grease
* this style of roller requires a precision bearing surface to run on
* The roller thrust bearing is not suited to an oscillating application such as the rudder
I would replace the worn plastic thrust pad

Cheers
M Hutton

Hi , is just that I want to have the nut firmly tightened but without making steering stiff .

[Yngmar]

The plastic washer is fine, but I'd rather hastily address the problem where the entire upper bearing housing has clearly been wobbling around for ages and elongating the mounting holes due to being bodged with the entirely wrong fasteners

Must be leaking merrily, too.

[elias]

Yes, we got it like that, with the upper nut loose and a banging noise even in calm weather , the owner insisting that is ok but after a dive we notd that the lower washer had disappeared . Anyway he agreed on a price reduction and we installed new bearings and washers .  This winter will address the situation better cause we were on a rush . There is not ingress that you can notice

[Mirror45184]

Hi Yngmar/Elias,

The upper bearing housing has elongated holes to allow adjustment of the upper bearing housing for alignment of the rudder. Once the rudder is aligned this needs to be locked in place. The default is really realy really tighten the bolts!  A better way to achieve this is to drill another hole for locating pin, or to fill the slots in the upper housing around the bolts with epoxy.
Cheers

[sunshine]

The plastic washer is fine, but I'd rather hastily address the problem where the entire upper bearing housing has clearly been wobbling around for ages and elongating the mounting holes due to being bodged with the entirely wrong fasteners

Must be leaking merrily, too.

The mounting holes are actually slots to allow alignment.  They are not elongated from moving about.  The top plastic "washer" is actually a dome shape which sits inside a cup shaped lower plate, allowing self-alignment.

Rattling noise is likely wear of the inside of top and bottom bearings so that the rudder stock has play.  This can't be tightened out.  I'm suspicious of the replaced bearings. The correct ones direct from jefa will fit properly.  If previous owner got ones machined up, they might not be exactly the correct size hence the movement.

Have a look here https://jefa.com/ftp/rudder/pricelists/Price%20list%20Bavaria%20Spare%20parts%2001-12-2022.pdf

The full drawings are on the jefa website https://jefa.com/ftp/old_boat_spare_parts/Bavaria/