DS 43 RUDDER PLAY

[fireball]

Hello
I am new to the forum.
I own a SO DS 43 and have sailed her for two years now.
She was built in 2004/5. She is great boat, however after reading about some rudder problems I have become more concerned about mine. It has about 10 to 15mm of play at the bottom tip. I also believe that the rudder moves in the bearing housing or the bearing housing moves as it enters the hull. Is this normal or should I get it checked out. I will check the through hull movement next time I am at the boat.

[Zanshin]

1.5cm with a 2 meter long arm doesn't sound like much play. Does it make a sound when you rock it forward/back or side-to-side? I had my rudder bearings replaced when I bought my 43DS (out of charter) and the speed with which they agreed to do it was fast enough to let me think that it cannot be expensive in terms of time or parts. Is your boat already on the hard? When you drop the rudder you should check for crevice corrosion or other damage along the steel post at the hull join, that is where my rudder snapped off.

[fireball]

Hello Zanshin.
Thanks for the fast reply.
The boat is about 60 miles away and i will not seeit for another week. It is about 10-15mm side to side. From memory the whole bushing moves where it enters the hull. i think it does make a sound. The boat was lightly used before i bought it, it did a lot of engine work. My son is in a boat yard at the moment and is checking other 43 DS boats. It seems to be a real grey area. the boat is on the hard. Where did you get the bearings.
I did see the pictures of the corrosion. I will check it if I have to drop the rudder.

Richard

[Zanshin]

If there are 2 of you and enough room underneath the boat, dropping the rudder shouldn't be too much work (it is heavy you need need quite a bit of vertical clearance underneath the rudder to get it out (it is easier to dig a pit underneath the rudder than it is to move the boat higher ). I think if there is enough play to feel it or hear it, then you should change out the bearing sooner rather than later.
It is hard to judge, since 1 cm of play is easy to get by just the normal flex of the fiberglass blade and even a small play could cause that.

Where are you located?

[fireball]

Hello.

I am located in Ireland.
The only way to get to get it out is to lift it on the boat hoist as the hard is concrete. Where did you get the bearings.

[Zanshin]

The charter company had a number of boats and got the bearings from their Jeanneau spares. You would need to go through either your dealer or perhaps the UK jeanneau spare parts company... let me see... Jeanneau parts by Max Marine from this site...

www.jeanneauparts.com/en/index.php?cp_sid=16632de9da8&cp_tpl=main


Rudder Stock Bearing D60 - €75,35

[Admiral]

Hi Guys
I don't know if this is relevant to your situation but if your rudder bearings are fitted in a rubber sleeve then it is.
I was suffering movement in the bearings when sailing hard and although there was no wear in the bearings it was the rubber that was moving and causing the steering to become stiff. The solution was to remove the old bearings and make new ones that were solid Delrin with no rubber sleeve. I did the same for a friend on his boat (same as my SO45) who has just completed a circumnavigation with no problems at all.
I am delighted with the new bearings that were made by a local engineer.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Admiral

[fireball]

Thanks Zanshin and Adrmiral.
I need to visit the boat to see how much movement there is at the hull bearing. What I still am not sure of is there ment to be movement there. Thanks for the info on the Jeanneau spare parts and the info on making the bearings. Admiral if I need new bearings do you think your contact would make more and how much do you think they might be. I am not sure they need to be replaced.

[electricmonk]

Have a similar situation with my rudder on a SO43 (same hull). Had it checked by Jeanneau agent engineer and he is happy there is no problem. The boat is well out of warranty so an invoice would have been involved. He did say that my idea of removing the rubber sleeve was not good as it is put there to protect the rudder gear in case of grounding.

On boats that have a vibration at hull speed the remedy is to fair the trailing edge of the rudder to a knife edge.

[fireball]

After another year in the water, the rudder play had got a bit worse. i decided to take out the rudder this year. We found that there is a round rubber bushing which is about 120mm long and inside this an interferance fit nylon bearing that in turn the rudder shaft is supposed to turn on. The problem was that this had partially seized and what was happening was the rubber bushing was rotatinging in the round fiber glass resess on the hull. This caused wear to the fibre glass and the bubber bushing.
I have now replace the bushing and bearing £150.00 plus labour.
ther is a tight fit now and no movement.

[Zanshin]

Fireball - that is great news that the repair was done quickly (and relatively cheaply) and that not much had been damaged. It just goes to show that, as a sailor, if you feel that something isn't right then it probably isn't... and should be attended to sooner rather than later.