loose ruder at the top gudgeon

[jfair1954]

Good Day
Not knowing any better, back a couple sailing seasons ago, I had used SS bolts as pintles and lock nuts to hold them tight to the gudgeons. It seems to be woobling again , mostly at the upper gudgeons. I want to fix that definitely but dont know what to expect...
I read about bushings , drill press, etc...
Right now I re tight the nuts before sailing but I fear that by doing that I am probably wearing ou the casing ?
Your experience and input would be greatly apreciated
JFR

[crazycarl]

The rudder on our 19 is attached as yours and I don't like the slop.  I bought bronze bushings, but have yet to drill out and install them.  I have a drill press, but if you take your time a hand drill will work as the bit should follow the existing hole. The stainless bolts will eventually wear out the bushing, but you can pound it out and replace it.

[curtisv]

JFR,

I used a hand drill and carefully drilled from the top.  I used one of the very long bits (12-18") and drilled through both gudgeons to keep the two aligned and then drilled the pintle.  I then pressed in (by hand) stainless steel tubing for sleeves and used SS bolts with large fender washers and nyloc nuts.  That was some 15 years ago and the problem was gone for good.

The drill does follow the prior hole and the long bit assures that any small error doesn't go one way on the top gudgeon and the other way on the bottom and result in binding.

Curtis

[Bob23]

JFR:

I basically did the same thing as Curtis did except I found bronze bushings at Lowe's. I used long stainless steel bolts so that only the smooth and unthreaded part of the bolt touched the bronze. I keep everything greased and I have zincs everywhere! On the rudder, on the rudder housing and on the bolt ends. I sail in salt water and since I've gone this route, I've had no corrosion and since I remove, clean and re grease the bolts, everything is still tight.

Cheers!
Bob23