DoT 31 Posted July 4, 2021 Share Posted July 4, 2021 I'm hauling out next week at Pier 21. Does anyone have a recommendation for an engineer close by to replace rudder bearings? Boat is a Farr 1020. I think the bearings are plastic bushes. Cheers in advance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 It’s not a hard job. Take the rudder out, measure shaft and hole/tube dia. then call Eddie at vesconite. 020 4011 3659 they will custom make the bearings for you at a very reasonable cost. They are not hard to install, just scuff the tube and bearing with coarse sandpaper, and epoxy in place - not critical, but helps stop the bearing rotating in the tube. Then press into place. id do it, but I’m currently still stuck in Queensland... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marinheiro 352 Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 On 5/07/2021 at 6:15 PM, Island Time said: id do it, but I’m currently still stuck in Queensland... as long as it is in a warm part by a beach not a bad place to be 😄 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 On 9/07/2021 at 2:56 PM, marinheiro said: as long as it is in a warm part by a beach not a bad place to be 😄 Yeah, not that warm the last few days, around 20. Still, warmer than home! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoT 31 Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 Dropped the rudder out today. As best I can measure with digital calipers there's less than 0.1mm of difference between shaft and bearings. The ID of the bearing sleeves in the rudder tube varies between 73.95mm and 74.05mm. The OD of the rudder stock varies between 73.95 and 73.98. With such small clearance I'm intending to just clean out the old grease and reinstall. Any reason to do anything else? Logan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cameron 74 Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 If you are going to change... go to needle roller bearings. The difference is huge! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoT 31 Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 Not intending to do anything at the moment. I don't think there would be enough clearance for needle roller bearings. The plastic bearings are long (approx 200mm each) but thin walled (perhaps 3-4mm). So staying as it is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,211 Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 On 12/07/2021 at 5:28 PM, DoT said: Dropped the rudder out today. As best I can measure with digital calipers there's less than 0.1mm of difference between shaft and bearings. The ID of the bearing sleeves in the rudder tube varies between 73.95mm and 74.05mm. The OD of the rudder stock varies between 73.95 and 73.98. With such small clearance I'm intending to just clean out the old grease and reinstall. Any reason to do anything else? Logan Contrary to what you may think, many of the bearing plastics are actually meant to be either self lubricating, or water lubricated. Grease is likely a mistake.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DoT 31 Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 Thanks. Makes sense. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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