By Matt Sanderson
Rainbow Chaser
Rochester (formerly Sodus Bay), NY
I had been noticing some excessive play in the steering wheel on my 1985 28.5. In June of 2005, through
the former Yahoo e-mail group, the Webmaster of this site, Steve Prusinski, had relayed concerns that he
had binding of the steering on his 28.5. After much discussion, it was determined that the cause of the
excessive play was a loose washer/bearing that held the rudder post in line as it exited from the rudder
tube. Thanks to detailed instructions provided by Cliff Ruckstuhl and Dave H, Steve was able to make a
repair. After reading this e-mail thread I checked this washer/bearing on my boat and sure enough, it
appeared to be loose. Using the same guidance, I made the repair this spring while on the “hard”. Because
it appears that many of the 28.5’s may have the same problem, I thought it would be prudent to photograph
and document this repair as a resource to other owners. It is not a particularly difficult repair to make. I did
it in about 4 hours. Steve said it took him about “3 hours and 2 beers”. The worst part is access to the
steering quadrant. You need to get at it from the aft cabin or starboard lazarette. There's an access panel
on the ceiling of the aft berthing that when removed, exposes the steering quadrant.
Open the aft starboard locker hatch, the one with the garbage can/cooler in it. Remove the garbage
can/cooler and look toward the center of the lazarette. You should see the steering quadrant (Figure 1).
Immediately below the quadrant are two six inch diameter by one inch thick white delrin/nylon
washer/bearings stacked one on top of the other. The top one has a bolt through it, which fastens it to the
rudder post. You can’t see it, but the bottom one is fastened to a glassed in plywood mount with two
countersunk screws.
Turn the steering wheel back and forth while looking at these washer/bearings. If they move when you turn
the wheel, it means that the bottom one is no longer adequately screwed into the plywood mount. This
means that the rudder post is moving around and binding within the rudder tube and could eventually cause
excessive wear the in tube. With this washer loose you're going to get a wobble from your rudder and under
sail, the wobble will bind against the outer shaft or tube that the rudder post slides into. Another way to
check it is to climb down the swim ladder and wiggle the rudder. If you have an inch or more of play, then
you need to fix it.
access port.If you can see the rudder post (A)
moving when you turn the wheel back and forth,
the washer/bearings are likely loose.
All you have to do is loosen the bolts that connect to two halves together. There is no need to completely
take it apart. Loosen the steering cables to the point where you can get them out of the outer groove of the
quadrant. The cable adjuster nuts are 1/2 ” (Figure 2, A). Remove the bolt that goes through the top of
the rudder post for the emergency tiller. Loosen the four bolts that hold the halves of the quadrant together
(Figure 3, A). There are two small bolts with nuts near the outer rim of the quadrant underneath that keep
the grooves aligned between the two halves (Figure 3, C). You'll need to loosen those as well. They are
7/16". Remove the center bolt (the one that goes through the quadrant hub and the post) and the quadrant
will slide up and off the post (Figure 3, B). Most of the other bolts and nuts are 9/16". You may need a little
help with a rubber mallet and some WD40, the quadrant will slide off the shaft. Just slide it up and out of the
way.
panel.
panel.
Now you have the rudder shaft exposed without the quadrant. The part that holds the rudder in the boat
is a white delrin/nylon washer/bearing that has a single bolt through it and the rudder post (Figure 4, A).
It's immediately below the quadrant. You'll need to take the weight off of it to be able to pull the bolt.
While on the hard, I simply placed a jack stand and wood blocks under the rudder to support it. Cliff and
Steve did theirs while in the water. You’ll need to reinstall the emergency steering bolt and make a loop
with some line so you can hook the main halyard to it so the rudder will hang with out being attached.
You can also tie a 4 foot 1/4 inch line to the swim ladder. The emergency rudder bolt must be reinstalled
so the rudder cannot drop out of the boat. Remove the top bushing with the bolt going through it and
reinstall the bolt so you can take out the top emergency steering bolt and get the bushing off. You will to
remove the nut and unscrew the bolt. Seems the washer/bearing has a drilled hole on one side and it's
tapped for the bolt threads on the other. Slide this washer/bearing up and off the rudder post.
Now you have the lower washer/bearing exposed. Below the upper washer/bearing, there is another one
that is screwed to a piece of glassed in plywood. This washer/bearing is screwed into the plywood by two
#12 2.5 inch screws that are counter sunk into the lower washer/bearing. On Cliff’s, Steve’s, and my boats,
one of the screws was loose and not even in the wood. The other was sheared at the head. The screws
could be intact. If so, replace the screws with something stainless steel or galvanized. It doesn't make
sense why there are only 2 screws, but you may want to add more. Steve and I drilled and counter sunk
two more evenly spaced around the washer/bearing, for a total of 4 screws (Figure 5). Cliff has 8. I used
#14 2.5 inch stainless steel sheet metal screws. You will need to counter sink the holes the screws go into
because the upper washer/bearing fits on top of this.
Make sure you use the two original screw holes below the washer. If you're off center, even a little, your
going to have a fair amount of binding on the rudder shaft. You will need to do this with the rudder lined up
where you want it. You can center the rudder post in the hole by feel. Once you tighten down the washer,
slide the other one back on, install the center bolt and try rotating the rudder with your emergency tiller. If
there is a very small amount of binding, this is ok, as you can adjust your steering cable enough to take the
bind out.
countersunk screws.
Before installing the upper washer/bearing, you can oil or WD 40 as much of the rudder post as you
can. Since you have everything exposed, this is a good time to lube your rudder shaft, washers,
quadrant, hardware and cables. Steve used very heavy Marine gear oil that comes in a tube. He
dribbled some on the shaft and it worked itself down. I removed the blocks and jack stand that
supported the rudder and gently slid the rudder to the ground (Figure 6). I greased the exposed rudder
post with waterproof marine grease (the kind you’d use for a boat trailer wheel bearings). I also put some
grease in between the upper and lower washer/bearings.
Reinstall all of what you took apart. Put everything back in the opposite order of removal. I greased the
steering cables. Have someone move the wheel back and forth so you can get the section of cable along
the forward bell cranks.
