PLay in Tiller/rudder

[slumshine]

Howdy. Im getting my boat hauled in the next couple weeks and am desperatly trying to find out where exactly the "knocking' in my tiller is, when I move it one way and stop I can feel what I think is the rudder stoping a half second after, but when Down below and someone else on the tiller there dosent seem to be any delay between the post and the tiller. Im stumped where to start??? shes a bristol 24. If anyone can help I need it. Thank you. please reply to

[centaursailor]

Couldn,t be as simple as play between the tiller clamp and rudder stock?
I had to shim mine when I has a similar feeling. The clamp was fully tightened and still didn't grip the rudder stock square tightly.
Safe sailing

[slumshine]

Shim sounds like a good place to start, though I dont even know what will happen if I take the clamp off, will my rudder stock just fall right through???

[JimsCAL]

Could also be the rudder bearings. If out of the water (or next time it is), try to move the bottom of the rudder back and forth. If there is "slop" you have worn bearings and/or wear in the shaft itself.

[captbillc]

i had a rattling noise in the 1 1/2" SS rudder shaft when motoring. the packing gland had a 10" long hose about 2 3/4 diameter glued to the nut on top, the top end was above the water line to stop any leakage from getting in the boat. when i screwed off the top, there was no packing in it. i put 1/4 " packing in & tightened it . the boat was out of the water at the time. when i launched & tried it out, i had no more noise. it had been that way from the time it was built in 1994. i got the boat in 2003 & found this out in 2007 .

[slumshine]

If anyone has any write ups about how to repack/replace bearings could you send me a link, its very hard to find any detailed info on the internet, and what I can find has no pictures or is related only to stuffing boxes for inboard motors... Thank you

[centaursailor]

Originally Posted by slumshine

Shim sounds like a good place to start, though I dont even know what will happen if I take the clamp off, will my rudder stock just fall right through???

On my Westerly Centaur the rudder shaft has a collar held by a stainless through bolt. This prevents the shaft slipping through the top bearing and allows safe removal of the tiller while afloat.
The other suggestions are worth checking out but probably only after haul out.
Safe sailing

[BELLATRIX1965]

Originally Posted by slumshine

If anyone has any write ups about how to repack/replace bearings could you send me a link, its very hard to find any detailed info on the internet, and what I can find has no pictures or is related only to stuffing boxes for inboard motors... Thank you

The stuffing box on your rudder shaft is essentially the SAME as the stuffing box for inboard engines. The important steps are to cut each ring of packing at a 45 deg. angle, and to use individual rings - NOT a spiral one piece wrap!

Maine Sail has a really good how-to with nice photos here:

Re-Packing A Traditional Stuffing Box Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com

Hate to mention it, but your rudder "clunk" could be a loose rudder stock within the rudder itself. . . ?? Good luck, and let us know what you find!

[JimsCAL]

With a tiller, you may not have a rudder post stuffing box. Many boat with tillers have a solid glass tube that runs from the hull to the deck. This was true on my previous 2 boats - Pearson 26 and Cal 9.2. Not sure about the Bristol 24 however.

[Fstbttms]

Originally Posted by slumshine

Shim sounds like a good place to start, though I dont even know what will happen if I take the clamp off, will my rudder stock just fall right through???

Probably not. But you could put a hose clamp around the rudder stock above where it exits the hull as a fail-safe.

FYI- it is very common for the "ears" on the tiller head to spread with years of use, allowing the tiller to be sloppy on the rudder stock. As mentioned before, some washers used as shims on the bolts between the ears and tiller will solve that.