Thanks to TD Ernesto, I had the chance to replace my Edson radial steerer on Dangriga today.
During the storm the old disk just snapped. I had the steering wheel brake (new) cranked down hard but the wheel must have still moved enough for the radial drive to hit the limit which is where it must have snapped in two. Picture 1 shows the old and new radial drive.
Here's a quick summary:
- Taking the old radial drive off was no problem. The six bolts are easily accessible. Might be a good idea to Never-Seize them occasionally as four of them screw directly into the Al of the drive. Mine came out ok but with a bit of white powder. The center bolt (into which the emergency tiller fits) came out fine too. Make sure to support the rudder underneath. It will drop otherwise.
- The drive is an EDSON 800-8, and for the E34 I was able to confirm the 3.484 inch bore they show in their spec sheet for the boat. Edson needs the exact measurement as they machine the bore before shipping. Total with machining charge was about $420. I don't have time right now to look around or to work through a wholesaler. They ship with only one hole drilled, and I had to mark the other hole through the shaft to make everything align. Drilling the second hole was a bit tricky but I found a machine shop that was able to help. I didn't want to free-hand this one.
- Dropping the rudder a bit is straightforward. It comes right out of the top sleeve bearing, and I inspected the grease fitting anf the rudder stuffing box (Picture 2)
- We had to patch up the rudder for other damage, and found a number of voids near the top in addition to the damaged foam. These must be from the manufacturer (Foss). For us it was worth grinding out and refilling whatever sounded hollow since the top of the rudder needed extensive repair anyway.
Hope this helps others. Bottom line for me was that it is quite easy to drop everything and perform an extended inspection/maintenance in little time. Everything is back together, just in time for my last sailing class TOMORROW.
During the storm the old disk just snapped. I had the steering wheel brake (new) cranked down hard but the wheel must have still moved enough for the radial drive to hit the limit which is where it must have snapped in two. Picture 1 shows the old and new radial drive.Here's a quick summary:
- Taking the old radial drive off was no problem. The six bolts are easily accessible. Might be a good idea to Never-Seize them occasionally as four of them screw directly into the Al of the drive. Mine came out ok but with a bit of white powder. The center bolt (into which the emergency tiller fits) came out fine too. Make sure to support the rudder underneath. It will drop otherwise.
- The drive is an EDSON 800-8, and for the E34 I was able to confirm the 3.484 inch bore they show in their spec sheet for the boat. Edson needs the exact measurement as they machine the bore before shipping. Total with machining charge was about $420. I don't have time right now to look around or to work through a wholesaler. They ship with only one hole drilled, and I had to mark the other hole through the shaft to make everything align. Drilling the second hole was a bit tricky but I found a machine shop that was able to help. I didn't want to free-hand this one.
- Dropping the rudder a bit is straightforward. It comes right out of the top sleeve bearing, and I inspected the grease fitting anf the rudder stuffing box (Picture 2)
- We had to patch up the rudder for other damage, and found a number of voids near the top in addition to the damaged foam. These must be from the manufacturer (Foss). For us it was worth grinding out and refilling whatever sounded hollow since the top of the rudder needed extensive repair anyway.
Hope this helps others. Bottom line for me was that it is quite easy to drop everything and perform an extended inspection/maintenance in little time. Everything is back together, just in time for my last sailing class TOMORROW.
Attachments
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Radial Steerers.jpg -
Stuffing box apart.jpg
