Rudder Lubrication

I recently took a ride in my friend's '97 SN and was amazed at how easy the steering wheel turned. Under load in a hard turn I could easily steer with one finger. I own a very well-maitained '91 SN with less than 300 hours on the meter; my boat has never steered as easily as Ed's '97. Ed is a machinist by trade and always thinking of ways to improve things mechanically. I asked if he had devised some sort of power steering unit for his boat. He just smiled and described to me his remote rudder lubrication system.

From C3600 brass Ed has fabricated a ¼-28 NPT to ¼" Compression fitting to replace the "zerk" fitting on his rudder stuffing box. The compression fitting is used to route ¼" heavy-wall tubing to a thru-hull
fitting which he made to accept a zerk fitting. This thru-hull fitting is located beneath the swim step. He lubes his rudder before each outing.

My eyebrows went up as I mentioned to him that the owner's manual does not mention such frequent lubing of the rudder shaft. He then proceeded to explain that a good bearing surface requires one metal to be harder than the other. Since both the stuffing box and rudder shaft are bronze they require more lubrication to prevent premature wear and galling.

He went on to explain that CC uses a longer tiller arm than other manufactures. The longer arm provides more leverage thereby masking excess friction on the rudder shaft. "Regardless of the long tiller" he went on to explain, "sooner or later you'll have a stiffer turning wheel and excessive wear on your rudder shaft".

I asked him if his kit could be installed on boats other than Nautiques. "Of course" he said. His first boat was an American Skier which did not have a zerk fitting on the stuffing box. In the beginning he would drop the rudder to lubricate it but soon tired of the chore in disassembly. That's when the idea of mounting a zerk fitting outside the boat. "I don't like bringing a grease gun on board if I don't have to." "Drilling the stuffing box to accept a brass fitting is easy" he said.

Ed has about 100 of the ¼-28/¼ Comp fittings and 80 or so of the special thru-hull fittings. Why so many? "Well, it's just as easy to make a hundred as it it to make one". "The time is in the set-up". I asked him if he had ever tried selling these things and he said that he sold a few to friends and club members.

Ed is considering making them available to the boating public; but does not have any way to gauge their demand. Does anyone here have any interest in such a device?

Eric, Eric has seen probably more rudder shafts and ports than I have but I too have never seen much wear on ether. Your friend Ed sounds like a capable guy but he may be missing the fact that the rudder and the port are two different alloys and two different hardness's. Remote lube points sure make things easy but have been around for a long time on lots of equipment. The parts needed are available at the hardware store or supply house including the bulk head fitting that you mentioned to as special. It's my opinion that it's overkill to install the remote point. Check your cable as Eric has mentioned. If it is your rudder shaft that is binding then it's the packing that may be dried out. Repack and grease it. I put a new bottom on my wood X55 27 years ago and at that time had the rudder and port out of the boat. I didn't repack but did throw some grease it it and tighten up the packing. I haven't touched it since. It doesn't have a Zurk on it.

Bulkhead fitting:

no.................

does anybody out there in cc land know if my 76 tique should have a grease fitting on it ? thanks jl moses

8122pbrainard wrote: James, I would say no. My 77 doesn't. I don't think it was untill the early 90's when the Zurks were added. Do you have a problem?

Ive yet to see a Nautique with a factory zurk on the rudder port, though Ive been told they do exist. Neither my '90 nor '78 have them, and I dont think my dad's '03 does either.

It is called "hydraulic lock" this is the reason "zerks" were removed from steering cables a number of years ago.
The mindset of most is if a little is good, a whole lot is even better.

Qunnier, what does it say in the OM on how often to grease it?

eklock, does "Ed" ski at Naci in central Cal? If so...that is the same guy i got my rudder lube fittings from. It works much better since install on my 95SN. My 93 had a zerk on the rudder port from the factory, just hard to reach.
I grease mine maybe 3 times a year.

You got a good coach! Nice to hear he has upgraded from his old Amer. Skier.

Moses, if you put it away 14 years ago, dont even look for it, it aint gonna fit anyways

Did your Mastercraft have a rudder port with nylon seals, o rings etc instead of packing to keep water from getting into the boat?

Did you buy it new?