Rudder Stuffing box

what's the correct set up for a SN rudder? I can lift mine about 1/8-1/4 inch from under the boat. I suspect the stuffing material is just gone or misadjusted after 18 years.. What say the experts?

thanks,

Rick

Like Joe says or if someone ever changed the packing and left out a ring or used too small a size packing. That would cause the adjusting nut to ride lower down as it tightened the packing which would add more play. Shims and different thickness bushings are available from McMaster Carr

I just took a look at my CC owner's manual and it doesn't say anything about the rudder... How much up/down play should there be?

thanks

I pulled it apart last night to see what was what.. I found one brass washer that I suspect is where I'll need to add more to take up what is probably 1/4" of vertical rudder shaft movement. I still have not found a spec for this.. Maybe leave 1/8? I didn't readily see why this free play would change over the years and 1200 hours but quite honestly, I'm not sure it has.

I pulled the rudder packing setup apart too and that definitely looks like its seen better days. I will repack that as I suspect that's where much of my bilge water is coming from.. I also don't understand how lack of packing would affect rudder vertical free play. It looks like just the washer shims would control that.. What am I missing?

thanks for all the help!!

Rick

Oh, I get it now... The NUT is the surface the brass washer rides on... I overthink everything! The less packing material the more brass washers.

I only looked closely at the single ring of very worn packing that fell out of the nut. I think there are 2 others in there that I have not removed yet. Does this stuff come in different sizes?

New packing installed. It had 4 well worn rings in there... I'm a little confused on the proper tightening. I turned the packing nut down as far as I could by hand, then tightened the top bolt and the "clamp" bolt. The steering would not turn. I loosened the top and clamp bolts then backed off the packing nut about a turn. I finger tightened the top bolt and the steering moves freely. I suspect this is not Correct.

No need to loosen the top bolt or clamp bolt on the rudder arm when adjusting packing gland. Tighten them up and make sure you replace the safety wire. Then loosen the jam nut and adjust the packing gland. Even though they use exactly the same principle the prop shaft gland and the rudder are adjusted differentl,since the prop shaft spins at high rpm you adjust it so it has a couple of drops of water a minute that way it's not tight enough to overheat. The rudder,since it does not spin at speed can be adjusted tighter so that is does not drip. You may have to use it and readjust as necessary

Very nice. What a great boat day.