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Shaft Alignment Question |
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rebel skier 
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Joined: October-17-2014 Location: Middle Tenn Status: Offline Points: 776 |
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 Posted: May-15-2021 at 8:18am |
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Here is Trey's other recent thread on the rudder:
https://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=49758&title=rudder-packing-and-grease
Did you determine if that packing is the correct size? Pete, yes or no, use grease on the rudder with the gortex packing that he has in there? With my waxed rope install, I tightened down the nut with the new packing, went to the steering wheel and turned the rudder back and forth, hopped out of the boat and checked the rudder play, and then hoped back in and after spinning the wheel the nut more easily tightened more, so I added some turns till it felt tight, then repeat until there was minimal play in the rudder. |
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Hotty Toddy lets go skiing!
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 9:13am |
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Richard,
I feel that greasing a rudder port depends on the design of the port and not the type of packing used. As I mentioned in the other thread, the ports with seals are meant for grease and the ones with no seals no grease. If you grease a non sealed port, the grease will wash out in short order plus the grease may even trap contaminates like sand between the port bore and rudder shaft. Yes, the "Gortex" type packing is lubricated with PTFE but keep in mind the older flax type was also lubricated with a wax.
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TG3
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Joined: May-29-2020 Location: Tyler, Texas Status: Offline Points: 106 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 10:03am |
I do have a spacer washer. The rudder was repacked recently by previous owner. It has three rings of the Gortex packing that look very good. (I completely forgot I had a rudder thread going!) No grease port on mine. It started to bind when I snugged it up. But I also Only tightened the gland nut until I felt like the packing was just starting to compress. Now that I think about it I tightened the steering Pitman arm first then the rudder bolt. I think that was the wrong order and could be putting things in a bind. |
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 10:12am |
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Trey,
Machining tolerance of ports and rudders are really sloppy plus how tight the packing compresses is another variable so, there are times when multiple spacers on top of the rudder shaft are needed. If the rudder moved freely before you removed it, there's a chance you didn't tighten the packing enough.
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TG3
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Joined: May-29-2020 Location: Tyler, Texas Status: Offline Points: 106 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 11:33am |
That’s what I’m thinking. It moved freely before disassembly so I’ll go ahead and tighten up the gland nut some. Not having ever done this before I was being conservative with the packing. |
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 12:16pm |
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Trey,
Since a rudder shaft isn't continuatly turning and most of the time at a high RPM like a prop shaft, the rudder port can be tightened pretty tight. Snug up the gland and I'll bet the extra clearance will free up the rudder.
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TG3
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Joined: May-29-2020 Location: Tyler, Texas Status: Offline Points: 106 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 3:04pm |
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That did it Pete. Tighten down the gland nut and then the rudder bolt tightened up and the rudder still turns freely.
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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TG3
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Joined: May-29-2020 Location: Tyler, Texas Status: Offline Points: 106 |
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Posted: May-15-2021 at 10:21pm |
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We just got back from a 2 hour ride around the lake (after adjusting packing, etc). All was good! No extra vibration that I could tell.
As part of this project I replaced my 2 bilge pumps, so that system is working now like it should.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP!!! I couldn’t have done this without all of your contributions and answers to my questions. |
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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8122pbrainard
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Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41045 |
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Posted: May-16-2021 at 5:32am |
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MarkVNomad
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Joined: September-03-2021 Location: BC, Canada Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 3:10am |
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Ken, thank you for the encouragement, it really worked for me, in light of your insight here I am now a part of a select group of people who have experienced being lucky. My rudder as well as the drive shaft showed some movement and so after reading this post I felt encouraged to embark on this journey... Removed the rudder yesterday (no grease zerk), not too much difficulty, apart from the fact that the rudder couldn't drop as it didn't clear the trailer...after I had rigged an engine hoist to lift the boat at the aft lift ring, it was able to come out and then started on the coupler, here is where I am truly lucky seeing as my Sport has the interference fit style, I now have mastered the art of stripping the threads on my bolts and can also boast that I was able to stretch them, all 4 of them,... to no avail, I even was able to do a real number on the 2 nuts I had inserted instead of a socket, as that would have required me to get longer bolts with fine thread, needless to say that I made the trip to Home Depot and acquired various lengths of 3/8 bolts with fine threads, now that I was able to insert a hardened socket I was really getting some where, there were some really loud snapping noises a few times and finally I experienced true joy as I was able to see true movement of the coupler along the shaft, the bolts had to be changed several time as they would start to interfere with the bolts on the tranny..I am now the proud owner of a drive shaft with coupler moved at least 1.5" , I will move the remaining 1/2 " tomorrow once I change to another socket once again....as I was going through this life changing experience I remembered your encouraging words many times, and actually all humor aside, I really did, but I really started feeling slightly depressed anticipating the future assembly process of the coupler....will this involve a torch for the coupler and a freezer for the shaft, I have not even really been worrying about how to remove the prop...
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KENO
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Joined: June-06-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 11093 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 8:02am |
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You can read various threads about coupler installation in the link below
If you think you're experiencing true joy now, well.........you ain't seen nuthin' yet.  If your wallet doesn't mind, getting a new double tapered shaft and coupling makes it so much easier and less time consuming, and takes away the opportunity to burn yourself or get the coupling halfway on before it cools too much and then have to remove it and start all over again. So, consider this to be encouragement to get a new double tapered shaft and coupling, finances permitting.
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TG3
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 8:28am |
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If you can afford it I highly recommend the double taper shaft! I was glad I sprung for it.
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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MarkVNomad
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 11:52am |
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Yes I think that might be something I will have to, the thought of starting over after the coupling just doesn't want to slide on far enough before the cool down seems like more than just a slight possibility and anything but appealing. I haven't looked into pricing yet, but in the light of great opportunities, there is the stuffing box, the seals, the rudder (which did come out fairly easily), and of course the prop is still on the other end of the shaft, any thoughts on getting it off?
I appreciate you experienced guys taking time to respond, like others before me, I am grateful.
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1999 Sport Nautique
1954 Aqualiner |
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MarkVNomad
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 11:55am |
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one quick other question, discussing rudder or prop should one open a separate topic, or can I just throw that out there right here?
-Peter
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1999 Sport Nautique
1954 Aqualiner |
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Jonny Quest
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Joined: August-20-2013 Location: Utah--via Texas Status: Offline Points: 2973 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 12:07pm |
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If you are planning on replacing the driveshaft with a new double taper shaft, you can experience the true joy of cutting the old one with a Saws-All for easy removal.
JQ
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Current
2003 Ski Nautique 206 Limited Previous 2001 Ski Nautique Open Bow 1994 Ski Nautique Open Bow Aqua skiing, ergo sum |
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KENO
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Joined: June-06-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 11093 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 3:08pm |
About that prop, buy a prop puller. Here's some reading in the link below There are different styles you can read about, but a good puller makes life a lot easier. If you want a recommendation, just ask and you'll get different opinions to help you decide. |
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MarkVNomad
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 5:04pm |
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Thanks for the good links, including the one from Foot-Fungus, in the back of my mind I had a dim notion the right puller would be the only wise choice here.
But reading the thread about the shaft and coupler makes me feel quite strongly that ultimately replacing the shaft might be worthy of serious consideration. One question remains; what is the consensus about the mentioned 'Split Coupling' by Foot-Fungus? While I am making up my mind how to proceed here I decided to do some other 'under the boat stuff'. I found there is some water penetration at the fins so they need to come off so I can inspect that area, made me wonder if I should pull the rudder port as well maybe to be sure and maybe the strut as well. I could then also consider the rudder port with the grease nipple. I can tell from reading on the forum that the support for the grease fitting is not universal. I suppose the rudder shaft is not turning at any rpm so maybe that wouldn't be that important.
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1999 Sport Nautique
1954 Aqualiner |
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KENO
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 6:17pm |
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Here's more reading in the link below
It'll probably make you want a double tapered shaft. Split couplings come with their own set of problems. A couple of choices on the double taper shafts are an ARE shaft and coupling or a General Propeller shaft and coupling. If you have a good rudder port now, there's no big compelling reason to get a greaseable one
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SNobsessed
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Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 7:25pm |
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When I repacked the rudder, I just coated the shaft with anti-seize grease. When I sold the boat 10 years later, it still turned with 1 finger.
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin |
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TG3
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Joined: May-29-2020 Location: Tyler, Texas Status: Offline Points: 106 |
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Posted: October-17-2021 at 9:24pm |
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I purchased my ARE double taper shaft from Ron Tanis at skiboatpartsonline.com. Was a good price and shipped pretty quick.
Also Mr Tanis spent some time with me on the phone answering a bunch of questions and making sure I placed my order correctly. His YouTube videos were also very helpful. |
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1997 Air/Sport Nautique
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MarkVNomad
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Posted: October-18-2021 at 12:34pm |
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Is there an acceptable minimum play on the rudder? I was able to wiggle mine when holding the rudder. It turned freely however at the helm. I worry that simple replacing the packing might not fix that.
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1999 Sport Nautique
1954 Aqualiner |
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KENO
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Joined: June-06-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 11093 |
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Posted: October-18-2021 at 8:40pm |
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A little wiggle, with easy steering sound OK to me,
Rudder shaft to port clearance leaves a little wiggle especially when all the packing is up top and you have a little clearance in the port so things don't bind
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8122pbrainard wrote: