Bill, I saw your comments below about the flanged plastic bearing. It sounds like you have looked at the situation. Is this bearing accessible from the tiller end of things? Is it pressed off and on or forced by muscular exertion?
My Typhoon rudder is a great mystery to me, as well as a source of some concern to me when I have nothing else on my mind. Suppose there is damnable galvanic corrosion going on in there where you can't see it. There is more play than I like in mine. I get the picture you have to dig a hole under the boat, and surgically remove the gudgeon (?) fitting from the extreme bottom rear of the keel, to get it out.
My TY is a 1970, #167. The rudder shaft is non ferrous, something like bronze. There is a shoulder worn on the bottom end of the shaft where it bears in the gudgeon, and I assume the gudgeon is also worn, but there is still enough meat (from what I can see) that I am not overly concerned about that. I'm more worried about whats up inside that tube where I can't see the situation.
The front of the rudder shaft is exposed all along the rudder. It occurs to me to glass around this with maybe one layer of glass cloth. What do you think? The construction of the rudder itself is also a mystery. Mine has gotten a whole bunch of little circular crazed places, maybe less than 1/4" dia, all over the gelcoat surface.
You may want to look at something else. See my post to follow above on CD Structural Fasteners - Alert.
Comments from all others are welcome too.
dickee03@rivnet.net
Typhoon Rudder Situation - Bill Bloxham?
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