Rudder Problem

Ok so last weekend we hit dinged the prop on a hidden rock. This morning we were debating whether to take it out or not and were looking at the prop, when we noticed that the rudder is definitely messed up. Instead of being perfectly perpendicular to the ground, it is at a slight angle, which means it was bent. So the question is: how should we go about fixing this? Do we just take it into a shop?

order a rudder and a prop puller. you can have the prop fixed and the rudder is easy to replace

Cool thanks man. We may just do that but we're thinking about taking it to the shop just to have it checked out for any other damage that may have happened. After we hit the rock it was acting kind of weird, probably nothing but best to be on the safe side. Thanks again!

If we were to replace the rudder, any advice on how to go about it? We were looking at it and it seemed pretty simple, looked like a few bolts and a screw or something along those lines, but I would hate to screw something up just because we weren't aware of anything. So any advice would be great! Thanks again

If you can get to the rudder on the inside of the boat they are not difficult to remove. The steering arm needs to come off, then there will probably be a collar that is clamped onto the rudder shaft that will come off and then the rudder should just fall out the bottom. If you have a packing style rudder seal you may need to loosen the gland nut (the BIG one that has the rudder shaft going through the middle).

If the only damage is to the rudder then just buy a new one and replace. They are not cheap, so be prepared to spend a few hundred $$$. It is also possible that the fitting in the boat has been damaged. They are bit more work to replace, and you need to make sure that you properly caulk and seal the fitting to the hull.

I pulled my rudder after bending it on a rock, installed a new drive shaft and rebuilt the prop. Back to the rudder, it had a good bend in the shaft, I took it to a machine shop, they bent it back straight, did a slight bit of machine work to the shaft (true it up) and I have re-installed it and it works perfect. I got the work done for free thru a buddy of mine but it probably would have cost about 1 hours shop time - $75.00 to $100.00 CDN. I would shop that arround first and get thier opinion, you would be surpised what those guys can build and repair.

A new rudder assembly is around $350.00.

There is a possiblilty if you hit the rudder/prop that hard that the shaft is bent. I would at least take it to the shop or find someone with a dial indicator to measure and make sure you are within tolerance (.003")

after they straightened my rudder shaft, they machined it down a few thousand (0.010) just to get it true, that process also removed the packing groove that was worn into the shaft. I had to run my packing nut a little bit tighter, no big deal, there's lots of room in the nut to take up the small reduction in shaft diameter. It's installed and works perfect, no leaks.