Some rudder DIY

[ahhudgins]

Replaced my steering cable and I’m still not 100% satisfied with the stiffness in my steering. I’ve seen a few posts about cleaning out the rudder box so I brought the boat home to take care of a few small things. Thought a few pictures may help someone else in the future. Took these pictures when I was putting it back together, noticed there was a hole in the rudder shaft but no pin. Should there be any kind of washer on top of the rudder? I had a nylon washer between the arm and box and I went ahead and installed a cotter pin in the shaft. I disconnected the cable from the arm to make it easier to handle. I was working by myself so I put a floor jack under the rudder since I didn’t now how easy it would come out.

[ahhudgins]

Once you take the nut off of the thru bolt, you have to remove the bolt because it is threaded into the arm. It's not like a battery terminal clamp that comes off when you loosen the nut. If you remove the bolt completely, it makes it easier to put a screwdriver in the slot and lightly tap it. My arm slid right off and then I lowered the rudder with jack.

[ahhudgins]

There was nothing in the rudder box other than a few drops of water . I cleaned it out from top to bottom, removed and cleaned the grease fitting, then pre-greased everything a little bit before putting it back together. Once it was back together I hit it with the grease gun until it came out from the bottom O-ring. I'll give it a test this weekend.