Rudder Play

Happy Holidays, all!

So, boat is in the heated garage, time for winter projects now that Christmas is over. When going over the boat, I noticed that there is some serious rudder play going on. I am 99% certain that nothing was hit this past season, but it just really seemed like there was a lot of play side to side. When I jumped into the boat and looked under the gas tank to see it from the inside, I am not sure what this should typically look like, but it almost looked like the metal plate holding everything together was seated into the fiberglass a bit. The nuts on the bolts of this plate are also pretty loose. I am apprehensive to tighten anything down as to not mess anything else up that may be going on (pulling metal plate through the fiberglass, cracking fiberglass, etc.). Does anyone have any insight as to what I am experiencing? I apologize now that I did not get video or pictures. I will work diligently to get this uploaded to help with diagnosis.

Other things to note:

Boat is an '88 Martinique B/R with a 454 PCM motor.

The boat did/does not take on additional water other than what is typical. Steering while in reverse in the boat was not great, but I believe that to be typical of direct drive boats. Forward steering seemed to be pretty good for the most part, but I did feel I could cut starboard side much better than port side. Lastly, I am new to this 'boat mechanic' stuff. So, please, be gently, lol. Also, the more English, the better. I will not know all the part names and stuff like that. I will upload pictures/videos to help.

Ultimate question:

1. What do I need to do to fix this?

Thank you guys for the help! Happy New Year, only 5-6 months till boating season in Western, PA!

Loose nuts are never good. Glad that I've gotten most of mine tightened down since college. Now, to just get the boat figured out. Lol.

Thank you for the heads up on that! I hate hearing (reading) the 's' word... but, with a boat that surpasses my age -- I'm certain it is only a matter of time. The floors are very solid in the boat, and the motor mounts are all in good shape-- but, I have seen instances where the damage is pretty concentrated to a particular area.

The good news is that the latter parts you described are all snug as they should be. From what I can tell, all of the play is coming from that base plate. Your explanation of "a little wiggle here can exacerbate the situation down the rudder." Which I can say is entirely true. The base plate moves about 1/4" up and down inside the boat, but when moving the rudder, it appears to be moving 1" to 2" side to side.

I'll work on getting those tightened down and see where we are after that point. Hopefully we have some good wood under there to tighten this up and move right along!

Thanks again!

I tried to hang with you on this one.... but... I am lost. Lol. I am thinking that pictures *might* help with this one, but not entirely sure.

I am not even sure that there is even a spot to get under the layer that I can see to figure that out 100%. In my own engineering, the angled metal option makes much more sense to me. I am not sure how they would invert the bolt, have it secured to a stringer, get that through the floor to attach all of these dingy's, and then screw the nuts down... I am no engineer and they make some pretty amazing things out there, but, the angled iron under the layer of fiberglass does make some more sense to me.

I will keep you posted. I might need to make a stop tonight and get the pictures.

More thanks!

This is the part I am talking about. Doesn't look exactly the same... but it looks like it would do the same job.

Pictures/video coming tonight. Thanks!

Gotcha! Yes, that is the case. The block is certainly loose. Is there any need for concern when tightening everything back up? I am unsure if the bolts are mounted to angled iron below the fiberglass or mounted to the stringer. Any good ways of telling? Apologies if this is a novice question. I am after all, a novice boat mechanic.

That is correct. Turns much better on starboard side. I'll snap pictures to help with those issues. For now, I'd just love to get everything tightened back up.

I'll do a little work and report back. Thank you all for the help!

beardo73 wrote: Turns much better on starboard side.

You can't go by the throw of the rudder since prop torque needs to be factored in. So, throw port to starboard will not be the same to get the same degree of turning in the water.

https://youtu.be/BxHEuijup9U

Definitely a loose rudder port
Will wait on the rest of the crew for further advise on the proper fix.
Won't be long !

Derrick, watched the second video. Yea, that needs to be fixed/secured.
How long have you had the boat? How much have you driven it ?

Well a video is worth a whole lotta words

I think i want to wait and see Pete's reaction to this   

I figure it'll be full of exclamation points!!!!!!!! and full of comments about backyard hacks and maybe even dealers and or repair shops depending on who did the previous "fix"

Don't let us down Pete

The good news is that the boat didn't sink for some inexplicable reason.

More good news is that you'll be good at fiberglass work when you're done with this.

TRB's BFN project would be a good read for you since he did a lot of modifications in the rudder port area. I figure he'll be along with some advice.

Run out and buy a lottery ticket or 2 cause you're one lucky guy since that didn't rip out under power.

That sounds like a good idea. Will I need to do any reinforcements to the hull/flooring? Will I be able to reuse the rudder port or would it be advised to get a new one?

Thank you for the information! Excellent stuff! I feel better already.

Now, does anyone have any tips for disassembling this setup and getting it apart?! Maybe even putting it back together as well?

Thank you all for the help and support! I lost some sleep over this one. Already feeling better!

Pete has you covered on how to and that the rudder may come out. Have someone else under there with a set of hands on that rudder. Or a block to hold it up so it doesn’t fall out. A drop on concrete would be aggravating.

So, I actually didn't get any pictures from the parts that made me believe it's a previous fix.... Small chance I will get there tonight before going away on the weekend to get pictures of it. But, I did get pictures loaded onto the computer for some other steering components! Here they are:








Also, thank you all for your answers and help! I will certainly make sure that I have an extra set of hands to catch the rudder when taking it all apart. The prop guard on the trailer will hopefully not be an issue, but, we will figure out a way to get that off.

I am going to avoid questions of "what-ifs" until I get in there and can see whats going on. At this point, just hoping that there isn't any significant damage to anything that supports those pieces. The other thing that is concerning me is how did this get so loose so fast? Just seems odd... I can't help but think that if something super serious was happening, Ol' Sparky would be at the bottom of the river! Hardly had any water in that boat...