Bent Rudder Shaft

[JetStream]

I have a Pearson 30 that I bought last year, just to keep something on my mooring and didn't have it surveyed because "what could possibly go wrong with a rugged old Pearson 30?". Anyway, while sailing last season, I noticed the rudder to be a little sloppy and figured I'd just change the bushings over the winter. So last fall, I dropped the rudder, covered the boat and waited til spring. As I started to get into it this spring, I find that the rudder shaft is about 1-1/2" out of plumb! With a straight edge on it, it's easy to see why the bushings were worn. It is 2-3/8 dia with a .142" wall and has about 23-1/2 inches exposed above the rudder. When you put a straight edge on it, fore and aft is close to true (maybe .02" variance) but side to side shows about a .2" gap at one end of the straight edge. If you sight down the trailing edge of the rudder, the centerline at the top of the tube is about 1-1/2" off center.

Now, is there any such thing as straightening that stainless shaft? Or do I bite the bullet, grab the grinder, and remove and replace it?

[hesper]

Bruce,

Can you get a long pry bar into the shaft and pull it into line?

Barring that(bad pun unintended), could you bring the whole assembly to a metal or car frame shop where they have hydraulic presses etc? Doesn't seem this should be a major issue with the right tools.

Good Luck

Jim

[Ceasar Choppy]

Jetstream,

Are you certain that shaft is stainless??? As I recall, Pearson fitted aluminum rudder shafts for the first couple of years on the P-30 as they did on the P-26. They fixed most of them, but ....

See here: http://www.pearsoninfo.net/30/notes.htm

Apparently Foss Foam & D&R have replacements. See here:
http://dan.pfeiffer.net/p26/rudder.htm

[JetStream]

Yes, it's stainless. I finally figured that I don't have the equipment to attempt a proper straightening. It really needs a hydraulic arbor press with about an 8 foot opening, and then you just have to hope that with the correct blocking and so forth that pressure can be placed in the right spot. A friend of mine in Newport has all the tools and I dropped it off there this week. Hopefully, he will be successful. He works on a lot of commercial fishing boats and I can't think of anyone more knowledgable. When I first posted this problem, it hadn't occurred to me to take it to him. Thanks for the response.