Rudder fit

I have some black plastic rudders that I put on my older 18. The holes were in the right spots to bolt up but the rudders were extremely hard to get into the castings. I had to push and strain to get them in. Once in everything easily bolted up, but now I can't raise and lower my rudders by pulling or pushing on the crossbar. I have to push them down or pull them back up by hand. Anyone have any experience with something like this?

Older rudders were a bit thinner, and the castings were sized for them.

When the slightly thicker EPO rudders were introduced in 1983/84, they set the standard going forward. They were really difficult to fit in the older castings.

You can try sanding down the rudder head a bit and/or filing the bearing surfaces in the castings. DO NOT try to bend the castings open. The cast aluminum is brittle and you're likely to break them.

With usage, the joint will loosen up.

BTW, fatter rudders are more forgiving (higher angle of attack before stall) than thinner.