How are these bloody rudders supposed to work?

I have read the article from off the wire on how to take out the rudder slop and still do not fully comprehend how the rudder/cam system works. I have taken out all of the slop between the rudders and casting and between the tiller arms and cross bar. When I am in the water and pull one end of the crossbar up the rudder releses from the "up" position and crashes down with a loud thump. Is this caused by the spring and plunger being seized in the lower casting? My boat is a '76 model, I believe there were upgrades to the rudder system in the early '80's? Anyway continuing on, I have been sailing them in this position but I do not think this is correct. From replacing the old cams with the newer sister screw cams I noticed a little notch in the cams that look like it would recieve the upper casting. I am guessing this is what "locks" the rudder in place.

I would appreciate any help.

War Eagle!
Branson

_________________
War Damn Eagle
Branson

All your assumptions are correct. rotate the cams into the "up" position and lube the cam with water proof grease. If the cams fail to release when you pull up the tiller arm, the cams may be old, flexible and may need replacing, or your rudders could be drilled wrong and the upper casting may not be engaging the cam properly. When the rudder is down, if you can move the rudder or casting forward and aft, you have a mis drilled rudder.