Pirate wrote:
Yak, I simply shimmed up gap between hull appendage and the rudder box using a thin fibro washer so it had no where to move to. Then I pressed on a piece of plastic tubing onto the exposed part of the pin up tight against the rudder box so further reducing any chance of movement. Worked for me though in the future after I am out of warranty, I intend drilling out and bushing the rudder pin holes in the rudder box to 8mm, which is the diameter of the brass insert on my boat. I am thinking though that they may all be a little bit different from each other....Pirate
Out of an abundance of caution I pulled my rudder pin on my May 2009 hull.
After 3 trips ~16 hours the pin looks perfect - no signs of any wear or deforming.
So, I'm not going to panic or worry overly much.
However.
After careful inspection it appears most of the the play is between the rudder pin and the brass insert. Boat up on stands, I deployed the rudder down and stood on the starboard side facing it. Grabbed bottom of rudder with one hand and top of the rudder with the other and moved it back and forth - in a port to starboard motion. Yes there is quite a bit of play. Mostly pin to brass insert. To verify, I removed the rudder assembly and just checked pin to brass insert tolerance with no rudder in the way.
It looks like the pin is too small in diameter by a significant amount - more than one would think acceptable for such a location.
Yes there is also some play between ruddr box and the pin, which a larger pin would also correct.
I bet you could wrap the entire pin in teflon tape and it would still fit, but of course not be a solution. I tried another brand new pin of the same "D" head design and it was the same.
Wish I had an extra "original" pin to try which was solid plastic and used cotter pins top and bottom
Now, it would seem that a simple enough fix to the play I'm seeing is a slightly bigger (in diameter) rudder pin. Maybe the molding process is imperfect, the plastic pin shrunk some after manufacturing, or the brass insert got made with a slightly bigger hole.
It is also entirely possible that Hobie wants to make certain the rudder does not bind when turning left/right and has a generous tolerance, pehaps also to make sure pins don't get stuck and slide out easily to be replaced. The play is a combined effect of pin to box and pin to insert.
I'm not going to second guess Hobie, nor am I going to replace my rudder pin with some other material. I am simply posting my observation to provide feedback for users and engineers in the off chance some corrective measures are necessary.
In the meantime I marine greased the pin and put it back.
I suspect all will be fine because I don't do 25knt winds or 5foot swells.