lubricating rudder arm

The spherical end bearing on the rudder arm of my R-29 CB as a lube fitting I am not familiar with. Does anyone know how to grease this or whatever? Thanks.

OverTime said:

The spherical end bearing on the rudder arm of my R-29 CB as a lube fitting I am not familiar with. Does anyone know how to grease this or whatever? Thanks.
View attachment 27538

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Is this for oil? Grease? How do I lube it? Thanks.

My 2017 R29 has a regular grease fitting. Yours looks different. Right or wrong, I did not think much about it and pumped water proof wheel bearing grease into it.

This is a grease fitting and uses a needle adapter. On mine the fiting was frozen so I just unbolted the knuckle and greased it by hand. The positive thing about unbolting it is you can check that the rudder moves freely with no effort. It has now has become my standard each year.

I have a 2017 R29 Sedan and got the following from Tim Bates back in 2020 when I asked him about the rudder grease fitting: "Concerning the rudder grease, the manufacturer recommends the product listed below: Quicksilver Marine Grease 2-4-C with PTFE...I wouldn’t use sparingly as you don’t need much to do the job, after speaking with the manufacturer of the rudder they recommend one to two pumps into the rudder fitting."

Mike

The photo shown is the ball joint threaded to the hydraulic cylinder. It requires very little grease. Most ball joint ends do not have grease fittings and a small amount of light grade machine oil few drops under the washer will keep it lubricated. The grease zerk in the photo requires a needle grease tip that can be purchased at any automotive parts store. It will attach to the end of a standard grease gun coupler. The outboard rudder assembly also has grease zerks. The photo below shows the Zerk. location. The grease used as previously stated marine grade grease with PTFE. Two to three pumps annually is plenty. There are three rings sealing the rudder shaft to the rudder housing two on the top one on the bottom. The goal is to grease the outboard rudder box without extruding grease past the o-rings. If you do see some grease extruding past the o-rings it is time to install new 0-rings. The bottom o-ring is the critical one it is sealing the water out and grease in.

Joining the party! I’ve been noticing my steering getting stiffer. After speaking with SKing (thanks a lot for your guidance), he suspected the rudder needed grease. I didn’t make any progress with a manual grease gun. I pumped a few times and didn’t notice any difference, it was still very stiff. After attending the FM Rendezvous and speaking with other owners (and checking the steering on their boats), I confirmed that my boat’s steering was way too heavy.

This past weekend I finally had time and went to the boat to troubleshoot properly. When I connected an electric grease pump to the fitting, the pump auto-shut off, which led me to believe the fitting was clogged/blocked. I removed the fitting to test and confirmed the clog. I replaced the zerk fitting, pumped grease… and wow ... my steering has never been so light. I have the boat for 18 months! I can now turn it from both stations (cockpit and saloon) with just one finger. Thanks a bunch for your guidance, Steve (SKing)! I want to take the boat out and drive in zig-zags just to enjoy how light the steering wheel is now 😀

I still need to come back to grease the tiller arm fitting (the one in the pic shared by OverTime). Glad I was able to fix this without hauling the boat out of the water.

Best

BB marine said:

The photo shown is the ball joint threaded to the hydraulic cylinder. It requires very little grease. Most ball joint ends do not have grease fittings and a small amount of light grade machine oil few drops under the washer will keep it lubricated. The grease zerk in the photo requires a needle grease tip that can be purchased at any automotive parts store. It will attach to the end of a standard grease gun coupler. The outboard rudder assembly also has grease zerks. The photo below shows the Zerk. location. The grease used as previously stated marine grade grease with PTFE. Two to three pumps annually is plenty. There are three rings sealing the rudder shaft to the rudder housing two on the top one on the bottom. The goal is to grease the outboard rudder box without extruding grease past the o-rings. If you do see some grease extruding past the o-rings it is time to install new 0-rings. The bottom o-ring is the critical one it is sealing the water out and grease in.

IMG_2335

• BB marine
• Nov 6, 2019

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I'm guessing there is not a "vent plug" or similar that lets out used grease as new grease is introduced?

OverTime said:

I'm guessing there is not a "vent plug" or similar that lets out used grease as new grease is introduced?

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No vent and not needed. The grease in the cavity degrades over time and needs to be replaced with new grease. Think of the grease as a sponge with oil in it. Once the grease bleeds out it needs to be replenished. 2 or 3 pumps from a gun is plenty and will last and lubricate. When you are cruising in the boat the rudder is moving continuously with a lot of pressure on it from the prop wash. The oil is being squeezed out of the "sponge" for that reason there is no reason to worry about over pressuring the housing and damaging the o-ring seals. Just don't over grease!