Dufour 38 Classic rudder bearing issue!!!

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Forest Girl

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Got the boat last year. Surveyor pointed out stiff steering. Thought it would be something easy. Turns out the problem is in the bearings, somewhere. They are tapered roller bearings, self aligning. I have read that the rudder shaft and bearings were fitted as one unit. Does anyone have experience of this problem? Bearings are so stiff/tight that it needs the wheel to turn the rudder, emergency tiller won't do it!
Are replacements bearings available and can they be fitted straightforwardly?
Cheers everyone!
Andy
 
I can't remember the make of yacht, but I watched something like this being sorted out on a boat next to mine in the yard a couple of years ago. The rudder had to be dropped to get at the bearings, but was well stuck even after all the fastenings inside the boat had been released. The work was being done by one of the yard's contractors. Initially he tried to get the rudder to drop by hammering wedges between the top of the rudder and the hull, but this wasn't getting anywhere. The following day the rudder had been dropped - apparently the contractor had ended up using some hydraulic jacking equipment to get it to move.

I gathered that the bearings were seriously expensive - can't remember the figure but it might have been £500 or £1000. Anyway, it impressed me. The other surprising thing was that the contractor had done the same job on the same boat a number of years ago. Apparently if the rudder had been dropped every two or three years, it would have come down easily, and the bearings could have simply been lubricated rather than replaced.

Hopefully yours will fall into the latter category.
 
I can't remember the make of yacht, but I watched something like this being sorted out on a boat next to mine in the yard a couple of years ago. The rudder had to be dropped to get at the bearings, but was well stuck even after all the fastenings inside the boat had been released. The work was being done by one of the yard's contractors. Initially he tried to get the rudder to drop by hammering wedges between the top of the rudder and the hull, but this wasn't getting anywhere. The following day the rudder had been dropped - apparently the contractor had ended up using some hydraulic jacking equipment to get it to move.

I gathered that the bearings were seriously expensive - can't remember the figure but it might have been £500 or £1000. Anyway, it impressed me. The other surprising thing was that the contractor had done the same job on the same boat a number of years ago. Apparently if the rudder had been dropped every two or three years, it would have come down easily, and the bearings could have simply been lubricated rather than replaced.

Hopefully yours will fall into the latter category.
 
Thanks James. Fingers crossed it will be straightforward. I think the bearings for a lot of boats are made by Jefa of Denmark. Anyone know if they made them for the Dufour Classic range?
 
Forest Girl said:
Thanks James. Fingers crossed it will be straightforward. I think the bearings for a lot of boats are made by Jefa of Denmark. Anyone know if they made them for the Dufour Classic range?
Click to expand...
They're not the same throughout the range. In my 30 they are plain bearings of a nylon-type material. I had the opposite problem in that the rudder was vibrating at speeds above 5kt and at any speed while motoring. I ordered new bearings and got the yard to change them, but on completion there was still play in the lower one. I discovered that the material is said to expand after some time immersed in water, but for various reasons did not have the boat in the water long enough last season to find out.
 
Hello FG,

we had EXACTLY the same symptom on Tigger, our Dufour 35 Classic, of 1998 vintage. The guys at Marco marine were very helpful with advice and suggested dropping the rudder as explained above and cleaning / replacing the bearings.

As it happened, I did not want to do this mid season, so I tried something else: I filled the top of the rudder shaft hole (the one on deck where the emergency tiller fits) with a PTFE lubricant. And I kept refilling it at regular intervals. After a while (days/weeks) the rudder was much freer. Then I found out that a plastic cup needs to cover that hole, to prevent water and other dirt entering it. I did buy a new one (at eye watering expense) from Marco Marine (who got it from Dufour), and I proceeded directly to alter it so that a lanyard attaches it to the shaft (so as not to lose it accidentally).

This was about 6 years ago. There have been absolutely no issues with hard rudder symptoms since. I now "lubricate" in the same way once when I do my yearly maintenance in Feb/March.

I can't guarantee anything, but it worked for me. Much cheaper than dropping the rudder and having the problem recurring.

Have a go!
 
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