ruder cams

Hello from the Ozarks, new owner of a very slightly used 17. Never owned a cat but have sailed keel boats for a while. I have a friend who sailed these in his day and he attempted to help me get it on the water. Everything was going well until he wanted rudders to pop up as intended they just would not go up and the trick of using a rope to pull cams back would not work. The only way these would work was to remove most all of the tension on the spring via plastic plug. With plug and spring out cam will work up and down freely but will not come out. Is there a trick to that? I intend to replace cams and related hardware and am seeking advice of any kind. Thanks for any reply, Rick

Cams are held in by a flair pin. You would have to drill off the head on one side and punch through. If the boat is just lightly used... grease is likely all you really need. Put some where the plunger and the cam interact.

Cams and rudders FAQ: http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=467

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

More info, replaced cams and plungers on this boat. Found cause of problem on disassembly. The sharp, square edges on plunger spring was digging into soft cast housing creating ridges, rounded spring edges with a file and cleaned ridges with file, new parts and some grease. All is good. Rick

I replaced my cams because being open on one side,they had skewed out of "square". I filled the new ones with epoxy, making them a solid part that would not distort over time.