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 Post subject: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:20 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 10:20 am
Posts: 34
I am getting things in shape for our Pensacola trip next week. As part of this, I am replacing the rudder cams, and internals. I will also be following the OTW article for removing slop.

The question I have:

One of the lower castings is very tight on the rudder. The other is loose, as most are, and I will use the plastic spares to tighten. Is there a way to open the casting up without damaging? In my experience, trying to bend aluminum cast parts often results in cracking. I was thinking I could maybe slowly heat the part with a propane torch, while slowly pushing some kind of wedge to expand the gap ever so slightly.

Any thoughts or advise on this?


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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:27 pm 
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Location: Lake Gaston, NC
A propane torch won't do you a lot of good. I've opened many with a pair of opposing wrecking bars, back when the EPO rudders first came out. I'm sure you can break it if you try, but I never broke one. A bolt with opposing nuts works too, if you don't have 2 wrecking bars.


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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:32 pm 
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Location: Charlottesville, VA
Why is it tight? Is it the casting or the rudder? If it's both, you might be able to swap the rudders and get a better match.

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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:55 pm 
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Its the casting. The other one is loose on both rudders, and this one is tight on both.

Good idea on the opposing nuts from the inside, will give that a shot


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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:53 pm 
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if the rudder is tight in the casting, can you just not tighten the nut? when i replaced my rudders with EPO2's i barely tightened the nuts, so that i can still spin the bolt so there is no pressure squeezing the rudder from the nut. as long as the bolt is through the nylon insert it will be fine.


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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:56 pm 
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It is tight before I even put the bolt in.
I tried the bolt trick with opposing nuts, and it seemed to spread it enough so i had enough room to also slip in a plastic shim, per the Rudder Slop article.


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 Post subject: Re: Lower Rudder Casting
PostPosted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:46 pm 
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Location: Charlottesville, VA
Rab1515 wrote:
if the rudder is tight in the casting, can you just not tighten the nut? when i replaced my rudders with EPO2's i barely tightened the nuts, so that i can still spin the bolt so there is no pressure squeezing the rudder from the nut. as long as the bolt is through the nylon insert it will be fine.


I wouldn't take that approach; you are relying on the stiffness of the casting ears to hold the rudder. The rudder forces will flex the ears apart until the bolt starts to come into play, which represents a loss of overall stiffness. I would make the bolt tight enough that the ears cannot flex apart any farther. To me, that means tight enough that the bolt doesn't spin.

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