J/42 Rudder Bearings

[Sean Motta]

Hive mind,

My lower rudder bearing is just starting to show some play and Id like to get ahead of it. Are the J42 bearings standard? What are the sizes? What’s your go-to place to order them? I know they can be hard to get ahold of. 

Thanks in advance!

Sean

Shazaam! J/42 Hull #50

[William Stellin]

Go to Jefa Bearings for a replacement. Many J/42 owners have replaced their lower bearing with a Jefa product. It’s a big job and not one I’d attempt as a DIY’er
Bill #6

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> On Sep 6, 2023, at 1:09 PM, Sean Motta <sean...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> the

[David Jade]

Check with PYI - https://pyiinc.com . They carry Jefa products and are generally an outstanding company to consult with in spec'ing out projects like this.

David _/)
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[William Stellin]

More:  Jefa bearings are not hard to come by, it’s the installation that is difficult. I can’t tell you for certain if there is a plug and play model. Your yard is the best place to go for advice. JAYWALKER had an OEM Harken bearing that lasted about 10 years. We replaced it with a Jefa bearing at a yard in Barcelona that does refits on super yachts. It was a very big and expensive job. I think it might be a little less expensive if major fiberglass structural work is minimal to get a model bearing to fit. Jefa is the go to manufacturer and one of the industry leaders. 

Bill#6

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On Sep 6, 2023, at 1:09 PM, Sean Motta <sean...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hive mind,

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[David Jade]

Also, Sweet Ruca (J/46), I think has a video on their bearing replacement process on their YouTube channel from a couple of years ago.

 

David             _/)

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From: j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of William Stellin
Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 1:03 PM
To: j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [J/4X-owners] J/42 Rudder Bearings

 

More:  Jefa bearings are not hard to come by, it’s the installation that is difficult. I can’t tell you for certain if there is a plug and play model. Your yard is the best place to go for advice. JAYWALKER had an OEM Harken bearing that lasted about 10 years. We replaced it with a Jefa bearing at a yard in Barcelona that does refits on super yachts. It was a very big and expensive job. I think it might be a little less expensive if major fiberglass structural work is minimal to get a model bearing to fit. Jefa is the go to manufacturer and one of the industry leaders. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/BLAPR19MB4580D6072CFDC10C11BDDB59DDEFA%40BLAPR19MB4580.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

[Jim Bordeaux]

Agree re Jefa bearings. I had their lower bearing installed in 2009 and still going strong. I also took the opportunity to get rid of that infernal packing gland, using a Jefa gaiter seal instead. Dry boat and fingertip steering.

The job was done by two very good employees of my little local marina. They dropped the rudder in the lift slip.

Jim Bordeaux 

J40 #54 Solstice

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On Sep 6, 2023, at 4:05 PM, David Jade <da...@mutable.net> wrote:



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[Rod Deyo]

We have Tides Marine journal rudder bearings and seal. They've worked well for a lot of cruising and offshore miles. The bearing have no metal or moving parts  and are very reliable.

Rod Deyo

J/42 Northern Lights (#61)

[Sean Motta]

Thanks everyone. 

We found that she has 14 year old tides marine bearings now. They’ve worked well, but when I called tides they had a record of the sale but not the dimensions. 

I’ll give Jefa a call tomorrow as they seem to have excellent reviews. 

Does anyone have sizes? I’m going to crawl down in there but with lead times I’d like to order them before the boat comes out. 

Sean 

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[Ed S]

I just did my lower rudder bearing this past spring, with coaching and support from Jay Pasco-Anderson, who’d done his as well.  It’s possible that some boats have different installations, I suppose, but mine was not a complicated job, per se. It would have been far more intimidating and nerve-racking without Jay’s help, but it’s not a complex job. It is labor intensive, but if you are mechanically inclined and a bit adventurous, you might tackle it yourself. 

The custom Jefa bearing is beautifully made and was a “drop-in” replacement. For me, the most stressful part was taking precise measurements for Jefa to machine the bearing and a stainless sleeve for the lower rudder post. The legacy bearing was simply running on a bare epoxy (G10?) rudder post. The work does, of course, involve having the rudder out. For me, that meant having a buddy meet me on a Sunday morning, when no yard employees were around, and us digging a 3 foot deep hole. Shout out to my awesome girlfriend, who helped me load the rudder back into the boat on a rainy Sunday morning three weeks later. 

I’d be happy to talk through the project with you, which I think would be helpful, even if you have a yard do the actual work. 

In short, if you can confirm you have the same installation as I do, then you’d need to remove the rudder and old bearing, so you can measure the diameter of the rudder tube and the outside diameter of the lower rudder post. Jefa will machine to these specifications with, basically, zero tolerance. My rudder post was not uniform, so I did some averaging and then some sanding once I’d received the sleeve. My legacy bearing (I think a Tides Marine) was just glued into the solid rudder tube. I believe Jay had to punch his out, but mine, I’m embarrassed to say, was so bound up, that it slid out with the rudder. It appears I’d been rotating the entire bearing housing inside the tube, rather than the post turning against the bearing. The old lip seal did fight back, and I wound up having to slowly pound it out from above. The new bearing fit firmly and glued right up into the rudder tube, supported by spacers and a clamp while the adhesive set. The stainless sleeve epoxied onto the lower rudder post after a slight bit of sanding on the post. The bearing is self aligning, so I think that provides a bit of buffer for alignment and the assembly of the stainless sleeve.

That’s a fairly abbreviated explanation, but hopefully it gives you a sense of the project. 

-Ed

[Matthew Clark]

That was a great primer Ed, we just did our J/42 lower rudder bearing last fall with a Jeffa and it went pretty much as you describe. PYI will work through the measurements with you, choose the closest roller bearing size, then will machine the ID of stainless rudder stock sleeve and the OD of the bearing outer housing to your measurements. I attached the drawing of our bearing assembly for reference (don't use for ordering), it does not show the stainless sleeve. I also attached a photo of my old stainless sleeve, which had too much pitting where the seal rode to reuse. We also added a rudder post gaiter for peace of mind. The sleeve length is easy to measure and there is a lot of play, but for the diameters I would recommend getting the proper size calipers and take a lot of measurements at points all around the circumferences for averaging and understanding high and low spots you'll be dealing with.

Best of luck, Matt

NOTE: For anyone skimming this post in the future, DO NOT use the attached drawing for ordering, you need to confirm your own measurements per their instructions. 

[Albert Bossar]

The Sweet Ruca videos on their channel that was referenced early really are great. 

Episodes 11 and 12. 

11 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=c_j5-Ah2p6w&t=0s

12 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wWsgK-NqhM

enjoy!

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[Sean Motta]

Great responses all around. I expected nothing less. Really appreciate the walk through, Ed. 

1) looks like Jefa it is. I already have their gaiter and it’s worked well

2) can’t have these cut ahead of time. I’ll make sure they have the components in stock and will send them dimensions as soon as we drop the rudder to minimize yard time. 

What a great resource, as always. 

Sean

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[Sean Motta]

All,

Were the Jefa bearings a huge cost increase over the Tides? I got a quote for north of $10K. I thought I remembered the last set of Tides being in the $2K range. 

This is for too and bottom bearing. 

Sean

[Paul Lever]

Jefa bearing prices are listed on their site jefa.com

Paul

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