J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Grease Rudder Pintles?

This past winter I dried out the rudder by drilling 1/4" holes 1" apart and using.heat guns to dry.
There was slop at the pintes, which I hope to. fix with pattern makers mylar as a bushing.
Does anyone use grease on the pintles?

more details on how you do the bushing and how it works will be good. the major wear seems to be on the gudgeons mounted on the transom. One other way to temp fix is to move the gudgeons slightly out of line, which can be done by drilling the mounting holes a touch larger. This will effectively tighten the working tolerance of the gudgeon.

I'm thinking of welding a thin layer around the hole and just grinding the highs off to a close tolerance.

Grease [submersible] ... might have been useful if used for the last 30 years?

I use Tef-Gel. It's an amazing lubricant. You can also use it on your turnbuckles. A little goes a long way.

Available from Jamestown Distributors.

It was highly recommended by my boatyard rigger.

Bob Rude
Mmmmm

There was play in the lower bearing, so I wrapped the pin tight with pattern maker Mylar from my local sail maker, leaving about a 3/8" gap longitudinally and cutting it just above the bolt hole on the bottom. I then used Scotch Tape on the bottom and in the 3/8" gap. The first time the Mylar buggered up as it was inserted, but I did it again coating it with grease and tapped the pin down with a rubber mallet and a dowel.
The rudder now moves very smoothly with no slop at all and since there is nowhere for the Mylar to go, it should last for a long time.