John Teetsel Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 The plans call for 5/16" eyebolts screwed thru the rudder box and stern post to mount the rudder assembly to the boat. The "eye" of a 5/16" eyebolt is about 3/4" dia but the plans say to use 3/8" threaded rod to connect the two pair of eyebolts (top & bottom). That's an awfully sloppy connection. What am I missing? Anyone have a "Plan B"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Pyeatt Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I went to Lowe's and got a small package of Oatey gray vinyl pipe clamps with a flange on them. They were split and I trimmed them a little bit to fit in the eyes. I put two 3/8" "tee" nuts in them and then tightened up the threaded rod. I put a 3/8" ID length of PVC pipe over the threaded rod. Then an acorn nut on both ends and that finished it off. It was really slick, smooth and doesn't bind up. The gills will go over the outside to keep turbulence from interfering. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdrown Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Do the plans call for vinyl sheathed rod? I'm not sure, but what I did that worked great is I put some copper pipe there and ran the rod down it and held it in place with the nuts and washers that were on the rod anyway. It fits perfectly. Not much differntly from what was just suggested, but there was some laying around, and it looks a little nicer too, of course if you put the cove material on you don't see it, but I have yet to do that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Mellema Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 John Menards have stainless eyebolts thet are just over 1/2" eyes on them. That is what I used and they fit right with the tubing it calls for in the plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 I used a long 1/2" Sch 80 plastic nipple from the sprinkler department at The Borg, and turned down the ends (after cutting the threads off, of course) to fit into the eyebolts I was using. Worked really well. But from this thread, I think we have all handled it differently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave R1 Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 For one more option, I used stainless eyebolts with welded eyes ordered from Suncor Stainless. The threaded rod is 1/2" and it is covered with Pex tubing that just fits over the rod and through the eyes. I suppose the O.D. of the tubing must be 5/8 or 11/16". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Gowans Posted July 15, 2003 Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Here's yet another option. I didn't like the threaded rod - too much slop. I found 2 large ss bolts that fit the eyebolts quite well and installed one on each set of eyebolts. This has the advantage that I can tighten each one independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Teetsel Posted July 15, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2003 Thanks for the input everyone. Phil, I'd thought of using individual bolts, maybe even a metric size to get a better fit, but wondered if it might result in some play between the upper and lower sets of eyebolts. Thanks for answering that for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. Nelson Surbrook Posted July 16, 2003 Report Share Posted July 16, 2003 What a welth of information! These guys that build boats are very clever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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