1987 Commodore 360 Rudder Packing Si😌

[cmatt1968ky]

Hi! Quick and hopefully easy question. Preface: I did search for this topic but yielded no results. Perhaps my search phrase? Either case all apologies if this is answered already.

Question is: what size packing would I use on a stock rudder packing nut? I have a tiny leak and not sure it’s ever been replaced, so I’m opting to loosen the nut and replace the packing on both the port and starboard sides.

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Golfman25]

That's going to be a tough one unless you find someone with the same boat. I would say if you can get a measurement on rudder shaft, we may be able to guess close enough to minimize the sizes you'll need to buy. Best bet would be to open it up and check the difference between the shaft and packing gland. Good luck.

 

[sugilbert]

A call to Regal will likely get you an answer.

 

[Gregory S]

I would tighten the packing nut to see if the leak stops. You can tighten rudder packing glands much more than prop shafts. If you can't stop the leak by adjusting, then you'll need to repack.

 

[boatbum]

If you tighten it, once out of the water for season or maintenance, try to wiggle the rudders. If they wiggle side to side easily the packing is probably not the greatest.
Our rudder packing was tightened via two nuts one on each side of the rudder shaft. Try to keep the flange perpendicular to the rudder shaft if you have two bolts pulling down on the flange.

 

[cmatt1968ky]

Thanks to all that replied. I ended up repacking the stuffing box with 1/4 in packing. On my starboard side I managed to pull out 5 old packing threads while on port I removed 3. I replaced each side with 3 and leaks have stopped. In reviewing the d material only one thread appeared to be “newish” while the others were almost brittle and lost all flex.

Thanks again to all
Chris