bertram31.com

Guys i'm looking at buying new rudder bearings for my 28. I'm looking at two choices going with High Tide marine's stainless/teflon bearings listed at 129.00 each. Or bigbearingstore.com which sells an all stainless bearing for 50.00 each. I'm leaning towards the 50 dollar ones. I was looking for some advice though from any of you knowledgeable guys that may have experiance with either of these. thanks in advance

Scooter,

High Tides bearing are nice, but way over kill... Go with the $50 ones.

Br,

Patrick

thanks alot capt. pat you might as well close this thread thats all the confirmation i need. Oh by the way can i get my name changed to capt. Scooter now that i got my captains license. haha

Scooter,
I have B28 style rudders on my 31. If they look like the one below,
you can pick them up from www.grainger.com for about $36 apiece.
I also drilled a new dimple in the rudder shaft to accept the set screw
and then sprayed the entire bearing with CorrosionX HD in the blue/green can.

Scooter: What was that site again?

usabearingsandbelts.com is where i ended up purchasing them from. They were 43.00 dollars a piece. The lady also told me a us company called RBI is who makes them. They are solid stainless steel i think she said 404 stainless actually. Total including shipping was under a 100 bucks far less than what just one high tide bearing runs. I'll post some info about them when i recieve them hopefully by the end of the week.

I bought my bearings from Granger as well, it was a stainless steel bearing in a composite housing---i don't know the part #.

Scooter,

FYI, RBI is a bearing importer/distributor. They don't make anything themselves. But I am sure that RBI is the source if she says so.

http://www.rbibearing.com/ is the website.

They are great people. I have been in their Chicago distribution office and through the warehouse. I liked what I saw.

They are an offshoot of another company that we deal with called Acor in California. Also an importer and re-seller.

I am not sure either will sell minor quantities, but it is always worth a shot.

Dug

Mine waw from Northern tool for 10 bucks if I remember. The one that I took off was cast iron and steel just like the one I replaced it with from NT. The first one lasted 24 years. In fact there was nothing wrong with it. I just destroyed it when I was removing the cracked rudder shaft. Over kill is even 20 bucks a pop.

thanks dug you are correct rbi is a us based company but they do have there factory if you will in china. I've contacted another person about the quality and they assured me they are fine. Also I was able to buy only 2 that I need from the site I listed before and at 43 dollars a piece don't think i could go wrong with an all stainless bearing that i'll never have to worry about.

Charlie you are correct also I have to keep reminding myself im working on a boat not a space shuttle. haha

For the few extra bucks it's one thing you won't have to think about greasings or CX-ing.

sim wrote:For the few extra bucks it's one thing you won't have to think about greasings or CX-ing.

Carl,

The CX HD forms a thick film over whatever you spray it on. AFter being on for about 4 years, I decided to take my finger and rub some of it off to see how it was working. The bearings still look like they came right out of the box.

I used the Granger like $50 dollar versions with 4 mounting bolts. Nickle something for corrosive enviro's.

Scooter,

Whether they have a factory there or not, they do not manufacture every bearing they are able to sell.

I am glad you are happy with the bearings you bought! I am glad to know they sell them, as it may be where I go when the next time comes! I like them, they are good people.

The quality coming from RBI has rarely been an issue for us. They are one of the good ones, but as with all bearings from China, you need to match the application with the bearing and be diligent in checking the incoming product quality. That is where dealing with a distributor like RBI is quite helpful, as they do much of the legwork for you.

You are correct that the stainless is a good material for the replacement in that application. While stainless is a relatively hard material, it does not usually make a particularly good bearing as it is usually soft by comparison. For high use applications that is often why you see plastic bearings in place believe it or not.

But our rudder bearings are not high use. Not in the least.

Our company is a bearing manufacturer, and I bought throw aways, knowing that I don't really need to throw those away often, if at all if maintained correctly. By that I mean grease occasionally (every few years) and a good spray with corrosion x every once in a while.

Dug

Since we ae on the subject of bearings, what about using the bearings I see that actually don't have a ball bearing in them. Its just a bronze tube that has a flange on the bottom. I see them listed as rudder bearings? Any advantages or disadvantages.?

no matter what bearing you go with the main thing to be cognizant of besides changing the bearing out is the allen wrench set screw that sits in that dimple on the shaft.,.,.,seems most manufacturers.,,.put a little screw (allen head) and when it comes time for you to remove that screw and remove the bearing, the screw is rotted seized and you cant get the allen wrench on it cause its junk.,.,.,exchange what you get and buy longer set screws .,.,actually sticking out of the bearing .,.,more to grab on .,.,if head strips out which is common after years .,then channell lock it off.,.,.annother struggle averted

Good tip Ric.

scot wrote:Good tip Ric.

It really is. One learned the hard way, I'm sure.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a channel lock?

Pliers or a vice grip?

brand name of the best pump plyers on the market

And most models are still made in the USA.

Speaking of that I just bought another pair of what I believe are technically called "dykes" (not to be confused with slang parlance for you know what.) or otherwise known as wire cutters made by Klein.

Nice tools.

Kleins are the standard in the industry. "Dykes" = diagonal cutters.

Unfortunately Vice Grip has decided to leave the US and move offshore. I think I will buy several more pairs of the Made in USA ones and then look for another brand.

Hello All,
I need to replace my rudder bearings on a B31 - does anyone have a part number from grainger or usa bearings and belts for these bearings??
Thanks
Andy