Hydraulic Ruder Aligbment

Post here if you want to discuss a topic specific to the MV/32, MV/34, and MV/41.
Post Reply
bjgin
skipper
skipper
Posts: 68
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 10:13 am

Hydraulic Ruder Aligbment

Post by bjgin »

How often does everyone do their hydraulic ruder alignment? It seems like we have to do ours about every 70 +/- miles, or our steering starts to get very hard to turn.
BJ and Ginny Patterson
2004 PDQ MV34, #40, 110 Engines
FantaSea IV
The Villages, FL
DickTuschick
skipper
skipper
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:38 pm

Re: Hydraulic Ruder Aligbment

Post by DickTuschick »

Rudder alignment frequency is a function of two things..1. How much the rams are leaking and 2. How often you turn the rudders.
As a result, no two boats are identical in their need to align the rudders and even on the same boat the frequency can vary based on sea conditions where lots of rudder action is required.
The "O" rings in the rams do wear over time and then leak more. How often you should rebuild the rams is really a function of how much the inconvenience of the centering process bothers you.
As an example, we have a 2006 boat with 2900 hrs and I recenter about every 40 hours (400 - 500 miles) and find that I am usually off about 1 inch on the wheel at that point.
It does sound like your rams might need a rebuild based on your 70 mile need.
Post Reply