Whitlock Cobra steering bearing replacement

[ooo]

On mine, the Cobra 6R with the premium pedestal (the rectangular one), the radial arm definitely has to be ground off and then welded back on to remove the vertical shaft. I got the pin out of the quadrant (there was only one but two holes?!) and am having the shop which will do the welding remove the quadrant. The pedestal is at that shop so no photos at the moment. I'll try to put a summary together when I get it all back together.

Sort of on topic, I found the balljoint ends for the draglink at McMaster Carr, item 59915K48. I don't have them in hand yet but spec wise they should be the exact same. For those not within McMaster reach search for NRE-SSF12T made by Tuthill Linkage Group. These are for a 3/4-16 threaded drag link.

As a final note I can only describe what I am seeing on mine and don't know what prior owners have changed in the last 20 years!

[PhilipGDavies]

Has anyone replaced the lower bearing with a ceramic one? As is is so involved to replace this bearing one that is not affected by corrosion would be an advantage

[Magnum]

Originally Posted by PhilipGDavies

Has anyone replaced the lower bearing with a ceramic one? As is is so involved to replace this bearing one that is not affected by corrosion would be an advantage

This was a question I asked before replacing ours and the expert we used at the time, Cliff Mogridge, replied saying that he wouldn’t recommend it as the ceramics are brittle – if you let the steering go while going astern the shock loads are very large. Basically the weight of the boat going through the steering which then comes to a sudden halt when it hits the stops. The steering wheel has a lot of stored energy which has nowhere to go - it’s the gear teeth and bearings that take the shock loading.

I hope that helps?

[cghost]

I replaced both the upper and lower bearings on my system. In the disassembly process, I could see that the gasketing around the base of the binnacle compass had failed and there was evidence of water having gotten inside the pedestal. Since the compass sits directly over the top of both bearings, it appears likely that the badly corroded bearings got that way from water intrusion. They may well have remained serviceable if that leak had not been present.

Replacing the two bearings is not expensive if you do it yourself. I found a good welder who the welded the bracket back onto the bottom of the shaft for $30. It just takes some time and patience. Here are pictures and comments: https://cghost.org/steering-pedestal-repairs/.