Naiad lower seal replacement

[jpaddy-MAMT]

Naiad is pretty much always right on the money with their advice in my experience. I've attended their factory dealer training and have worked extensively with their stabilizers in both new installs and service. I will be glad to help anyone in the Chesapeake area with stabilizer service issues, should they need it.

[Brian Degulis]

I found the Main Naiad Branch in Conn. to be helpfull and knowledgable. The Ft lauderdale Fl branch absouloutly sucks. I'm in Fl but always deal with Conn.

Brian

[captddis]

I found the Main Naiad Branch in Conn. to be helpfull and knowledgable. The Ft lauderdale Fl branch absouloutly sucks. I'm in Fl but always deal with Conn.

Brian

The FL branch had a tech call back to answer a question which was nice, but the parts guy seemed annoyed that I did not have part numbers and acted like I was bothering him.

[SKYCHENEY]

I have always dealt with David Yish in Conn. He is very helpful and I never need the part numbers. He always knows what I need just by a description and model number.

[SKYCHENEY]

Just helped Airpilot replace his seals today. The port fin came off real easily. For removal of the stbd fin, we ended up with 3 guys on the end of a 3/4 drive rachet and a 4 foot pipe. Finally it popped off and we got the seals replaced. Ended up being a 6hr job.

[TopHattandTails]

Great Sky. When you remount those fins, is there a key, or notch, or something to keep the fin in place? Wondering 1) how to make sure the fin is aligned in the correct spot once removed/reinstalled; and 2) what keeps the fin from spinning while underway? Or is a tapered shaft enough? If so would you mark the fin and hull to know the alignment? 3) do you insert the locking pins when you do this job?

[bobk]

I watched a mechanic R&R my seals a year ago. He did put in the centering pins before he did anything. Next he measured distances from leading and trailing edges to a marked point on the keel and returned them to this position when he was finished. All this I guess presumes they were in the correct position to begin with.

Bob

[SKYCHENEY]

Put the locking pins in. Then take a sharpie and trace around the fin so you have an outline on the hull above it. When you reinstall, you will hold the fin in that same spot and tighten the bolt in the end of it to 350ft/lbs +/- 20. You need a BA torque wrench for that and that fin will NOT move once you get it torqued.

[TopHattandTails]

So, I'm envisioning I loosen the nut holding the fin in place, and with 350 lbs holding it there for a likely good many years, does the "special tool" pull the fin down somehow? I'm thinking that the fin just won't fall off the shaft, but will need to be encouraged...

[SKYCHENEY]

So, I'm envisioning I loosen the nut holding the fin in place, and with 350 lbs holding it there for a likely good many years, does the "special tool" pull the fin down somehow? I'm thinking that the fin just won't fall off the shaft, but will need to be encouraged...

Correct. You will need a 3/4 drive rachet with an extension to get up to the bolt. The head is 1 3/8" (I think). Once you get that bolt out, you then screw in the puller tool. The tool is essentially a hardened fine thread bolt that jacks the fin off of the tapered shaft.

The problem with the tool is that if water has gotten up into the fin, the threads that the tool screws into may not be clean. This makes it rough to get the tool screwed up there and is the reason they make a special hardened bolt for this.