Stern Tube Bearing and Rudder Sleeve Renewal in Dock
What to measure, what material to specify, and how to get the part inside the dock window.
The clearance is the specification
A stern bearing renewed at the wrong clearance either runs hot or knocks, and either way it comes out again at the next survey. The bearing is machined to the shaft diameter and stern tube bore actually in the vessel, at the running clearance you nominate. A standard part number cannot carry that information.
What to measure before you enquire
Shaft diameter at the bearing journal, stern tube bore, bearing length, and the running clearance required. A sketch or the original drawing is enough to quote from. For rudder work, add the rudder stock diameter and the bearing housing bore.
Why nickel aluminium bronze
C63000 nickel aluminium bronze keeps its strength in seawater, resists cavitation and does not seize against a steel shaft the way softer alloys can. It is the standard material for seawater lubricated stern tube bearings and for rudder pin bushings.
Rudder sleeves are forgings
A rudder stock sleeve takes reversing load every time the helm moves. Producing it as a forging rather than turning it from bar means the grain follows the shape and the part does not open up at the keyway under that cycling.
When you machine your own
Yards with their own machine shop often prefer to cut the bushing in dock rather than wait for a finished part. We supply C63000 as bar, rod, flat bar and plate cut to length for exactly that, alongside lead brass and copper rod from the same stock programme.
Need this checked against your vessel?
Send the vessel particulars and the requirement. We will come back with the specification and the certificate list rather than a catalogue page.
Categories covered by this guide
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Send the vessel data, get a specified quotation
Tell us the vessel, the duty and the classification society. We come back with the specification, the certificate list and the packing method — not just a price.