Prowler 15 rudder cord replacement with cable/tuneup

   After a lot of use, the cord to the footpeg frayed and broke and I needed to replace it.  I went to the local West Marine, and while they had several sizes of small strong cord, none in the ropes section were small enough to fit in the tubes that run all the way along the inside of the yak to the stern.  So I wandered into the fishing goods department and found some nylon coated s/s wire just the right size and the crimps to go with it.  I also bought two roundhead 1/4" x 3/4" bolts, four 1/4" washers and two nylon insert 1/4 nuts.  I was able to use a pair of visegrips to crimp the wire and some sidecutting pliers to cut it. 
The result is, in my opinion, better than the original.  Photos of the project are attached. The job was made much easier by looking at Ocean Kayak's Product support site:

http://www.oceankayak.com/product_support/downloads/prowler15_rudder.pdf

You basically center the rudder and attach the forward end of the cables first, use some heat shrink plastic tubing to cover the crimp, and bolt the cable to the rudder between two washers - keep them somewhat loose.

  While I was at it, I noticed that the tube the cables exit in the stern were split lengthwise enough to snag the old cord, probably causing me to use more force on the footpeddle and breaking the cord.  I turned the tubes 90 degrees and wrapped electrical tape around the ends several wraps to keep the new cable from doing the same damage.
   I also noticed that the bungies that pull the footpegs forward so the rudder stays centered and the cords/cables stay taut don't perform that function when the pegs are set for someone with long legs.  So I added some new bungies made of surgical tubing and ran them back inside and to the back of the sliding section and tied them off (they don't need to be too tight). I had to drill a hole in the top of the forward part of the plastic rail to make the forward attachment. I could have
removed the original bungies, but they weren't in the way and it looked like it would require unbolting the rails.  The new bungies keep the footpegs pulled forward and keep the slack out of the cords/cables, so they won't get snagged and broken.
   Finally, I pulled the rudder pintle ("pintle and gudgeon", I use that phrase all the time) (the pin the rudder swivels on) out because the rudder was hard to move, also probably contributing to the cord breaking.    I used my electric drill and reamed it out with a bit the size of the pintle.  Lots of gunk and sand in there.

 

  The old line looks like "spectra"   It's the line thats used in my OB for the rudder, lift & steerage.  Don't think you'll be breaking your lines any time soon now!  Do you think the steel lines might cut into the hull now if they wear through the guides?

Troy

The old lines looked to be 3/32", some non-stretch material,maybe dacron,  didn't look like spectra to me. The steel line is nylon coated, so it's just a little smaller than the original. Looks to be just a few strands of wire inside. More plastic than wire, but 174 # test. I'll be watching whether it cuts into the tube, I doubt it will because it's more slippery than the cord. The tube should protect the hull. It'd be a doable but tough job to replace the whole tube, you'd need to get your arm way inside the small hatch, maybe even have to remove the female side of the hatch.
 But one problem I noticed is that the rudder goes so far to each side that the cable has little leverage to pull it back - that probably contributed to the tubes getting sliced. Maybe the rudder needs to have a "stop" on each side, so it doesn't go so far around, but I thought I'd see if it works ok before I mess with it any more and to KISS.

I've now tested it on the water and it works great. Much smoother, no hang-ups.

  Update: Well, almost 3 years with the ss wire fix of the rudder cables with no problems and then I broke one off at the bolt to the rudder, but was able to splice, using swedges, another piece of wire in to do an easy fix.  Also, the surgical tubing to pull the pedals forward had completely deteriorated, so I'm replacing it with thin bungie, the old bungie's frayed but still there, but doesn't pill the pedals far enough forward for my long legs.
   Got warned that I was replying to an old post, but went ahead and sent this one, because the pics helped me figure out what I'd done 3 years ago, and I want to be able to find them in another 3!
    P.S.:  After the rudder cable broke off, I tried to continue trolling without the rudder, and with just an 8 oz ball, I was paddling almost exclusively on the pole side- put me down as a definite rudder fan - on a P15 at least.  When I bought the yak, I was afraid I'd break the rudder off, but it's taken a beating and is still solid.