The rudder cable on the left foot brace of my Cuda 14 snapped in Cape May. I decided to purchase new cable and parts to replace both sides. This repair is standard for all Jackson Kayak Fishing Kayak models with smart rudder packages installed.

This is a tutorial on how to replace the existing rudder cables with new stainless steel aircraft cable.

Parts needed:

2 Rudder Fork End

2 Clevis Pins

2 Rudder Cable Stop Sleeves

2 Aluminum Swedge (cable crimp)

20 feet of Stainless Steel Rudder Cable

Bike Chain Oil

Shrink Wrap Tubing

All of these parts can be acquired from your local kayak shop or online at http://www.thekayakfishingstore.com/c/Kayak-Rudders.html

Step 1:

To remove the foot track. With a 3/8″ open end wrench and a Philips head screw driver remove the screw behind the foot control track towards the rear of the kayak.

This will allow you to swivel the track upwards and slide the foot pin portion of the foot control track out exposing the cable and the screw it is mounted to. Unscrew where the cable mounts to the track. If the cable is already broken using sheet metal snips or dykes cut the cable so there is no fraying. If not just cut the end metal eye off. Once this is done go to the rudder and slide the cable out of the cable tube. Remove the split ring and the pin holding the existing cable to the rudder. This will detach the existing cable.

Step 2:

Insert the new stainless steel cable into the tubing starting at the foot control. As you slide in the cable inch by inch lube it with a continuous bead of bike chain oil. This will help the cable slide within the tube, keep water out, and hopefully prolong the beginning of any type of corrosion. Once it passes out of the tube at the stern stop feeding after 18″ is exposed.

Step 3:

You will now pass the cable through the opening in the rudder fork then put the cable through the rudder cable stop bullet sleeve. Let about an inch protrude through the sleeve and crimp. If you do not have the aircraft cable stop bullet crimp tool you can use a hammer and a heavy piece of steel to smash it on there with. Then you may cut off the remaining cable end and using the new clevis pin attach to the rudder.

Repeat steps 1 – 3 for the opposite side.

 Step 4:

Attaching the cables to the foot control. Now this is the area where you want to center the rudder and adjust accordingly so everything is perfectly centered. Using the existing screw and nut on the foot brace add 2 washers to hold the cable loop. Slide on the swedge and a 3 inch piece of heat shrunk tubing on the steering cable.  Set the loop of the new cable between the washers and and tighten the nut. The washers will compress the cable and lock it into place. Crimp the swedge with flat pliers locking the cable into place close to the connection of the foot brace. Once complete slide the heat shrink tubing over the cable and clip the tag end back leaving an inch of cable. Now use a heat gun the shrink the tubing over the swedge, the tag end, and the leading end of the cable to protect it from hanging up on anything.

Video to follow soon.

Nothing lasts forever. The stock tank well bungee is falling apart. The sun and weather degrades the bungee over time. In turn the degrading of the bungee made it become very loose and fragile. Purchased a piece of green shock cord/bungee last year but finally got around to getting it on the Cuda 14 this weekend. Although the green I ordered came in as yellow I didn’t mind at all.  Actually it looks really cool!

I originally purchased 10′ of the bungee shock cord. Used about a foot and a half for my crate project last year.  What i had left was just enough to replace the tank well bungee. I would recommend that you purchase 10 feet for the Cuda. This way you can cut off any excess.  Being that it looks really cool on my next boat i will have to find 3/16″ bungee for the bow in yellow!.

I have to say it does add character.

I do hope it holds up well.

The new Lowrance Elite 5 HDI chart plotter/fish finder’s transducer unfortunately is just too large to be scupper mounted flush on the Cuda. About 1/8″ sticks out on the bottom and i feel this will destroy the transducer over time.

Since this is an HDI unit the transducer needs to be mounted on the exterior of the hull below the waterline. A shoot through hull install with this type of unit will degrade the result of the display. I have two mounting options. One would be the Ram Mounts Transducer flex mount kit. The other being that the Cuda 14 has a removable replaceable skid plate with mounting hardware already molded into the boat. Simply I would have to design a bracket that would mount to the yak via the skid plate and bend up the transom to bolt the transducer through. I think this would eliminate the drag of having a bar and the transducer hanging over the side. Mounted inline with the boats hull it would act as a piece of the hull itself. At least these are my hopes.

Angle Aluminum Stock 1″ x 1/16″ x 36″

I recommend  stainless steel angle but as my choice due to its light weight and non rusting properties in salt water i like to start with aluminum. I also paint it so it is resistant from corroding and pitting. Once the aluminum bracket is fabricated maybe I will make one out of stainless steel. Aluminum is fine due to the trial and error phase of this bracket mount. I am two seasons into my previous scupper mount fabrication where i used aluminum and still see minimal corrosion. The kayak doesn’t sit in the salt water and if its rinsed with fresh water every time it prolongs the life.

Angle alum & Skid Plate

I decided to measure where the bend in the aluminum would be and using a Dremel tool cut of one side off the angle to make it flat.

Bend & Drill to align

I measured the existing skid plate screw holes and drilled appropriately for mounting.

Mounted to Skid Plate for measuring

Once the holes were drilled I mounted the bracket to measure with the transducer the amount of angle needed to mount the skimmer so it was aligned flush with the underside of the hull.

side view mounted to skid plate before cutting

Once i cut the long piece off it looked like this (below)

Transducer Mount after cutting

Transducer Mount after cutting

 Once this was done I aligned the transducer with the bottom of the hull and marked where to drill the hole. Then painted the bracket with black paint to resist the corrosive salt water.

Painted!

Now for mounting!!

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer

Mounted Transducer!

Thats a pretty clean mount! I hope it wil work with loading and unloading the yak on and off my truck. Unfortunatlly it was the best solution but i think it will be fine!

Next will need to run the wiring so i have to figure out how im going to run all of the wire through the hull temporarily for the remainder of the season. These Lowrance wires and plugs are very large and makes the install tough. As in the photos below you can see my existing install using C-Caps. The plug collar is actually larger than the 3/4″ hole drilled here.  I might be temporarily installing through the hatch and then replacing the hatch in the future.  This will give me a chance to hinge the back end of the hatch. At least i can try it once before the final with out worrying about it being pretty..

Existing Hull Pass Through

Existing Hull Pass Through

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