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Old 07-12-2010, 08:15 PM   #2
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
RE: Rudder connector ball and socket damaged

The two questions that come to mind are what bent the cap, and why did the manufacturer install the cap?

Presumably the manufacturer had a good reason for installing the cap. I have no idea what it was, but it's rare that a manufacturer will stick on a component just for the fun of it. So my guess it was there to serve a purpose.

I suspect the reason it was bent is that the connecting rod was rotated by some force and with enough force for the socket on the end of the rod to bend one side of the cap up. I suspect that it is not normally supposed to do this. Or perhaps the cap is there to prevent the rod from rotating enough to allow the socket to pop off the ball.

In any event it seems obvious that something did not operate as designed and that the damage to the cap was the result. If the rod is being forced to rotate with enough pressure to bend the cap, then my take on it is that there is a problem with the steering system--- it's out of adjustment or something is sticking or is out of alignment--- and that this should be corrected before trusting your boat to what seems to me to be a definite problem.
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