Dolphin striker tension rod won't budge

Hi all-

I recently replaced my mast step, but without the dolphin striker in place because there was too much tension on it. Even while I was standing on the tension rod I couldn't get the new mast step down onto the cross beam. So now the dolphin striker is installed into the mast base, but is not in it's sleeve on the tension rod. I am assuming i need to loosen the tension rod all the way to get the striker back into it's sleeve, but the rod won't budge where it exits the corner castings. I am assuming it is supposed to move freely in there once the nut is loosened, but I think there is a lot of salt buildup in there and it is locked in place. Any suggestions? I've tried hammering it, tried moving/pulling the tension rod, but it is stuck. Should I try to unbolt the corner casting from the hull and then remove the casting from the cross beam and try twisting it around the tension rod?

Thanks,
James

The aluminum corner casting has corroded from the stainless steel dolphin striker rod and the corrosion has caused the rod to seize in the casting. Unlikely that any amount of hammering will free it up. Your idea of removing the crossbar and and then taking off the end caps is on the right track. In my experience, that's the only way you will get the the striker rod free. Removing the corner casting from the crossbar can bring about it's own challenges. You will likely need to use a large flat blade screw driver and a mallet to carefully tap the casting out of the crossbar. Once you free the casting, clamp a pair of vice grips onto the striker rod right next to the casting and twist the casting off the rod.

Once you get everything disassembled, wire brush all the corrosion deposits off of the striker rod and before reassembling, coat the ends of the striker rod with anti-seize grease.

Another option, which might be simpler, would be to drill out the rivets from the mast step. Then re-install the step with the striker post inserted in the sleeve and use a car jack between the bottom of the crossbar and the striker rod to jack the mast step down flush with the top of the crossbar. This is the method mmiller has recommended in prior posts.

sm

I recently replaced the front cross beam together with a new step. For the dolphin striker, I machined a new striker rod and made it to fit within the step.

I did try remove the old rod but found this impossible as it was seized.

Roll on Tanzacat, my H18 is now in Dar Es Salaam and we start the Zanzibar raid in just over 3 weeks time.

_________________
Richard Stephens

Hi Richard-

The problem isn't with the dolphin striker itself, but the tension rod that run below the cross beam.



I'm working on this now, thought I would try the casting removal method first. The casting is about an inch out of the cross bar but now the tension rod is getting so tight, it can't come any further.

This may sound drastic, but could I/should I cut the tension rod and replace it with a new one later? Or would it be better to use the car jack method?

James

I decided it wasn't worth $90 for a new rod, so I went the car jack route, and everything is now fixed!

Thanks for the advice, srm!

James