After three seasons of using my TI and lubing the rotating mast bearings with WD40, my mast rotation was becoming so stiff that the sail would not unfurl all the way or fully rotate when I changed tacks.
So.. I took the bearing receiver apart, cleaned everything up and inspected the bearings. There was a lot of crud in there but it seems all still in good shape.
I also had all four screws of the base section in the tube work loose and may have been rubbing on the bottom of the mast reciever. I have used loctite on those screws in the past but maybe the water that pools in there occasionally degrades the loctite over time.
After tightening the screws and with the bearings all clean, the rotation seems all good now.
But before I re lube, I am wondering if there is something better than WD40 for lubing the bearing? It took several years of plenty of use before I had a problem so maybe I just have to plan for a yearly or every other year cleaning. But.. maybe some dry lube wont gum up or take longer to gum up..
Anything better than WD40 for lubing the mast rotater bearings on a TI?
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