Freedom 25: Lower Mast bearing removal

Well after a few months of putting this off, I final took the plunge and did a full Freedom 25 Rotating Wing low Bearing service. I learned a lot and hope these pics and info help anybody who is looking to do this work to their Freedom 25.

This pic is before I started, you can see the bottom of the mast is in fair condition some cracking of paint and laminate. The cable running down the mast is for the mast head light.

What you are looking at is 3 parts:

1. outer ring: Lower Grease seal

2. fat ring inside: old bearing is rusty and seized in the mast

3. smallest inner ring: upper Grease seal

Note: from looking at this for many months, it looks like the lower grease seal is a metal section laminated in the mast base (this is not so) and their are 3 screws threaded into mast which do nothing.

This is a side shot of lower mast, note the 3 small threaded holes are for 3 stainless screws. which I removed to find did nothing and attached to nothing in the mast.

This is a pic of the Lower Grease seal which was pressed in to the lower section of the mast.

Tool to pull:

1. puller, pic below

2. ice pick with tip bent 90 degress

Note: you can see all the old grease and dirt build up as this process moves along.

Pic of the puller, I used the pick to clean out old grease dirt and seal to give me room to install puller

This shows Lower grease seal removed and a tape measure to show the gap.

Note: the inner grey steel ring is the inner section of the bearing, and the rust colored material around the outside are the bearing rollers which are solid rust and holding it in place.

Bearing removed, this just pulled right out with pick and some penetrating oil.

note: you can see in the pic the race for the the bearing which is pressed into the mast.

*save old bearing, as it will be used to help press new Race into mast.

Mast Bearing race: after some cleaning you can see the bearing race which the bearing rolls on and the upper grease seal.

note: you can start to see that the end of mast is solid Resin, and that all these parts are press fit into the resin which is bored out to different diameters to hold each part.

Removal of Bearing Race is the hardest part of the job.

the process: est 2 hrs

1. use pick to clean out as much of a groove between upper section of Race and shoulder in mast.

2. soak with penetrating oil

3. I ended up grinding down the puller sections to a find point to help get behind the Race. I also made sure to pull evenly, rotating the puller 90 degrees often.

4. after the Race came half way out I used a dremal to cut Race section, which helped me to pull the race the rest of the way out of mast

Race almost out of mast, you can see were I cut the part.

Race removed

bearing race removed, cleaned up and tape measure to show scale.

Everything removed

starting from bottom as they sit in mast:

1. Bottom grease seal

2. Bearing

3. Bearing race

4. Upper grease seal

F25 back stay service:

when I got my boat, the back stays had not been used for a few years and the rope sections were worn and broken off. due to budget issues I decided to stay with original design and to add new line, I did upgrade line quality and down size diameter from 3/8th to 5/16th. I have to thank my friend Cameron for his help splicing this line.

detail shot of splice from line to wire, I could not find any info about what length the line should be so I guessed at 20' per side and figure I cut down if to long.

After working on the rigging for this boat, I have to say that modern upgrades would be a real help, and I plan to upgrade all rigging which attaches to top of mast from cable to 12 strand Spectra with UV protection, this will save a lot of weight. and prevent all possible shaving of metal parts on carbon spar and sails, it will also be much stronger and no stretch.

Freedom 25 outhaul upgrade:

This is a few pics of the upgrade and service to the outhaul system which is inside of the boom of my Freedom 25.

this pic is taken from gooseneck side of boom, it shows the entire outhaul system which is laying on the boom so you can see how it works.

upgrades:

1. upgraded line in purchase and down sized it's diameter to help it work more smoothly, est length of 25 feet. which puts the middle block in the middle of the boom allowing it to move freely away from through bolts.

2. removed cable which ran through shiv and attached to sail, and replaced with 3/16th 12 strand spectra with UV coating, this line has a 5,000lb breaking point, weighs less then half of cable and runs much smoother, and nothing to bind or rust.

This detail shows the spliced spectra to the block. I reduced the travel of the purchase so their was less line, and clutter in the boom. and ran a single line to end of boom. est length is 10'

This detail shows the end of spectra which replaced the cable, the boom end fitting with shevs are not in pic but you should get the point from the pic, the end of spectra is spliced and I have a captive stainless shackle to attach to the sail.

Freedom 25 Boom service: full tear down and over haul

top view:

note slider which runs in the track

bottom view:

from non gooseneck end of boom

gooseneck end cap removed, 4 flat head screws hold it into boom. the blue line is at chase line for the outhaul. I plan to sand blast and clean up end caps and service all parts.

End of boom cap removed note the center pulley is metal which is takes the metal wire for out haul. To my supprise I found the entire outhaul purchase inside of boom with line broken and cable snapped clear off. I plan to service pulleys sand blast and clean up.

This is the outhaul purchase from inside the boom, you can see the metal wire to the left has been broken and the line is worn out and sheared off. I have set so you can see how it would sit in boom. to the right is a stainless bolt 14mm with nylon lock nut which secures the block and the opposite block has the wire out haul line crimped on.

I'm planning on upgrading the line for the purchase and down grade size so it runs better, service the blocks and will replace the broken wire with Spectra which should be lighter, stronger, and run easier.

Tiller service:

Think this is a common item on Freedom 25's

a nice large tiller, with varnish peeling

and wood started to break down

after a little sanding the tiller is starting to look pretty good, still needs more sanding and a few coats of varnish. I'm going to try some epoxy clear coat I use for garage floors.

This is test fit to make sure I don't fill any holes I need, I plan to add a Spinlock tiller extension, and a tiller controler.

back in the shed: finish up bottom work

removed all the paint from rudder

and did a quick sand.

ready for bottom paint

1st coat of bottom paint, kept the water line the same as before with about 2" of white showing, I hope to lighten up the boat over time but this will take some time to sort out

As I was doing bottom paint decided to put a fresh coat on my whaler, also found a new use for my car lift.

'started to make a small fleet'

Pulling Gonzo out of the shed, on a rainy day, I was hoping to get more done inside and wish it was not raining. Last weekend did a full engine service and tune up, the Yanmar is alive and running nicely starts on the 1st turn.

Next week I will be pulling her back in the shed to finish up as much as I can before her launch and sea trial from Prov to Wickford RI.

bottom work:

here are some pics of my Freedom 25 after the bottom paint has been removed, I was able to scrape it all off as it was not sticking to the hull very well. As you can see I found a few thru hole's which were filled some done right some not, and some damage which needs to be addressed. I plan to do a 100 grit sand and do 2 light coats of bottom paint.

note: with bottom paint removed from frt one can really see the hull shape which is quite nice,"did I buy a J24 ;)"