Steering failure- Lewmar drag link

[Halo]

Last Tuesday I was having a great sail up to Sunderland for lunch. Massive pod of dolphins off Hartlepool and a great offshore breeze. Then total loss of steering
We dropped the sails ,fitted the emergency tiller and motored back. It only took 5 minutes to get control but was glad we were in a quiet area.
When we got back I lifted the cockpit floor and found the drag link had fallen off. Lewmar part AHFT 10 refers. The joint had worn and fallen off. I refitted it and used a large washer to stop it falling off again. See photo below to see repair and washer. I have ordered a new one and will fit it asap There is a design weakness if it can fall off so will put the big washer back on.

 

[Rappey]

The joint had worn and fallen off

These rose joints/bearings or rod ends are used for many things including track rod ends on atvs. If there was a design weaknes many would have been seriously injured with them falling off ?
They exhibit play when worn which is usually an indication that it needs changing rather than keep using it until it completely fails.
I have one of these on a large long keel rudder and has been working flawlessly for the past 30 years.
You must have had play in your steering before it failed ?

 

[Halo]

There was no detectable play when I inspected it a few months ago. The design flaw is that if it wears it can (and did) fall off without notice BUT putting a 10 p washer underneath it on top of the M10 nyloc nut would mean it could not fall off and is a much more intrinsically safe arrangement - as shown in the picture.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

That’s an awful lot of wear in a few months, the design flaw is that the rose joint is fitted below the quadrant and not on the top where it couldn’t just fall off.

 

[Rappey]

From the pic it looks like the tiller arm, rod end and drag link are all nearly in line ? I would expect the rod end/drag link to be attached to the tiller arm at around 90 degrees. The washer could restrict the articulation of the spherical bearing in the rod end ?
Im presuming yours has a spherical centre that the bolt goes through ? How did you get it back in ?
A great temporary fix though

 

[Halo]

In the picture the quadrant was at the extreme end of its travel so is mainly more at 90 degrees as you suggest.
To put it back in place I just pulled it up. The washer doesn’t restrict the motion in any way.
As Fr Hacket says it would be better if the rose joint was on top of the quadrant.
If your boat has it positioned below then putting something in place to prevent a similar incident may be a good idea

 

[penberth3]

....As Fr Hacket says it would be better if the rose joint was on top of the quadrant.....

If it's badly worn it could still pop off in the upward direction. The steering forces would overcome gravity.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I agree with Fr J Hackett the rose joint should ne on top with the pin through it from above and a split pin below which makes it fail safe.

If it was designed that way its bad design practice as rose joints are used on trial cars and fitting it that way would be positively dangerous

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Not sure I understand. If the rod end slips over the pin in the tiller, then it needs a retaining feature or it will fall out, or has the bored ball fallen out of the rod end housing? If the latter, then something is amiss. The reason I am confused is that my drag links have an integral ball with tapered pin, with a pressed steel lid over the opposite side. I assume this keeps the ball / pin in place. The taper pin sits in the tiller with a nut on the end, like a track rod end on a car. It is very hard to separate. The OPs looks like it just slips over a pin, like some designs of rod ends, in which case it would need something on the pin like the OPs solution.

 

[Halo]

 

[Halo]

The outer rod end fell out over the ball , pin washer and nut. It required a hard pull by hand to snap the rod outer back into place. I will post a picture of the parts when the new one arrives and I replace the worn one

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Thanks for the explanation.