oops my travaler car came off the track

[Dan Geltmacher]

I got a little Forest Gump in me I guess. I slid the traveler car off the track and the bearings all fell out. Anyone know of way to get it back on without removing the track? The track is not coming off short of me drilling out the end anchor flathead screws. Both are stuck solid- after banging on them with an impact screwdriver.Dan the not sailing this weekend man (at least on my boat)

 

[Pete]

traveler track question...

Don't feel too bad, the stops (what are these things called?) on my traveler are locked in place because the pins have fused them together somehow...so now I can't pull them out of the spot they are in.So, I need to saw them off to get at the bolts holding the track.This is a new boat (for me) -yet another obsticle before sailing....Does anyone know where I can buy the stops on the traveler for the stock main track?

 

[Dan Geltmacher]

Mine are Harken

Pete, My travler is a harken. The stops/blocks are harken as well. I can send you/post digital pictures of them if that will help. I think I may have figured out how to reload the bearing without removing the track. My only question is are these bearings lubricated or dry. There wasn't a drop/bit or any evidence they ever had a grease on them. That indicates they were dry all along. I may be showing my ignorance of sailboat rigging/equipement but that's OK cause I am ignorant.Hawaii Dan

 

[Keith Redfield]

Harken bearings are Delrin

Hi Dan,Been there, done that. The end-cap on the traveller car (not the track) can be removed - should be some small slotted screw heads visible- and bearings stuffed back inside from there. The bearings are Delrin, and are NOT lubricated. You probably lost some bearings in the process - you may want to call Harken and find out how many there are supposed to be. There is always one empty space so that the bearings can run through the races properly.Happy sailing,-Keithp.s You can sail without a working traveller - you just need to secure your mainsheet to something solid - in fact it's on my list to mount a U-bolt so that I have an emergency attachment point in the event of a traveller failure.

 

[dan geltmacher]

got it!

That's exactly what I did! First I had go to West Marine and by some replacement bearings and load them back in from the end. ThanksDan