Ram Ball Joint

This was one of the survey findings. The surveyor mentioned the ram ball joint was on the way out, but a marine technician looked at it and said it needed to be replaced. I finally got a look at this joint myself. Now I see what they mean. There is rust around the ball joint and the pin won't come out. I gave it a couple of taps with a hammer and...no movement. Then I gave it a couple more taps with gusto and...nothing. I gave up and sprayed with WD-40. Maybe once the WD-40 soaks in, it'll let me take the sucker out and look for a replacement. More to follow on this. By the way, the arm is a hydraulic linear drive for the autopilot. The unit behind it is the rudder feedback unit.