Hood furler halyard top spinner thing fix-up

[bclery]

I got that halyard top spining thing off my Hood roller furler.  I took it appart to inspect the condition and found some very odd bearnings.  Has anybody taken this thing apart and cleaned/refurbished it?

The bearings are half big and half little balls, alternating.  The inner bearings are 38 balls and the outer ones are 40 balls, very odd for other wise identical bearings.  Were they really trying to save money on 4 balls?

The inner two bearings are in fine shape (the take no load), the outer two are more worn (they take the load).  I think that just swapping the races and some new grease will provide another 20 years of perfect service.

Has anyone replaced these bearings?  It seems that Hood (now Pompanette) only sells the whole unit for $500.

Pompanette sells bearings for the drum, are they the same ?

[bclery]

Some info from Pompanette..

The bearings are the same in the drum and the halyard swivel; 4 bearings in each place.  So you CAN replace the bearings in the top.

The cost is $61 PER bearing, this includes the inner (cone) race, outter (bucket) race, and all balls.  I think this cost is very high for a single open-case bearing with a stamped race (not even machined).  That's $244 for bearings for the halyard swivel.

[Ron Hill]

Bill : I sent you a message that I just happen to have that top double swivel (attach to the halyard and the head of the sail). 
You can have it for the cost of shipping.  I'll try to give you a call. 

[Ron Hill]

Guys : I talked to Bill and he doesn't need that double swivel unit.
 
The offer still stands to anyone that may need it. Send me the postage and it's yours!!