I have been asked on a few occasions what to do to properly look after another important area of your mast. As you can see this is one of the earlier styles of "mast joint section assembly". It also has been upgraded with the earliest version of mast through bolts. I recommend (as always with any mast) to take the mast down every year and inspect the tightness of the joint fastenings. This one has 1/4 hex head bolts fastened through the mast wall and into a backup plate inside the inner sleeve. Use a 7/16 box end wrench to tighten the bolts. Do not over tighten because you will break off the bolt head. If the bolt is really loose then you should back it right out and clean up the threads with a 1/4 X 20 tap and reinstall with red locktite. Also check the tightness of the wishbone hanger pad eyes and use the same proceedure if loose. NOTE : Do not do this check with the mast up (as I know some of you will attempt). It is better to remove the shearing forces from the bolts when retightening.
This illustrates the final design change on the mast joint. The through bolts are made from 5/8 dia. round bar, 316 s.s. trimmed to length and threads cut to a suitable depth. Lock nuts fasten the whole thing together coupled with the wrap around wishbone hanger straps.
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MQYR 2017