Ram ball rehabilitation

The 1" ball on a 1/4-20 stud threaded into a Motorcycle Larry handlebar cover has been in use on my bike since 2006. The Garmin 2730 mounted on it was the first thing I added to my ST eight years ago. The 2730 has been replaced by a Zumo 550 and the angle of the arm to the ball is different to aim the screen where I like it. However I find that during a long ride the Zumo would gravitate lower and I'd have to push it back up into position. It never fell all the way down, it would just move down to a different angle and no matter how tight I clamped the arm the Zumo would find it's own favorite position a bit lower than I prefer. I got to looking at the ball the other day and saw years of constant pressure had permanently deformed the ball into vaguely a squashed football shape so the arm would migrate into the "old" position on it's own. These 1" balls aren't very expensive at about 8 bucks and figured on getting a new one but before doing that I considered repairing it. I heated the oven to 175 degrees and threaded the ball into a small block of wood. I put the ball in the oven for 10 minutes and it softened up and returned to a round shape. The permanent marks the clamp had made were gone. Now it works like new again.

Most excellent idea! Thank you dduelin.

Mike

Nice Dave I ended up buying a new one but now I will rehab the old one and have a spare.

I thought they had a lifetime warranty. If so it would probably cost as much to send it back as it's worth. Have to remember trick.

Good to know! I've the same configuration since late 2004, and I've noticed some deformation of the ball

Wow....it's a shame when your balls deform [emoji13]
Good idea tho...

Great tip! Thanks

Thank you!

And your wife was good with letting you put that in the oven?

I love finding stuff like this on the forum. Thanks for the share and I will be doing this soon I think.

970mike said:

And your wife was good with letting you put that in the oven?

Click to expand...

I get up early and she sleeps late and this was an early morning idea.

That's amazing Dave, I never would have that about doing that.
My 550 does slowly sink to the south and I'm always having to push it back up.
I may have to try this just for grins.

Eric

Awesome idea, thanks for sharing.

Never thought about putting my balls in the oven to rejuvenate them... great tip, Dave!