Ferrule Question

Today I was cleaning my TM blades and noticed that some of the ferrules felt loose. The one on my 3-Iron wobbles back and forth and the one on my 8-Iron spins all the way around.

I am a bit weary of using them now because I hit very down on the ball, and I'm afraid that the torque this puts on the head will cause it to break because of the loose ferrule. Should I take them to Golf Galaxy to get them checked out?

I have heard that the ferrule is just cosmetic, but just making sure before I play with them again.

Thanks in advance.

Worst case scenario this wouldn't cause anything to break, but rather cause the clubhead to twist off. Then you just get it re-attached.

I've had a couple loose ferrules replaced, and I was always told that it's not really a big deal. If the ferrule is rigid and there's a gap between it and the head, that may mean that the head is slowly sliding downward and may be prone to flying off in the near future, but aside from that I think it's purely cosmetic. The ferrule doesn't actually hold onto the clubhead, the clubhead is a piece of metal attached to the shaft, the plastic around the top doesn't do much to absorb the torque forces.

I've noticed this on my Callaways, which I've heard are notorious coming from the factory and having ferrules come loose. The thing is, the ferrules are pretty damn solid, I can't twist them, but there are gaps between the club head and ferrule. I'm inclined to think the head is coming off but they feel snug on there as well.

Now that the weather is taking a down turn I might take them in and get them worked on. I'd hate to have a head go flying down the range or come off during a round!

Ferrules are purely cosmetic, nothing to worry about. That said, I can't stand seeing one loose.

If you want to fix it yourself, it's pretty simple with simple tools. Get some epoxy and mix it up, it doesn't need to be fancy...you don't need the golf specific epoxy for this because you're just trying to get the ferrule to adhere. Take a toothpick and put the epoxy in the gap between the ferrule and clubhead. Now, take a 3/8" end wrench, or similar metric...whatever size you can find that will fit over the shaft but will still act as a mandrel against the ferrule. Put the wrench on top of the ferrule and use a hammer to tap on the wrench, gently tapping the ferrule back into place. I did it this way before I got a shaft puller that I could use to do the same thing. The top of the ferrule may get a little marred by the wrench, if so you can wipe it down with a little acetone and it will clean right up. The tighterthe wrench fits around the shaft, the better.

I actually returned a used set of Callaway X-18's that the head of the 3 iron flew off. Only had them a week and this happened. Golfsmith took them back and I went with brand new X-20's a bit more $ but at least I knew they were okay and had no rust. Anyway back to this forum topic. So my X-20 PW ferrule cracked and was sliding up and down, it drove me nuts so I crazy clued the little sucker in place. That being said I hate the X-20 ferrules they are the little doughnut looking ones. Anyway my question is can I have them changed to a different style without havinbg to change anything else on the club?

I hated those little ferrules on my X-18r's, too.

So has anyone replaced the ferrules with a different style on a set of X-20's? Pictures?

I have X20 irons. The ferrules look more like a small locking ring than a normal ferrule.

As from past experience, if the ferrule is loose, I would check the clubhead-shaft joint to make sure everything is OK. Years ago, I saw the ferrule slipping on the 7 iron of my MacGregor MTs. I hit it over a lake on a par 3, and the 7-iron head flew off and into the lake. A ball dredging crew was about 100 yards to the left. My partners and I had "marked" about where the clubhead should have landed. The bottom was so soft, however, the crew couldn't find it.

I ended up replacing it with an oddball MT 7 iron from a couple of years later. Loose clubhead "ruined the set."

So, make sure you just have a slipping ferrule, and not a loose clubhead. In these times, liability issues possible.