A lot of older furlers are obsolete because the companies have changed the design and no longer support the older stuff. There are also a lot of different foil types sizes etc. So to get the right drum the design is critical. Some will only
work with a particular foil pattern.
CDI for example went from rigid piece type foil to a plastic flexfoil and the list goes on. I had two CDIs one 49 ft and the other 56 ft They had the same foil pattern but different
head and drum sets. Had the same problem as you. Things were getting brittle and breaking. Had to replace the two furlers. Installed Alado from
Brazil. Drum, Drum housing,
head assembly heavy duty. Cast
aluminum and uses the inside
Halyard (which I wanted). Easy to install.