Section : Suspension

trunions

Posted By : Matthew Odolphie, 05-Jun-2003, 08:25am

• trunions

  Posted By : Michael Charlton, 05-Jun-2003, 08:49am

  Wellllll - - --lets put it this way after problems of this nature back in the seventies and just recently when the front end felled like a heiffer in an abbatoir,I decided it was better to change the lot.
  £110.00 per side ,v/l ,bushes trunnions etc.
  
  Far better than doing half the job than tearing half the tar mac up on the A1 when the front end collapses
  
  Oil Vs Grease ? I have my own opinions about this.
  
  OILS- dissipates quickly,harder to top up ,can leak
  
  GREASES- If you choose the correct type of grease that does not solidify ,my own personal opinion is that it repels water better especially if it instilled right into the top rubber boot
  
  I know what is reccomended and not going to countermand that opinion but being an `older` Spitfire driver and having my first MK3 in 1973 ,I know what I prefer
  
  Mike

  • trunions

    Posted By : Graham Reeks, 05-Jun-2003, 09:00am

    What sort of grease is the right sort then Michael?
    I'd been led to believe grease was the best way of guaranteeing a need for regular trunnion changes.

    • trunions

      Posted By : Matthew Odolphie, 05-Jun-2003, 09:52am

      I have experanced link failer twice(not both in my car) both times it was due to lack of oil so perhapes a low temp grease would be better option

      • trunions

        Posted By : Andrew Lewis, 05-Jun-2003, 10:32am

        Penrite make a semi fluid grease to deal with exactly this problem

        • trunions

          Posted By : John Davies, 06-Jun-2003, 05:47pm

          All,
          I bow to Michael Charlton's enormous length of ownership - that's Triumph experience!
          
          But two points:
          1/ As I understand it, oil is recomended because of the wear characteristics of the trunnion metal (Brass, ?bronze?). Wear fragments remain suspended in grease and stay in the threads to act abrasively on the remaining trunnion metal. In oil, they can fall down via the slot in the threads into the base where they can do no harm. I am NOT a metallurgist, so I report a convincing explanation that I have been told with authority, not from my own knowledge.
          
          2/ Michael - 'dissipating' oil? How fast? Modern trunnions are often made with a steel cup like a core plug, pressed into the base, rather than the original solid base type. These plugs can fit badly and allow oil to leak (rather than dissipate). Grease will not pass through the very small leak, so appears to be the better lubricant.
          If you have bought this modern type, and are fitting new, then clean with solvent and smear epoxy glue around the inside of the joint to seal it. This won't work with a used trunnion - too much oil in the joint!
          
          Good luck to your trunnions!
          John

          • trunions

            Posted By : Michael Charlton, 11-Jun-2003, 01:33pm

            Now I am back from hols and viewing 'Trunnions'
            I wish I hadn`t returned... called a can of worms I thinks.
            
            Anyway, Renolit EP00 is the one as used by old farts that drive old cars, I mean for the trunnions not the knees. Got it from another old fart that drove MkI Sprites from a company called FUCHS... yers FUCHS!
            
            PS.
            the reason my car felled like a heifer unlike halal slaughter, was that the vertical link had snapped right at the top of the neck, not because of trunnion failure and the old bit of link screwed out with a with a screwdriver ! - grease was the lub
            
            I'll resurrect this thread in 15 years time - if I get a failure. Me no think um so !
            
            Mike