Ashley Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 The recent improvement in the weather has encouraged me to prepare for a service on my TR6. Having only had the car a little over 6months this will be the first service that I have carried out on it. I note that the triumph repair operation manual states " use OIL to lubricate the lower steering swivels " and the haynes manual " apply gease gun to lower steering swivels ". Grease is far easier for me, but before I commit some awful crime, I would be very interested to hear if anyone has an opinion on this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 The recent improvement in the weather has encouraged me to prepare for a service on my TR6. Having only had the car a little over 6months this will be the first service that I have carried out on it. I note that the triumph repair operation manual states " use OIL to lubricate the lower steering swivels " and the haynes manual " apply gease gun to lower steering swivels ". Grease is far easier for me, but before I commit some awful crime, I would be very interested to hear if anyone has an opinion on this. The book calls for gear oil in the TR6 trunnions and when you look at how the vertical link and trunnion is designed it seems plausible that gear oil under pressure could wend its way down the vertical link to the bottom of the trunnion and back up beyond the threaded section to lubricate the upper part of the trunnion and the bearing surface of the vertical link. However you will find plenty of people using modern grease for this application too either because they didnt know any better or because that made sense to them. This has been discussed quite a bit in the past so a search for "trunnion" would ferret those posts out. The forum search engine is brain dead so dont include "oil" in your search. Stan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 The book calls for gear oil in the TR6 trunnions and when you look at how the vertical link and trunnion is designed it seems plausible that gear oil under pressure could wend its way down the vertical link to the bottom of the trunnion and back up beyond the threaded section to lubricate the upper part of the trunnion and the bearing surface of the vertical link. However you will find plenty of people using modern grease for this application too either because they didnt know any better or because that made sense to them. This has been discussed quite a bit in the past so a search for "trunnion" would ferret those posts out. The forum search engine is brain dead so dont include "oil" in your search. Stan Thanks Stan for the info. I see from the search that this really has caused much discussion in the past, I feel that I have opened up an old wound! All the best, Ashley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
88V8 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You can put oil in with a grease gun. Less bother to use oil as should be rather than eventually replace the trunnion. Ivor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You can put oil in with a grease gun. Less bother to use oil as should be rather than eventually replace the trunnion. Ivor Thanks Ivor, I have just purchased a grease gun's flexible hose and I am considering the best method to try and force some oil down it! All the best Ashley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You can put oil in with a grease gun. Less bother to use oil as should be rather than eventually replace the trunnion. Ivor Thanks Ivor, I have just purchased a grease gun's flexible hose and I am considering the best method to try and force some oil down it! All the best Ashley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
badshead Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks Ivor, I have just purchased a grease gun's flexible hose and I am considering the best method to try and force some oil down it! All the best Ashley. I've tried using a grease gun to get some oil in, but very messy as the oil tends to leak out all over the place. I invested in an oil gun from Frost http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?pro...t=Miscellaneous - does the job much better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BrianC Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I invested in an oil gun from Frost http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?pro...t=Miscellaneous - does the job much better. That looks similar to the original grease pump supplied in early TR toolkits, or does it have a self-locking tip like a normal grease gun (e.g. Tecalemite, Wanner, etc) to clamp onto the nipple? In the past, I have used a flexi extension with a grease gun with EP80 with reasonable success (provided the nipples are in good condition - preferably new - otherwise leaks and dribbles are inevitable). I prefer to have a lever to control the flow rather than a straight push (which also requires the nipple to be in exactly the right location and nothing else in the way of the pump). I am due to try using this very soon as a compromise, although I'm not sure which will be the best way to apply it Semi Fluid Penrite Grease A self-levelling Grease ideal for certain veteran transmissions and Burman motorcycle gearboxes as well as Land Rover swivel hubs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I've tried using a grease gun to get some oil in, but very messy as the oil tends to leak out all over the place. I invested in an oil gun from Frost http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?pro...t=Miscellaneous - does the job much better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Many thanks for the link to the oil gun. I think that it is probably the best way forward rather than continuing with my Heath Robinson effort. Ashley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TIMS Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Guys In quoting mood this morning. From the FAQ page at Quiller. "What lubricant do you recommend for the trunnions – I’ve heard differing views and I’m confused? We recommend and use Penrite Semi-Fluid grease. The original Triumph handbook just recommended standard grease, however we find that although standard grease does an adequate job at lubricating it tends to wear the trunnions out quickly. This is because due to their brass/copper construction they are prone to tiny particles chipping off, in grease these particles remain in solution and with suspension movement tend to exasperate wear in a vicious circle, as grease is too viscose to allow the particles to sink to the base of the trunnion where they are relatively harmless. Alternatively, the use of gearbox oil does allow the particles to sink, but may not provide adequate lubrication. We find the Penrite product (which Penrite claim is designed for this job) a happy compromise." Regards Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ashley Posted February 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Guys In quoting mood this morning. From the FAQ page at Quiller. "What lubricant do you recommend for the trunnions – I’ve heard differing views and I’m confused? We recommend and use Penrite Semi-Fluid grease. The original Triumph handbook just recommended standard grease, however we find that although standard grease does an adequate job at lubricating it tends to wear the trunnions out quickly. This is because due to their brass/copper construction they are prone to tiny particles chipping off, in grease these particles remain in solution and with suspension movement tend to exasperate wear in a vicious circle, as grease is too viscose to allow the particles to sink to the base of the trunnion where they are relatively harmless. Alternatively, the use of gearbox oil does allow the particles to sink, but may not provide adequate lubrication. We find the Penrite product (which Penrite claim is designed for this job) a happy compromise." Regards Tim Thanks Tim. An interesting quote. My understanding is that you can either frequently oil the trunnions or use this semi-fluid grease. Ashley. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
foster461 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Update on ball joints and nuts.. UPS just delivered the Moss ball joints. Made in Turkey, no grease fitting so they are pre-lubed I guess, cute blue clips for the rubber boot. There was no washer included but they do come with new nuts that are just a whisker taller than the original nuts. When I measure the original nuts, the TRF nuts and the Moss nuts I find: Originals - .5 inch tall Moss - .53 inch tall TRF: .62 inch tall The TRF ball joints also came with a thicker washer than they had originally and it is the extra thickness of the washer and the extra tall nut that is preventing the thread of the ball joint from passing completely through the nut. Stan Dang, posted this in the wrong thread. Oh well, its all front suspension related !. Edited February 24, 2009 by foster461 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ntc Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Update on ball joints and nuts.. UPS just delivered the Moss ball joints. Made in Turkey, no grease fitting so they are pre-lubed I guess, cute blue clips for the rubber boot. There was no washer included but they do come with new nuts that are just a whisker taller than the original nuts. When I measure the original nuts, the TRF nuts and the Moss nuts I find: Originals - .5 inch tall Moss - .53 inch tall TRF: .62 inch tall The TRF ball joints also came with a thicker washer than they had originally and it is the extra thickness of the washer and the extra tall nut that is preventing the thread of the ball joint from passing completely through the nut. Stan Dang, posted this in the wrong thread. Oh well, its all front suspension related !. Neil Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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