GT666 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Hi,I was oiling the trunnions today after a drive and found that grease and oil were oozing out of unexpected locations above the trunnion as I pumped the oil in, right underneath the oil nipple and also either side. It looks like it's coming out of tiny cracks in the metal.It's not the trunnion itself, it's the cast iron thing it connects with. Apart from the grease oozing out, I would have never noticed anything wrong with the part.It looks serious and I'm worried it might go bang if I drive it home (a few miles).Can anyone advise me on this?Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I think what you're seeing is the oil coming out between the vertical link and the dust cover - remember it's not the trunnion that fails despite everyone (including me) referring to it as "trunnion failure". The trunnion is the brass bit, the vertical link is the casting - think of the vertical link as the bolt and the trunnion as the nut.I suggest you get it home carefully, then dismantle, clean and inspect for peace of mind. The failure of the vertical link is often caused when water sits on top of the duct seal and gently corrodes the base of teh threaded part of the vertical link. Early signs will be small pits of corrosion, these allow the stress fracture to start and awy goes your wheel :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT666 Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Thanks Jason,So that's not a fracture, it's a part line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt6s Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Jason wrote:I suggest you get it home carefully, then dismantle, clean and inspect for peace of mind.(Visual inspection can not detect a vertical link about to fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 2364 wrote:Thanks Jason,So that's not a fracture, it's a part line?As Jason said,......the vertical link is threaded externally and the trunnion is threaded internally with vertical slots. The link screws into the trunnion and the rubber seal sits on top of the trunnion. When you OIL the trunnion then to excess goes up the slots and then out of the top.Note we say OIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard81 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 You can buy a crack testing kit for around £20. It's a 3-part spray (cleaner, primer and dye) - any cracks will show up red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paudman Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 A dry crack is a happy crack.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drofgum Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 But in this case there are no happy cracks! Dry or not cracks in this case are unhappy. Cheers, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Down Under Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Drive it like you stole it; if it breaks you'll know exactly what needs fixing. ;) :B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGT6 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 1379 wrote:Drive it like you stole it; if it breaks you'll know exactly what needs fixing. ;) :BYes, probably a tibia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Down Under Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Don't fib about the tibia, the fibula is the weaker of the two.Just don't try to be Fred Flinstone and support the front corner with your leg if anything on the car breaks, at least until it has come to a halt (which it may well do - suddenly). ??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dicky Blighter Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 From your original post you are using oil as you should and thats forcing some very mucky looking grease out from the rubber seal which looks a bit perished. All of which suggests poor or a lack of maintenance in the past, so for the sake of a couple of hours work and peace of mind order a couple of new trunnion kits, strip it all down and replace them.However as someone else suggested it's the vertical link that snaps so carefully check for corrosion and pitting on and at the end of the thread whilst it's all in bits. Any pitting in this area means replacing the vertical links, failures aren't as common as it appears so don't get paranoid about it, think of all the thousands of spits, heralds etc. that are driving around with no problems, but when they do fail it can be quite nasty - especially if you are driving the car hard and stupid to do that if you suspect a problem. (even more stupid to suggest thats the way to find out for sure (naughty)(naughty) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Nothing like a quick rush of adrenalin as the wishbone hits the deck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uksnatcher Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 michael_charlton wrote:Nothing like a quick rush of adrenalin as the wishbone hits the deck!!It wasnt adrenalin that was rushing as mine broke.... :DIf in doubt....get a new one..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 uksnatcher wrote:It wasnt adrenalin that was rushing as mine broke.... :DI was going to ask if i could have a drive in yours one day........but.................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Gt6s wrote:Visual inspection can not detect a vertical link about to fail.Not sure I agree with that mate, I think it's better to say visual inspection cannot detect a vertical link not about to fail :-)If I clean up a vertical link and it's got corrosion on it at the base of the threads then I'd be pretty sure that's "about to fail" and I would replace it. I agree that you can't be 100% sure that a vertical link won't fail even after you have cleaned it up and found that it looks fine. That said, it's not feasible to crack test everything before sticking it back on the car. These are Triumphs after all and as we all know, they will occasionally bite you :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT666 Posted July 12, 2012 Author Share Posted July 12, 2012 Thanks everyone. I drove 240 miles back down to London in the end. Wheel is still attached. I'll know what to look for when I get round to taking it apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrookster Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Dicky_Blighter wrote:failures aren't as common as it appears so don't get paranoid about it, think of all the thousands of spits, heralds etc. that are driving around with no problems, but when they do fail it can be quite nasty - especially if you are driving the car hard and stupid to do that if you suspect a problem. (even more stupid to suggest thats the way to find out for sure (naughty)(naughty) )Dicky is quite right, failures are not all that common, allthough if you hear of one going you can be damn sure another two will fail within the space of a month or so ;)However, as further reassurance, it would also appear that the majority of vertical link failures normally happen at slower maneuvering speeds, remarkably few fail at speed, which is a blessing in disguise I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 That's quite right, parking and going round tight roundabouts at slow speed seem to be the final straw for a weak vertical link. You seldom get away with zero body damage though so it's still not a fun experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebobby Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 So we may have some fun at Bovington then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junkuser Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Due to the poor steering geometry on these cars, a common problem with layouts using forward facing steering arms, there is a lot of lateral loading on the uprights when using a large amount of lock as the wheels are effectively "toed in", trying to pull the lower parts of the uprights towards each other.Try driving the car slowly on full lock, stopping with the wheels in that position and have a look at the amount of front tyre distortion . You'll see what I mean.When driving at speed, unless you are sliding, only small amounts of lock are used, so less lateral loading on the uprights and that due to the cornering is shared by the uprights as the geometry is OK at small lock.The wider or grippier the front tyres the greater the loading on the uprights at larger locks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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