Trunnion Replacement?

[Ad2408]

Hello All

Car went in for MOT today, passed  8) with an advisory to have a look at the trunnion on the passenger side (driver side was fine) weight off the suspension and a bar lifting under the wheel showed vertical movement, none on drivers side.

So replacing the trunnion, fairly easy?

Better to replace wholesale or to refurbish?

I've tried a search but as you can imagine 16 pages came up!

Thanks in advance
Adam

[Deleted User]

Easy to replace, but what with? New or old stock new or go for the Canleys replacement, its your shout and down to what you want to spend? I would not buy a second hand unit unless I had inspected it and then I would still not buy it.

Rob

[Clive]

You need to inspect carefully.

To do that it is a case of
jack up front of car and support on axle stands.
remove roadwheels
Undo and hand the callipers on a bit of wire/cord (no need to undo hydraulic hoses)
take off the wheel bearing greasecap, remove splitpin and then pull off the hub (keep the bearings clean and in position is helpful)
Slacken the bottom shock absorber bolt,
Undo and remove the trunnion bolt. This can be tricky. If seized only apply light tapping, no big hammers! If it wont budge, hacksaw through the bushes taking care not to damage the trunnions or more importantly, the wishbone.
Once free, you can unscrew the trunnion.

Inspection is critical. If the upright threads are not smooth and square cut, or any signs of cracking/deep pitting at the top of the threads, you need new uprights. If they are OK, a new trunnion is likely to be required. But you also need the bush kit and possibly the top seal.

well worth doing both sides as failure of these critical parts is unpleasant or far worse.
Lastly, if reusing, check the oil feed hole is clear up the uprights (I use a twist drill rotating it buy hand, and bits of wire etc) Half fill the trunnion with EP90 oil before replacing on the upright, and pump more oil in once fitted. Use copperslip on the trunnion bolt, it makes the process easier next time.

[Ad2408]

Hi, wow! Thanks for the comprehensive rundown, I'll be going for new I think but original type I think.

So if I was to replace the trunnions which parts would I need?

[Clive]

The brass bit is  the 140919/20 bits. The bushes are all the bits around it, plus the bolt/nut and top seal

Phone them up and explain what you want, give you card details and then it all appears :)

Worth inspecting first, you may need uprights too. Hopefully not though :o

[DaveKent]

But it could just be collapsed bushes. so do all the above; however a thorough inspection is key to what you will actually need to replace. If it's going to be everything, then I'd seriously consider Canley's  trunnionless conversion.

[CHRIS211083]

Once you have the upright off the car, buy some crack test solution to see if the upright is usable. You need the solution as you wont be able to see the small stress cracks without the fluid.

Chris.

[Velocita Rosso]

2402 wrote:

Once you have the upright off the car, buy some crack test solution to see if the upright is usable. You need the solution as you wont be able to see the small stress cracks without the fluid.

Chris.

..and make sure its not the threads on the vertical link

If you buy a trunnion and were to try it on the vertical link it should be a tightish fit
If it is still loose and wobbly then the vertical link is worn
Then you are faced with :
finding a new vertical link(getting rare)
or wasting the trunnion money if you go with Canley`s trunnionless fitting(at tnearly the same cost as a OE vertical link

[Ad2408]

Is the Canley Trunnionless kit reliable and good quality I was searching through various pages of searches and there seems to be mixed reviews?

[mikeyb]

there have been a lot of people theorising about potential problems with it and it's design, however i don't recall anyone actually having any of the problems theorised. Mine has been fine so far   ;)

[CHRIS211083]

Im going to canleys trunionless kit. So if anyone wants my old ones then you can have them for free once my cars back from the body shop. I think they are in good condition but you wont know till you look at them. I dont intend to look at them and if no one wants them then they will go to the bin.

Chris.

[thescrapman]

7709 wrote:

Is the Canley Trunnionless kit reliable and good quality I was searching through various pages of searches and there seems to be mixed reviews?

I can not recall anyone having issues, I suspect they are not "fit and forget" and that may be where some issues occur in the future. Neglect. I think the lower joint needs occassional spray with oil or something similar.

Some of the users of teh kits on here give them a very hard life.

And many thousands of Caterham owners can not be wrong either......

Cheers

Colin

[Clive]

I am well known for being frugal and a little cynical about new, super, wonderful etc parts.
however, I forked out and bought a set. The car they are fitted to has not yet moved under its own power, but once it does it WILL have a very hard life.
I do wonder if new "normal" uprights and trunnions would be as good. however, for the small extra expense I felt the trunnionless setup was a better bet.

[herald948]

Question: how long has the "trunnionless kit" been around? I ask only because the trunnion setup on the small Triumphs dates back at least to 1953 and the Standard 8. Just an observation....  ;)

[RedRooster]

'for well over 10 years' so they say.

http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xhtml/product/catkit1.html&xsl=product.xsl

[Tim Bancroft]

Can only state my experiences of the Canley set up-very good.

[Velocita Rosso]

herald948 wrote:

Question: how long has the "trunnionless kit" been around? I ask only because the trunnion setup on the small Triumphs dates back at least to 1953 and the Standard 8. Just an observation....  ;)

This is a `new` system ,as produced by Canley ,that has been used on Caterham`s etc for some years
Now adopted by a lot of serious Triumph drivers.
The trunnion less/vertical link less alleviates the thoughts at the back of your mind when going around tight corners.........."is the link going to snap"?  

[Peter McEvedy]

Just finished fitting the new Canley Trunnionless uprights, uprated stub axles and hubs. Not completely simple as I have uprated brakes - vented discs with 16PB calipers with a spacer. This meant the hubs rubbed on the calipers and I needed to use the wider spacer medially rather than laterally. Had the hub machined - small garage in Morpeth run by a Vitesse owning owner!
Seems to be fine though I think it has increased the track a little so my Supalite wheels are not quite fitting - they have the wrong offset so i will probably change them. I changed to blue polybush at the same time and refurbished the suspension. Using the old trunnions as paperweights!!  :)