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rear lever shock?

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mtlman8

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My tr4a manual say to fill with "old oil" the other day I was buying some parts and I saw a bottle of lever shock oil. My question is, what do you guys use? and whats in that bottle? snake oil??
 
mtlman8 said:
My tr4a manual say to fill with "old oil" the other day I was buying some parts and I saw a bottle of lever shock oil. My question is, ...whats in that bottle? snake oil??
Click to expand...

old oil.
What do you think they did with all that old oil?
Recycled it?

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I use Harley fork oil
 
Mineral oil seems to work OK as well. If they keep leaking Peter at NOS Import is the go-to guy for replacement ones.
 
I also use fork oil. Medium grade. Castrol. I use a plastic syringe to put it in. Less mess.
 
OK, thought you were referring to a out right purchase. Good
 
silly question, but is there anything to rebuild? o-rings gaskets ect. or is just drain and fill?
 
mtlman8 said:
silly question, but is there anything to rebuild? o-rings gaskets ect. or is just drain and fill?
Click to expand...
Lots to rebuild, and takes special tools to dis/assemble them. For starters, the bushings that carry the shaft are the most common wear point (which leads to the seal leaking), and you have to press the lever off of the shaft to replace the bushings & seal. But if you press against the housing, it will break first. Pressing it back on is even trickier.

I've been meaning to sacrifice a shock or two, and see if I can build the tools, but haven't found that particular round tuit yet.

Couldn't find the "old oil" passage in my TR4/A Bentley, only "Armstrong Shock Absorber Fluid". But I'd guess the "old oil" is a misprint of some sort, as that is what is recommended for the rear springs (on solid axle cars). The shocks very definitely need new clean oil, not used.

Most LBC vendors carry the Armstrong shock oil. Motorcycle fork oil seems to work well too, and is available in a variety of viscosity grades. But I had a hard time finding 30 weight, had to go to a shop that caters to Harleys.
 
was'nt able to click the link.could you repost it?
 
I see Don took care of that.
Sometimes the links I post work with a click and sometimes you have to copy and paste. I haven't figured out why, yet.
 
poolboy said:
I haven't figured out why, yet.
Click to expand...
Sometimes, it's because the link doesn't meet the old rules for a URL (like ending in .com or some other recognizable domain suffix). But sometimes (like the one above) it seems to depend on the browser. The above link worked fine from work (where they force us to use IE), but not from home (Firefox).

One easy way to be sure they always work is to use the link button
hyperlink.gif
to insert the link. You can even use the same text for the name, if (like me) you're too lazy to think of and type a name. Eg,
https://home.comcast.net/~rhodes/shock.html
 
Before this gets too far out of hand, the Rhodes link is to an older style shock that you do not have on your Triumphs. I don't want to get "commercial" here on Basil's fora, but the process is a little different than Randall describes.

If you invite me to describe the process, I will gladly do so.

Peter C
 
Ok, Peter, I'll bite. First you might explain why you think Tony's TR4A has older shocks than the OP's TR4A (or my TR3 for that matter). Is the difference IRS vs non-IRS ?

Then I think a description of the process would be both welcome and on-topic (if not worded in too commercial a fashion). Of course, Mickey &/or Basil might not agree with me ...
grin.gif
 
Randall, I spoke too soon. Tony changed his picture from what he used to have. He and I talked about it years ago, and I didn't realize that he had changed. Mea culpa.

Shortly I will have some info. Have to take some pics.

Peter
 
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