TR6 Trunnion oiling

[Gerry M]

I've read some of the threads re: trunnion oiling/greasing but I haven't seen any photos that clearly explain exactly where the grease/oil goes. I'm not sure whether the grease nipple accepts both grease and oil and I'm not sure what the purpose of the bolt head is on the top of the trunnion. See my photo attached. Do I "grease here" at the nipple and "oil here" by removing the bolt head? If the grease nipple is where I should grease/oil, what is the purpose of the bolt? Hopefully my photo will help explain what I am talking about.

 

[justin_mercier]

You oil the trunion where the grease zerk fitting is. I've got a special tool for oiling trunions that I got from the spitfire club, it's a plunger oiler with a grease gun fitting on the end. Use a heavy gear oil for the trunion. The bolt on the rear holds the iron turn stop for the vertical link to stop the steering in either direction. Inside the trunion the thread should have a grove down one side that allows the oil to fill up from the bottom. The center of the vertical link is hollow from the bottom of the threads up to the hole for the grease zerk fitting.

My car had been greased instead of oiled, and I had to remove the whole vertical link to clean out old grease with some pipe cleaners before I could properly oil everything.

 

[Gliderman8]

Go to a marine supply and get a gun with a zerk fitting that accepts "tubes" of outboard motor oil. You can probably get one on-line from a marine supply website.
it looks something like this...

 

[TR3driver]

I've read some of the threads re: trunnion oiling/greasing

Something that gets easily overlooked in those threads; the earlier TRs had a different trunnion design with the zerk on the bottom of the trunnion. They need grease as oil will leak out. I forget the change point offhand, but the later cars (like yours) need oil.

I'm not sure what the purpose of the bolt head is on the top of the trunnion.

That is the steering stop. Under the head of the bolt is a spacer with the hole drilled off-center, so you can adjust how far the suspension will turn. There is a mating ear on the vertical link that hits the spacer. Most people don't worry about it, but I pulled the ones on my TR3A in just a bit to keep the wide tires from rubbing on the sway bar.

Here's a link where you can buy the gun that Elliot is talking about (just as an example, I'm not recommending this vendor or this price). It's actually for grease, but works well for oil as well (they sell tubes of oil that screw right in). When you're done though, you need to hang it up with the tube downward, otherwise the oil will leak out. I think it must be a British design
https://greatlakesskipper.com/mercu...-grease-gun?gclid=CNmC4_Cov7oCFSjZQgodB3QAAg#

 

[Willie_P]

I have an early tr4 and currently have grease in my trunions. However, I was also under the impression that oil needs to be added in order to keep the grease "soft"...(the comment on not using oil due to leakage through me for a curve ball).....help?

 

[TR3driver]

With the early trunnions, just keep adding grease on schedule (enough to force out some of the old grease). The book says every 3000 miles, but I stretch that to once a year (which is about 10-12,000 for me). That will keep the grease from drying out. If it is already dried out (from long storage or neglect), then IMO you need to disassemble and clean (and likely replace), then start over with fresh grease. Don't forget there are 3 grease zerks per side.

Modern grease is a lot better than what they had back in the 60s anyway. I just took apart a small final drive/axle that was last greased back around 1985, and the grease is still "greasy".

 

[Bruce100]

Not having done this yet.... How can you tell if it has grease in it already? Oil level so you can tell if you put enough in? or if it is low? Someone on another thread recommended this gun to me, I just got it. https://www.spitfireoptions.com/ProductR.html

 

[justin_mercier]

That's the oiler that I use for my TR6 trunions. In my case I knew there was grease and not oil because of the grease still stuck to the zerk, so i disassembled and cleaned and reassembled the trunions and vertical links.