Gpyne Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Hi, I'm fairly new to the world of Triumphs and currently have a Spitfire. I've read quite a bit about the importance of this maintenance step but can find very few pictures/videos demonstrating what needs to be done - can anyone point me in the right direction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Jack up the front of the car, take out the blanking plug from the VL (above the trunnion, facing the shockers) and insert a "grease" nipple. Fill a suitable "grease" gun with EP90 oil, and fill the trunnions with oil until it overflows from the top. I wonder if anybody will be offering an oiling service at Triumphfest? It was really handy at Leatherhead (and I presume Adam still does it there) A few quid and job done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 29, 2016 Report Share Posted May 29, 2016 Get yourself a Haynes manual, the first section is all about routine maintenance. A work shop manual is good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Some leave the greaser(oiler) in, others prefrer to refit the plug, this is a reservior which is why its topped till it overflows, if the greaser ball does not seal it will leak out and make the level low. you jack the car to take the load off the helix screw threads and allows oil in and air amd water out better never use grease, it will not circulate around the threads, theres been lots of discussion about whats and why's which oil, CV grease stick to the basic specification Triumph designed and you wont go wrong use Ep 90 same as you have for the gearbox and diff worth buying a spare gun from club shop or auto jumble etc, keep one for grease and one for EP90 do mark them !!!! pete 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Grateful if someone could ad a picture or two Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomL Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Gpyne, When you are buying the EP90 oil for your trunnions, make sure you get "GL4" spec, and not "GL5". GL5 is designed for higher loadings but it isn't kind to yellow metals. Stick with the GL4, plus you can use it for topping up the gearbox and diff. too. The club sells an oil-gun for the purpose of oiling trunnions. I've not actually seen said item but I assume it's less messy than using a grease-gun (although most people probably do this) as the grease-gun will leak a certain amount of oil out. It gets everywhere and it stinks! At the very least, use disposable gloves. Let us know how you get on.... Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 After a second cheap grease gun (Chinese) started pumping oil everywhere but out the nozzle, I bought the "Oil" gun from the staff shop. It is ENORMOUS, 2.5 inches diameter and the body nearly a foot long. With the nozzle on the front and the sprung plunger on the back it's quite difficult to get it on the "grease" nipple. I managed it with the gun under the front valence, but I will be buying the additional flexible hose for future use. It works very well, the big reservoir forces the oil out easily and it doesn't leak, at all, not even slightly. And don't be put off by the fact that, on the side, in large letters it says "GREASE GUN"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomL Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 My experience of using a grease-gun is similar to yours, Dougbgt6; oil pretty much everywhere but the trunnion. I have seen a small oil-gun on the market (don't recall where), which might be more manageable. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Tom, I think you've got to think BIG. The club one does the job because of the pressure it exerts on the oil due to it's large bore size. I've seen dedicated oil guns on Ebay but they are expensive. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unkel Kunkel Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 The bore size is more related to volume than pressure ,Doug - pressure = force/area so if you want high pressure from same force reduce the bore size not increase. I haven't seen the club oiler. The easiest gun to use for grease or oil I found is the pistol grip Swiss made Wanner 315 It is also the easiest quickest and least messy to fill with either grease or oil and if filled with oil,doesn't leak oil everywhere. Generates up to 5000 psi (not that is relevant for the trunnions) They seem to last for ever.Ihave had mine for over forty years. I don't now if they still make them. They crop up on eBay for as little as a tenner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Well, yes P=F/A but the bigger the bore, the bigger and stronger the spring so you've got more force. It certainly pushes the oil out far better than the smaller pumps. I've heard of Wanners, I think Pete Lewis recommended them, they do appear on Ebay occasionally but £10 is optimistic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I don't even bother with a gun just put an allen key under the seal and then use an oil can to squirt the oil in til it comes out around the seal, then I know it is full to the seal remove the allen key and add a bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Just purchased one of these http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Beta-Tools-1754-150-Plastic-Pressure-Oil-Can-with-Flexible-Plastic-Spout-/291230951172 Intend just to jack up the front open them up fill with ep90 with this and put the blanking plug back Hopefully expecting little mess and a lot cheaper than an oil gun Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I have two Wanners over 40 yrs old and the only drip is the operator any pump type oil can will top up the trunnion Think Aidan has a good buy , stick some paper under the trunnion into the wheel well to catch overflow and spillage form dribbling into the wheel or down the tyre Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 I have 2 Wanners too - one for grease ('borrowed' from my Dad who bought it in the 60s) and an identical one I picked up from an autojumble at Luton Transport Festival which is filled with gear oil. No leaks from either . Gully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Hi. Well the item I listed above was perfect for the job Trunnions filled nicely with minimal mess Aidan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted June 2, 2016 Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 oil be seeing you good when it all works out Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gpyne Posted June 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2016 Thanks oil for your help, I've pretty much done what AidanT has done using a narrow spout oil can and EP90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Any oil can will do with a good seal, there's no pressure involved, only getting the oil into the trunnion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 I wouldn't say there was no pressure. You have to get through the valve in the grease nipple, push the oil down the centre of the vertical link to the bottom of the trunnion, then up through the threads to the top. If there weren't any pressure my Chinese grease gun wouldn't be squeezing oil from every orifice except the correct one. Also pumping it in ensures the trunnion is full of new oil, if you dribble it in from the top you're topping up old oil and how do you know there's not a sludgy blockage half way down the thread? Unlikely, but better safe, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 But that is the beauty of the oil-can technique. You don't use a nipple, so the only resistance is the passage down the upright and back up the threads. Any half-decent oil can will work. My 26 year old draper oilcan certainly gives a good squirt, as do the other oilcans I have acquired over the years. However, for trunnions I have a little greasegun, bought for 50p which is brilliant. One fill tops up a pair of trunnions. Then again, thesedays I have trunnionless uprights on my spitfire...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 Clive, let me go over it again. If you push the oil in through the grease nipple, down the vertical link, then up the threads and out, you ensure there is oil on ALL the thread and the old oil is expelled. Dribbling it in doesn't ensure all the threads are covered or the old oil expelled, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 That's because you're pushing it through a grease nipple... plus I've never seen any sludgy blockage emerging from a trunnion no matter the pressure of the oil being pumped in... if there is one it just rises to the top and sits under the rubber seal. I must resurrect my article on trunnion oiling with a cheap oil can to explain why some owners go to great expense and bother for no reason at all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 I re-joined TSSC after a 20 year gap and laughed out loud reading my first new Courier. There was an article by a professor of mechanical engineering (at least I think he was) entitled "Trunnions, oil or grease?" The argument still rages in Triumph land. He laid out the reasons why and the history. He concluding that modern grease was just as good as oil. But still we oil, it's religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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