grease points

[grainger]

hi

when you squirt grease into points such as the trunnions is it supposed to squirt out in other places ? if so are you supposed to squirt grease in until it DOES come out ? - is it the same on all the other grease points ? (universal joint, prop etc)

cheers
grainger

[Cam]

Yep, keep pumping until you see grease!!!

On the trunnions you can see it coming out of the rubber sealing rings. If it comes out of the top (top trunnion) then you have a cheap and nasty replacement one that does not seal properly at the top.

Pretty much everything else is the same, except the steering rack.

10 pumps of grease is sufficient there!!

[grainger]

cheers cam, this is a great board - anything we get stuck with, we can get help here, brilliant.

well i use hypoid oil in the steering but thats a bit of a mystery wether its going in or not, but also dont you have to be very careful not to overfill. one of the boots had started leaking on the saloon just before it died and i thought it may have been that i overfilled it.

cheers
grainger

[Arfron]

I thought that you pumped oil into the steering rack. I may be wrong ??

Arfron

[olonas]

Rear axle oil in the steering rack, 10 pumps. No grease.
When greasing the trunnions take the weight of the car off the suspension.

[Cam]

Yes, sorry about that. Not paying attention (yet again!). It is oil NOT grease that you put into the steering rack.

Thanks Grainger, Afron, and Olonas for the correction.

[Chris Morley]

For the lower trunnion I first put the car on axle stands (I use the crossmember) then I raise the suspension towards the bump stop. The easiest way to do this is to use the jack against the bottom of the front wheel drum.

Using grease on the steering rack is better than nothing, but using oil reduces the friction.

[rayofleamington]

I also recommend to take the weight off the trunninons - to do that you need a jack under the suspension arm until the weight is off the wheel. Leave 3 wheels on the ground and chock at least 1 of them with bricks in addition to the handbrake.
If you need to take the raised wheel off to get at the nipples, then do not rely on the jack - put something big and solid under the car incase it falls off the jack - then it will not go anywhere and you will still be alive with all limbs intact (eg use the removed wheel and the spare, or a well positioned axle stand)
Chris -

use the jack against the bottom of the front wheel drum.

Erm did I read you correctly? That would still have the load on the trunnion.

Regarding how much grease for the trunnions, if they are greased regularly, you will see grease come almost immediately out of them. I keep going until I see clean grease come out. Then to make sure the clean grease is spread, give the steering 6 full turns (this is the most likely risk to make it fall off the jack as the car moves about).
Then another 6 pumps of grease.

I've never lubricated a steering rack! What do you guys use to pump the oil, and how much is 10 pumps?

[Chris Morley]

Ray,
I know it's not the recommended way (you're supposed to place the jack under the suspension arms). Whenever I try this with my jack the head slips as there's nothing to grip, and it comes close to snagging the brake pipe. I've found that jacking the bottom of the wheel allows the grease to flow freely through the trunnion so I've assumed it takes most of the load off?

[rayofleamington]

Well if most of the load is on the axle stand, it is better than risking a flying out jack.
I would recommend that you find try jack with a different shaped head. The one I use for greasing has a round cup with 4 raised points. It fits snugly to where the 2 supsension arms seperate from each other. Alternatively Use a longer fastener for the tie bar fork - If it pokes out, past the bottom of the suspension arm, it should stop your jack from slipping past (again that depends on the shape of your jack head)