Trunnions

[Mark Wilson]

When I got into full restoration mode I thought I would be replacing my kingpins and trunnions as a matter of course, as I'm aware of the dangers of trunnion failure, aka wheel falling off syndrome, and hadn't come across any part of my Traveller which wasn't rusted or worn. I've just dug out the old ones though (the car's been in bits for a few years) and was amazed to find that after cleaning up there is no play whatsoever in any of the trunnions after cleaning all old grease out, and the threads are nice and flat as they should be. The bottom trunnions have metalastic bushes which show no signs of degration of the rubber. I remember a discussion on here some time ago about the virtue of metalastic and bemoaning that they are no longer available. So the question is should I keep these or renew them with poly bushes? I only drove the car a hundred miles or so, about five years ago, so not in a position to say whether the steering and suspension was working well - but it did seem to drive and handle very nicely.

Mark

[les]

I would use them, seems silly to replace if there is miles of use left in what you have. Replace when they wear.

[oliver90owner]

Have you not considered the remote possibility that the previous ones had already been changed out?

[Mark Wilson]

The remote possibility which hasn't been considered is that I may have been talking rubbish! Now I've cleaned them properly I can't see any evidence of any rubber, just a bronze sleeve. It seems the metalastic bushes being discussed previously were eyebolt bushes, and that lower trunnions, at least this pattern, don't have any rubber or poly bushes at all, just end seals. I normally do my research a bit better than this, but wandered into refurbing the kingpins while held up waiting for other parts.

Apologies for wasting your time, gentlemen