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Bad Trunnions

To: triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Bad Trunnions
From: Pete Chadwell <pandachadwell@mac.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2004 06:18:31 -0800
User-agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 (Macintosh/20041206)
I've been lurking out here a while, but I've got a mechanical problem I 
need some advice on. Any help appreciated!

I suspect that the lower trunnions on my TR6 are shot. For one thing, 
I've never replaced them and I've owned the car for nearly 19 years.

But apart from that, the other day I was pulling into the driveway after 
taking the Triumph out for an errand and just as the left wheel hit the 
slope of the driveway I heard a very pronounced CLUNK from the front 
end. I listened and 'felt' carefully as the car rolled into the garage, 
but didn't notice any subsequent noises or odd behavior. Once parked, I 
gave a cursory inspection and didn't see anything obviously broken.

Several days later I went to take a house guest for a ride in the 
Triumph and just after I left the driveway, still traveling less than 15 
mph, I noticed a gentle side-to-side oscillation in the front end. As I 
picked up speed, the oscillation picked up speed as well. There were no 
noises, and there was no pulling to one side or the other. In fact, I 
don't even think I could FEEL the oscillation at the very low speeds 
but I could SEE it across the line of the bonnet. I drove right back 
around the loop, never going over about 15 mph, and parked the car.

Now it's on stands and I've been over the front end, expecting to see 
something OBVIOUSLY broken, but nothing is visible. I've checked upper 
and lower wishbone pivot brackets carefully as I know they are weak 
areas. With the left front hub removed, I used a long pipe to gently 
lever around on the A-arms, and while it was difficult to see, I'm 
pretty sure I could see the trunnion's body moving in relation to the 
vertical link.

I'm fishing here for suggestions on how to get a more positive 
diagnosis, although at this point I'm assuming I'll need to order new 
trunnions at the very least. A related question is, what are the odds of 
needing to replace the vertical links as well? I know there is a 
machined shaft that's part of the vertical link which rotates within the 
trunnion body I assume if that shaft is trashed, then I need new 
vertical links as well.

Thanks in advance!

Pete Chadwell
1973 Triumph TR6




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