James B. Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 As with most things seven, there doesn't seem to be any hard and fast rule about whether you should oil the trunions or grease them; even Caterham couldn't tell me for sure. Can any one advise me and if so what type of oil or grease should I use. Cheers, James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJB Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 A fellow se7en owner pointed out that i have trunnions (no jokes please !) - so would also be interested in answer and how to apply oil etc......... Matt 1700 Supersprint, Red Loud and wearing Flares and soon new A048 boots ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Brother Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 EP90 oil is the recemmended lubricant. Grease can lead to the trunnions running dry. Not sure how often but 3-5000 miles rings a bell. James Whiting used to sell an oil gun for around £10. This combined with a cotton cloth over the nipple made the job a doddle. Steve Se7en-Up! Not going to you know where with you know who in 2004 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 My 1973 Triumph Spitfire manual says Oil - I used engine oil. I still have the grease gun I bought to do the job. Anyone want it? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 Oil OR grease yer choice it simply does not matter.. what does however is reasonable mainenance intervals.. as in do it regularly.. gotta keep ek lubed.otr they start to wear.. On other hand Brand New Trunnions are surprisingly cheap to buy.. as long as you get them from a Triumph source as opposed to Caterham :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Riches Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 Oil, that's the stuff to put in trunnions, good old fashioned EP90, squirt it down the filler 'til it runs out past the dust cover just below the filler hole, a bit messy but worth it, you may find that the oil leaks out the bottom of the trunnion casting, if they have steel plates in the bottom, in this case then you may have to remove them from the car and somehow seal them, not easy once the oil is in the space where the sealant is to go, oh the fun of 7 owning, but altogether better than those Rose joint things. Nigel. 1982. 5 speed, clamshells. B.R.G / Ali. The True Colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B. Posted January 31, 2004 Author Share Posted January 31, 2004 Thank you fellow trunnionites, I'm off to get my EP90 & a gun right now. Cheers, James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Brother Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 James - EP90 Trunnions are NOT designed to work with grease and its use will cause premature wear and damage. Over time grease will harden and not lubricate as intended. See the post below for more info: http://www.blatchat.com/T.asp?id=7618 Steve Se7en-Up! Not going to you know where with you know who in 2004 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeK Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 My trunions have a grease nipple, which sounds normal from the thread... So to help me avoid making a big mess unnecessarily, can I put oil in a conventional grease gun, or will it leak everywhere? Or is the JW gun (or other guns) specially designed for use with oil and grease nipples? If I can't presumably I just unscrew the nipple and squirt some oil in (e.g. using syringe). Thank-you! MikeK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 You can use EP90 in a grease gun quite successfully. Just make sure you empty it out again afterwards as it will leak out over time and make an 'orrible mess on the shelf in your garage. Brent Zetec 209 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normans_Ghost Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 If the oil leaks from the "plate" at the bottom a quick way to seal is to run some super glue round the edge. norman verona 1989 BDR 220bhp Mem No 2166 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Bradley Posted January 31, 2004 Share Posted January 31, 2004 I grease them every 1000 miles or so - enough so that the old grease squidges out the bottom. I'd use the oil option, save the trunnions came greased when I bought the car. Trunnions are quite robust! There's me tempting fate again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puremalt Posted February 1, 2004 Share Posted February 1, 2004 EP 90, that's right. The handbook specifically says do not use grease for the aforementioned reason. I 'Oil up' every 1000 miles, or more frequently if its been idle for a time. My mate had one fail on a spitfire at 80 mph on the M6. The car looked like chitty chitty bang bang when the inflated raft blows up! He had time to indicate and pull into the hard shoulder however. Excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 As ever, no hard and fast rule (as you said...) but ideally EP90 oil from a conventional grease gun. You can mix lubricants here (it's non critical) and on an old Spit I had a mixture of oil grease and god knows. It lasted OK till one MoT it was worn out - upon stripping the mixture was nice and fluid with no evidence of lack of lube. The disadvantage of oil is it leaks out and if not replaced rapid wear sets in. This was a favourite on Triumphs of the 60s and 70s if neglected, which they all were. Grease is more tolerant of this type of abuse but as stated above will eventually go hard...and rapid wear sets in. If I had a leaky one I'd grease it regularly till replacement time. The steel cap is at the other end from the nipple anyway so it's easy to flush through with fresh grease. In short it's not critical as long as you do it regularly. Say twice a year or every 3K. Or more, it won't hurt and takes 5 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 While we're on the subject, anyone know where I can get a flexible nozzle for a grease gun? The solid one mine came with means I can't quite get it attached. Cheers, Sid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Mupferit Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Sid, Can you not do it even with full lock on 🤔 I always turn mine to full lock whilst oiling the trunnions as it just makes it so much easier. Brent Zetec 209 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Nope. The grease gun is quite a biggie, about the length of a bycicle pump with a handle on top. Looks a bit like a Weapon of Mass Destruction, but has so far only proven to be a Wepaon of Leaking On My Garage floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikes Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Following advice on here some time ago I got one of the Clarke push type guns £4.69 incl VAT - see here http://www.machinemart.co.uk/ranges.asp?g=107&r=2056 Doesn't seem to leak, and is small enough to get it to fit without flexible bits. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted February 2, 2004 Share Posted February 2, 2004 Thanks very much. I'll pay them a visit this w/e. Btw, getting back to the original thread I go for EP 90 too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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