MG Sports Cars

Right side suspension trunnion just doesn't want to come loose. I've hit with PB Blaster, tried tapping (not beating) on it. Haven't tried heating it up yet but that's next on my list. Am I missing something here? Haynes manual is a little vague on the disassembly. I read through the procedure a few times and doesn't seem to indicate that force is needed to disassemble the steering axle and king pins. Driver's side came apart without any trouble.

Dave,
I just went through the same thing. I notched my cross member over a month ago and in the course of checking and repairing the suspension I ordered parts three different times. I finally have it all bolted back on the car.
I take it you’re trying to remove the pin (tube) that the trunnion bolt goes through. I had to beat the pin out with a big hammer. I used an old socket that was just a bit smaller diameter than the pin to beat on. You'll probably need to put a new bushing in too and I had to beat that out using the same method. I didn't use heat but if I had it to do over I would.
You can buy trunnion repair kits from MGB parts houses. They include the pin, bushing, bolt, washers, and the rubber dust shield. Cost is around $17.00
One more thing. On the side on my car that had the frozen pin, the holes in the wishbone arms that the trunnion bolt goes through were ruined - they were oval instead of round. I bought new arms, around $18.00 each.

Steve

They are bad at freezing up because grease can't get in there very easily.

Once you get it apart and are ready to install the new pin and bushing, grind a shallow grove in the center of the bushing right over where the grease zerk fitting sits and drill a 1/8" hole through the bushing somewhere along the grove. That way grease will be pushed in between the bushing and the bolt as well as between the bushing and the trunnion.
Good luck.

"One more thing. On the side on my car that had the frozen pin, the holes in the wishbone arms that the trunnion bolt goes through were ruined - they were oval instead of round."

Steve, true enough. Wishbone holes on passenger side were oval from wear. Already have new wishbones on hand (negative camber) as well as new king pin sets. Now, if I can only get the pin out of the axle stub! Here comes the torch! Thanks for the help. I'll post up my results.

Mark, thanks for the tip. Sounds like it's easy enough to do. I assume you mean to put the groove in vertically. Correct?

Problem solved but not in the way you might (or may) expect. After struggling with the upper trunnion, doing some web research on the miseries of rebuilding you own swivel axles and having already purchased the major suspension rebuild kit, decided to trade it all in and simply go with a set of freshly rebuilt axles. Don't know why I didn't just go this way in the first place. The difference between the complete set and the parts just isn't that great. Ah well, it was good to try and learn.

Sounds like this is turning into a "checkbook resto", David! LOL!

"Sounds like this is turning into a "checkbook resto" Despite my best attempts. Let's hope the 'checkbook resto" stops here.

Although I've built enough rides to know there will be other things that I haven't planned on. I'll just have to balance the budget in some other area. This was one where the difference - about $100 - just didn't seem to warrant much deep thinking. It was going to cost me about $100 to have the new bushes pressed in and reamed or I could pop for a $250 reamer to do the job. Either way, the money part was going to be a wash.

So the simple answer was to pick up the phone and call Bob at Brit-Tek, tell him I bunged up the swivel axle assembly attempting to disassemble it, let him have a good laugh at my expense (I'm sure I'm not the first), and beg him to exchange my brandy new kingpins for the aforementioned rebuilt swivels.

They're all checkbook restorations, but some checkbooks are deeper than others!

Dave,
I've rebuilt a few front ends. I found out a long time ago that even if you get the trunnion bolt and tube out by beating you have to replace them anyway. So that said the last 5 I did the old trusty sawsall came out and two quick cuts were made. I cut the top bolt also between the shock arm and king pin trunion. DONT FORGET TO CLAMP THE SPRING!!! Believe me its saves HOURS of frustration.
Just my 2 cents worth.
John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2009 12:06PM by jbarila.

John,

Thanks for the tip. In the end it seemed cheaper just to buy the swivels already re-built. There aren't many guys in my neck of the woods that can press out/in bushings or ream them correctly. By the time I got the knuckles to them, paid for the labor and parts, I was more than the cost of buying a pair from Bob at Brit-Tek. Although I have to say, I was tracking a reamer on e-Bay and was still thinking about doing it myself. Thank goodness the auction expired and saved me!

DT

DC, I really thought that you were writing a story about my front end rebuild, until you mentioned that it was the right hand side that was your problem. When I rebuilt my right side suspension, it went so smoothly, that I thought, what the big deal about front end rebuilds. That was until I started the left hand side. Since then I have tried my best to keep the word Trunnion out of my vocabulary.
Sometimes buying new parts is the only way of keeping whatever portion of your sanity that remains and many times it saves you a bunch of money also.
Merv

"Sometimes buying new parts is the only way of keeping whatever portion of your sanity that remains and many times it saves you a bunch of money also. " Boy, did you hit the nail on the head with that one! I've probably spent more money trying to save money on my builds but, hey, that's why they call it "learning".