[Healeys] Upper trunnion question

[Bob Spidell]

Stephen,

Yes, you can--and should--tighten the nut on the trunnion until it can't 
move, but it doesn't have to.  The front end pivots up and down on the 
soft bushes between the trunnion and the shock arms, and the swivel axle 
turns under the trunnion (hence the name). 

The weight of a corner of the car rides on the trunnion bushing/bearing, 
so the shims don't matter except to limit vertical travel; i.e. you 
don't want the swivel axle flopping up and down when the wheel goes over 
a dip (else you'll pound the bushing/bearing).  Like Mark said, the 
shims are there to take up most of the slack (except for a couple 
thousandths).

Fitting the shims is somewhat trial-and-error; use the old castellated 
nut to tighten the trunnion down so you don't 'use up' the new locknut.


Bob




Mark LaPierre wrote:
> More shims for trunnions is tighter but more shims for wheel bearings 
> is looser.  Thats just the way
> God made them.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>> OK, I'll admit I feel a bit silly asking this question, because 
>> there's obviously something about this procedure I don't quite get. I 
>> even put this job aside, and went on with a lot of other aspects of 
>> the restoration first. But here I am...
>> When I did my wheel bearings, I understood how the shims were working 
>> because I had to get a certain end float within a given torque wrench 
>> setting...got it.
>> However, with the upper trunnion bearing, and king pin nut, I can 
>> screw down the nut until it's too tight, and the trunnion can't move 
>> freely, or stop just before that. I can't see how the shims change 
>> this, as long as there's enough thread to over tighten. I hope this 
>> conveys my misunderstanding clearly.
>>  I'm using the new roller bearings, and the nut is a locknut, rather 
>> than the original castellated with pin. (Sorry Rich!)
>> Thanks for your indulgence...I've been accused of over-thinking 
>> things before!
>>
>> Stephen, BJ8

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Bob Spidell           San Jose, CA            bspidell at comcast.net

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