[TR] TR3A --- Lever shocks and steering box

[Dave MacKay]

Hello:

After years of having a mechanic service my TR3A, I'm now trying to
maintain it myself. I have a couple of questions that I'd like to pose to
the list.

1) Steering box fluid

The TR3A owner's manual ("Practical hints for the maintenance of the
Triumph TR3") instructs that the oil in the steering box should be topped
up (via a rubber plug on the steering column) every 6,000 miles with a
special (Crimson) Armstrong Shock Absorber fluid.

>From searching the archives, I've learned that several listers prefer to
use Valvoline Synpower 75W90 gear oil in the steering box. The same
listers recommended Redline MT-90 for differentials and gearboxes.

I've just refilled my differential and HVDA transmission with Redline
MT-90 75W90 GL-4 gear oil and have a couple of quarts left over. Is there
a reason not to use Redline MT-90 in the steering box?

2) Lever shocks

The same manual recommends that the front shocks don't require maintenance
but that the rear shocks should be topped up every 12,000 miles. Most of
the postings on the list recommend using a 20W (or 30W for a stiffer ride)
heavy duty fork oil (for motorcycles).

However, when I searched the web, I found a number of cautions to leave
the rear lever shocks alone and not to perform routine maintenance on them
because that often introduces problems. The advice was just to replace the
rear shocks if they leak.

Is the prevailing wisdom to follow the advice in the owner's manual, or to
leave rear lever shocks alone?

TIA,

Dave MacKay
TR3A s/n 68638L
Near Toronto, Canada