elanboy wrote:Gordon
You must remove all of that old congealed grease from your steering swivels if they have been previously greased - they were not designed for grease. .......
You need to get an old fashioned EP90 gear oil free of various additives as some modern additives can react with the brass of the swivel. .............
Hope this is helpful and I am not telling my grandmother how to suck eggs.
Sorry but classic repeats of on going myths
grease is a far better lubricant than oils in this service - talk to any lubrication engineer about water proof EP grease in a low speed application like this versus an oil. Its a myth that you have to use oil, despite any original specification from Lotus or Triumph grease works just fine as has been proved over the last 40 years.
If using an oil use an EP gear oil with additives that provide the extreme pressure lubrication, the old EP oils such as Millers used a high sulphur formula ( just smell it) as does most new ones (Redline have lower levels than most) . These sulphur based additives can corrode brass at high tempratures but at the low temp of the trunnion cause no problems, its a myth
The reality is provide you change it frequently enough almost anything works in this relatively low stress situation which is why the debate
I worry much more about failure of the upright from fatigue cracks that wear from poor lubrication
cheers
Rohan