Front end overhaul

[The Veg]

I didn't have time to get my hands on some paraffin before leaving today for my biz-travels, so no soak at this point. Will get quotes on new arms this week just in case. If they're reasonable, why not just do it since human safety depends on them. The left arm has had everything that protrudes from it sawed away except for a little nub on the side that went to the joint, and the hole I drilled goes clear through. I put the end of the arm over the vise-jaws and using a drift gave it some good whacks and still nothing.

Meanwhile, at least one of the sleeves that go horizontally through the trunnions is firmly rusted onto the bolt that goes through it so might need to quote those as well. Pity, as the outer surface is still smooth and shiny. I am happy to report though that the trunnion itself from that side seems to be in great shape, and the bearings seem recent-ish too with nice fresh-looking grease on them, so I suspect that those were done by a PO sometime in the last few hundred miles.

[JonB]

Check those uprights. Any pitting at the base of the kingpin threads (that screw into the trunnion), bin 'em.

[billwill]

I have a seized trunnion-bush bolt as well and have made an extractor from two pieces of 10mm threaded rod, some flat steel bar and various bolts and nuts. The idea will be to push the bolt into a long socket spanner head of the right size.

But I haven't got around to using it yet.

[The Veg]

Quick update: The sleeve wasn't rusted afterall; it was merely well-cemented by some very hard black crud. It seemed marginally looser after a soak in Evaporust so I wound up just whacking the end of the bolt on a piece of scrap lumber on the floor and after a few good hits followed by some hammer-and-drift in the vise it all came apart, The sleeve looks serviceable and the bolt will get renewed with the rest of the suspension fasteners.

I decided to order new steering-arms on the principle that I've abused the old ones quite a bit and it's my safety on the line. And as luck would have it, one of them is back-ordered. Maybe it'll be in by the time I get the lower arms cleaned-up and repainted and everything else sufficiently de-crudded to re-assemble.

[billwill]

I cant quite see why cutting the trunnion in half:

enabled you to get the siezed pivot bolt out, I would have thought you just ended up with two small siezed half bushes still on bits of bolts still fastened to the lower wishbones.

[JonB]

And yet it worked.

I can't recall how it came apart but I imagine it was down to halving the amount of seized mating surface per side of the pivot bolt, if you get my meaning. Half a rusted bolt needs half the force to separate it.

Chopping a trunnion in half in situ is pretty extreme (and messy) but if you're going to replace it anyway who cares?