You may be on to something with the trunions. I did buy brand new trunnions
from TRF. One side (left) screwed onto the vertical link with no resistance at
all, but the other side (right) did have some uneven resistance when I screwed
it on. I went back and test fit the old trunnion from that side onto the
vertical link just to verify that it wasn't the threads. The old trunnion
screwed on easily. However, I reinstalled the new one again for reassembly
figuring that once everything was back together, the resistance would not be an
issue. I may go back and reinstall the old one again on that one side to see
if that is part of the problem. Which brings up another question: What makes
an original trunnion require replacement? Out of round hole for the lower A
arm bolt? If the hole isn't out of round, is there any reason not to reuse
the old one? It is probably better quality anyway. I was just in the mindset
of "replace everything" which is why I bought new trunni!
ons.
Chip19474@aol.com wrote:
Greg,
I agree with the responses you've received that suggest trying to isolate the
stiffness by disconnecting the tie rod ends and attacking the problem
a-la-carte. One other caution for you - the new trunnions should be fitted
(turned in or tightened) so there is very smooth motion and almost no effort to
turn the trunnions left-to-right or right-to-left as though you are turning
them by the steering wheel. If the trunnions are too tight when installed
with the suspension hanging at full drop, the steering effort will be very,
very high when the wheels are fitted and the car is on the ground.
I think your problem is most likely with the trunnions not the rack. Tie rod
ends would have to be nearly seized to give you the symptoms you have and
that's not likely since they're new. But, "new" doesn't always mean "good" -
many new trunnions are made overseas and not to correct standards. I've found
more than a few of them to have very poorly machined threads which cause them
to bind as they are "screwed" into the vertical link. Correctly machined
trunnions should screw into the vertical link with only a bit of normal
resistance....hmmm, did you check to see if your vertical link threads were
okay?
Good luck....you'll find the problem...fortunately, there aren't many culprits!
Chip Krout
Delaware Valley Triumphs, Ltd.
Skippack, PA USA
'76 TR6 CF57822U
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