In the Spitfire trunnion housing there are two bearings. One is a
large ball bearing that is immediately obvious when disassembled. The other
a much smaller needle bearing. I think the premise is the smaller bearing is
supposed to keep the trunnion housing at the proper angle with the axle and
the large ball bearing is supposed to take all the weight of the car. What I
have observed is that the needle bearing is not lubricated well and it seizes.
It then eats away at the axle. When this happens, the axle must be replaced.
We looked into having ruined axles built up with weld and then turned down, but
it is supposedly very difficult and we couldn't find a shop to do it. This
problem has prompted some people to use gear oil in the trunnion housing rather
than grease. I have never tried this. Chances are that if your trunnion
housing makes noise after it the ball bearing was replaced, you should look for
a couple of new axles. I don't know how you could test this, but I'm fairly
sure that the system if trashed if it makes noise. I think this is one of the
biggest reasons the GT6 rear end set up is attractive.
Woodruff@caen.engin.umich.edu
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