Stuck rear trunnion- help!

[markcro]

I have a seize rear trunnion on my GT6 and I cannot remove the bolt. I have heated it and bashed it and there is not even 1mm of movement in the bolt. I ideally don't want to remove the hub as I don't think the brake pipe unions will come undone without alot of mess and new brake lines.

So my options are to slice through the bolt in two places in situ. What are the risks? Cutting through or grinding the trunnion housing short?

Or remove the whole lot and cut through it in a vice.... In order to do this do I undo the brake union (if possible) and then just unbolt the drive shaft universal joint, spring bolt and tie bar, and then it comes out? Also the hand brake cable.... Do I need a hub puller is basically what I'm wondering?

All advise welcome! 🙂

[WIMPUS]

I would try to cut the bolt so the upright can be removed..
I know you don't have a lot of space ..
When the upright is removed, you can normally bash out the old bush/sleeve/rusty bolt.

I had the same on mine on both sides, lucky after some bashing with a hammer it was loose sort off.


Best thing would be to remove the whole shaft off the car for easier access 🤔

[Clive]

You do not need a hub puller.

I am assuming it is a non-rotoflex car. As such, be careful of hitting the bolt, you can damage the H piece/vertical link.
I would remove the halfshaft complete, yes you need to undo everything but it will be easier.
I use a 1mm cutting disc, cut through the bolt and bits between the VL and the trunnion. If access hard with a grinder it is easy to finish the job off with a decent hacksaw (note the use of decent, cheap blades are useless) The remains of the bolt will then knock out easily, new bolt and trunnion kit and off you go. Doesn't take long on the bench (30 mins tops, proabably a lot less) but I would imagine rather trickier on the car.

[Velocita Rosso]

Wot he said

[markcro]

Okay thanks guys..... it's never easy!

[WIMPUS]

Do use a lot of copper grease to !
Mine where stuck again after 1,5 year and 19.000 miles..
Seems i didn't use a lot there before  

[herald948]

For whatever it's worth (and because I had no other easy and available tool for doing it), I was able to cut through the bolt with a "Sawz-All" (reciprocating saw). You can spread the top of the link a bit to give a bit more room, and it doesn't hurt to try to get some of the exposed nylon bush material out of the way somehow, as there really is NOT much room to spare!

[nang]

Did mine with a bit of rag wrapped around a new hacksaw blade. About 10 minutes a cut if I remember correctly.
Tony.

[markcro]

Cheers guys. Did you cut through the bolt in situ or did you remove the hub?
I had a go of angle grinding it but the disk was not long enough to get through and was very little access. So now I am afraid to look at what I was cutting......

[LouisW]

I used a angle grinder and a hacksaw to remove mine. Didn't take too long but still a pain in the arse!

[markcro]

Finally after 5 months I got to drive my GT6 yesterday! 😎  I ended up taking the half axle and hub off in one complete unit and angle grinding a bit of the bolt, rotate the bolt and angle grind more unit it was through. Sliced the bolt into 3 pieces and then the bracket came off the hub!
Happy Days! At last!!

Two things about the replacement trunnion kit though..... the original nylon inserts that I removed went through the whole hub. Where as the new ones were way shorter. Each one probably only went in 1/4 length of the hub. Also the metal sleeve was shorter. Was I given the right trunnion kit? At this point I didn't care and assembled it all together just to have her driving again!
Also, the kit included the metal sleeves, 2x nylon inserts, rubber sealing ring, metal dust cover and then a metal outter cover. There was no way in hell in using both the metal dust cover and outter cover. It just wouldn't fit, and if you managed to force it then it would be jammed tight, so no better than the seized one that it was replacing!

As a side thought, why are the trunnions there at all? It makes sense that they allow the wheel to pivot on the trunnion and the spring eye bolt to keep the wheel vertical. But then when you add the tie rod into the equation that stops the trunnion from pivoting, so what's the point? Or am I missing the point?

[thescrapman]

Sounds like you have the wrong kit.

When you have the correct kit, all the washers and covers etc have to go back in.

When you do the bolt up it clamps the tube down the middle solid (it is slightly longer than the total length of the plastic top hats), amd the movement is in the plastic rotating round the stainless tube.

Cheers

[markcro]

Cheers. I'll order another kit and replace it. At least this time it will come apart without issue!

Where is the best place to source replacement kits?  (Late MK.3 GT6 non-roto flex)

[markcro]

Okay guys, just to close this thread out. Firstly thanks for all of the replies.

So I order a new trunnuon kit, this time from Fleabay. And yes, it is a totally different kit to the one I originally got. So I dismantled the rear end and this time there was no forcing or hammering, the kit slid in with all of the covers in place. So that is that. She is driving again! 😎  It's all a learning experience. I now know how to change them and take off the half shaft etc. 🙂

[Paudman]

Quoted from markcro

  It's all a learning experience.

It is, and it never stops. The important thing is that it’s enjoyable; there’s nothing like the feeling of having done something yourself to cure a fault and cheat the garage out of hard-earned cash.

[markcro]

Hmm, the amount of headache this one caused me, it wasn't enjoyable at the time! But it is now! 😎  It is funny as this huge mountain now seems like a molehill and I'd have no issue tackling another one! 😉 😎