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MG MGA - Is a swivel pin/king pin seal really necessary

Hi,

I'm having a kit of trouble removing the bottom trunnion on my front suspension. The top one was easy, but I can unscrew the bottom one because the disk brake prevents the trunnion from moving.

I tried to pull the steering lever off so I could move the swivel pin into a better position to remove the lower trunnion. This has so far been impossible, and the shop manual says you shouldn't anyways.

Are the 4 seals that go on the swivel pins necessary? It seems that all they do is cover a nut and bolt. I'm not talking about the trunnion seals, which seem very necessay.

Here's a picture of what I'm talking about:

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4076/trunnionlc7.jpg

Darian Henderson

Dariann,

I am going through the same process as well.

You have to remove the caliper, the disc, and the back plate to be able to get the lower trunion unscrewed from the swivel pin. It shouldn't take you more than 10-15 minutes since you already have the unit off of the car. That will enable you to replace the trunion bushings as well if they need it.

The seals that you asked about provide a dust seal between the trunion and swivel pin thread area which should be greased and should keep the grease from leaking out as well as keeping the dust from getting into the threaded area.

Good luck.

don Carlberg
Don Carlberg

I guess I don't have any excuse to not try what you said if it's only another 15 minutes...

Thanks,

Darian
Darian Henderson

The dust seals keep dirt from mixing with the grease. If dirt is allowed to work into the grease what you get is a lapping or grinding compound. The service life of the pieces would be compromised if you left off the seals. With it off the car do it all, do it right. The reason you should regularly pump fresh grease into the zirks shown in the picture is to force out any foreign material and provide fresh lube.
R J Brown

By the way, does anyone have any good suggestions for removing 45 years of caked on dirt, grease and surface rust? I was planning on using carburetor cleaner, taking a wire wheel to the pieces and spay painting them.
Darian Henderson

Brake spray cleaner works wonders. It removes paint so be careful where the overspray goes.
Steve Simmons

Darian,
When you remove the four bolts to separate the disc dust cover from the spindle, you will find a set of distance washers between the cover and the spindle. Take care not to lose any, as it is near impossible to find original replacements. You may also wish to measure the inside and outside diameters of the distance washer, as well as its thickness, should you have the need to make or find a substitute for another wheel or car in the future. (Gerry Diepering measured the ones on his car for me and found the dimensions to be: ID: 0.420"; OD: 0.745"; and thickness: 0.183". See http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgbbs&access=&mode=archiveth&subject=6&subjectar=6&thread=200707300356092463 )
Steve
Steve K

If you don't mind working with the stuff, gasoline is a very good solvent for grease, and not very expensive (as solvents go). Give the parts a final brush rinse with lacquer thinner to be clean and dry. Lacquer thinner will also remove most paint, especially with a little brush scrubbing.

Rust removal is a tougher issue, usually a wire wheel job. Chemical removal and electro stripping of rust is another subject in the archives.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 30/12/2007 and 31/12/2007

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