Now thats a dead Trunion
11-25-2009, 12:55 AM
#1
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Now thats a dead Trunion
Afternoon of wheeling crippled my rig for 4 days. I never payed much attention to my steering stops when i sas'd so the knuckle was stopping by it's own accord.. ie the inside of the rear of the knuckle was hitting the back of the ball on the axle. How much more stress this put on the trunion bearings? I'm not exactly sure but couldnt be good =)..
But ultimately the upper bearing cap nuts came loose... I re-used the original lock washers which were mistakened for.. that.. washers. they were FLAT.. which the bottom cap used washers not lock washers.. rookie SAS mistake.
Thats a Trail-Gear chinese trunion bearing, BOOM.
The hi-steer arm suffered damage as well but not life ending (phew!) .. I would like Marlins 25mm bearing and arm upgrades tho! .. $400 bones tho ouch
New SKF bearings installed, Pass side bearings are fine, and all new lock washers and loc tite applied with 80ft lbs of torque (yea 72 is spec)
NOTE* The TG trunion vs the SKF .. sorry no picture... the difference in the bearings is NIGHT AND DAY. I'm curious what a real OEM trunion looks like (didnt toyota use Koyo?) ... But the TG had a much steeper grade and many smaller roller bearings.. vs the SKF which have a very STEEP grade almost vertical bearing to race... with like HALF the bearings which were all 2-3x as large.
To me this seems stronger for a bearing that only acts as a hinge and doesnt actually ever spin.
But ultimately the upper bearing cap nuts came loose... I re-used the original lock washers which were mistakened for.. that.. washers. they were FLAT.. which the bottom cap used washers not lock washers.. rookie SAS mistake.
Thats a Trail-Gear chinese trunion bearing, BOOM.
The hi-steer arm suffered damage as well but not life ending (phew!) .. I would like Marlins 25mm bearing and arm upgrades tho! .. $400 bones tho ouch
New SKF bearings installed, Pass side bearings are fine, and all new lock washers and loc tite applied with 80ft lbs of torque (yea 72 is spec)
NOTE* The TG trunion vs the SKF .. sorry no picture... the difference in the bearings is NIGHT AND DAY. I'm curious what a real OEM trunion looks like (didnt toyota use Koyo?) ... But the TG had a much steeper grade and many smaller roller bearings.. vs the SKF which have a very STEEP grade almost vertical bearing to race... with like HALF the bearings which were all 2-3x as large.
To me this seems stronger for a bearing that only acts as a hinge and doesnt actually ever spin.
Last edited by drew303; 11-25-2009 at 12:58 AM.
11-25-2009, 01:19 AM
#3
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nothing there about exploded zombie heads! I'm safe!
11-25-2009, 05:51 AM
#5
Sorry for your misfortune as those are not fun to fix. 
Yet it seems hard to blame the bearing for improper installation and setup. I have mic'd OEM bearings side by side to TG bearings, trunnion, wheel, all of them I have used, and not one is different or out of spec.
No bearing would survive improper install and setup.
Sold hundreds of these bearings and I have seen them run in dozens of vehicles from street queens to hard core competition rigs and I have not noted one single failure in a properly installed bearing.
Trunnion bearings suffer damage from improperly torqued steering arms or not rechecking them between wheeling trips, or improperly set steering stops.
At least it wasn't too expensive of a lesson.
Good luck with getting it fixed.
Yet it seems hard to blame the bearing for improper installation and setup. I have mic'd OEM bearings side by side to TG bearings, trunnion, wheel, all of them I have used, and not one is different or out of spec.
No bearing would survive improper install and setup.
Sold hundreds of these bearings and I have seen them run in dozens of vehicles from street queens to hard core competition rigs and I have not noted one single failure in a properly installed bearing.
Trunnion bearings suffer damage from improperly torqued steering arms or not rechecking them between wheeling trips, or improperly set steering stops.
At least it wasn't too expensive of a lesson.
Good luck with getting it fixed.
11-26-2009, 11:46 AM
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iv been there, although i didnt feel like it took much to break. i think i hit a big pot hole, although im running 38s. everything was tight and shimmed properly.
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11-28-2009, 04:44 PM
#10
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Well, that's a bit to vague. Im my case my axle "stops" the triangulated metal tabs off the axle that the screws actually hit were bent in.. like punched in, the PO of the axle had hit them pretty dang hard! I reinforced them ie capped all the stops.. but in my case you need to unscrew them out real far.
So in other words, screw them out so that the knuckle isnt stopping itself (the knuckle turning so far its hitting the ball) .. which bent two of the small knuckle felt bolts which i had to replace since they were contacting the axle housing!
Good times =)
its all fixed now.
05-30-2010, 11:02 PM
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hey i just blew my trunion bearing or rather found out it was blown... in the process of rebuilding my frt axle... explains my ds tuire lean though lmao. went with marlns rebuild kit... and im a tad scared as far as wab fab states at being prperly set up ... lol na ill just torque em to spec ands hope its proper.
09-06-2010, 02:07 PM
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im in the process of putting my sfa together and wondering if the tg trunion bearing eliminator kit is sold per side? it says ea. so i assume i need 2 kits? and is it more worth it then marlins kit? i plan on going with 38" tsl's or 39.5" iroks later on next summer.
09-06-2010, 02:12 PM
#17
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their kit replaces all 4 bearings on your axle.
cant speak on how it compares to marlins. Marlins ive heard people have issues with installation since not all the bell casts are the same.
If I were to replace what i got now, id buy TG's kingpin style kit. I like the idea of races vs bearings.
cant speak on how it compares to marlins. Marlins ive heard people have issues with installation since not all the bell casts are the same.
If I were to replace what i got now, id buy TG's kingpin style kit. I like the idea of races vs bearings.
09-06-2010, 08:45 PM
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sweet so one kit will work, that means i can buy more stuff. how do you like your tg 3" kit.
Last edited by dropzone; 09-06-2010 at 09:25 PM. Reason: language
03-08-2011, 12:32 PM
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Just doing some research on trunnion bearings because when i turn either eay my truck makes a "clunk" i was told it could be something in my high steer or my trunnion bearings.
Any other takes?
Any other takes?
