RP Lubrication

[Smiley]

Hi folks,  lubrication advice required for my RP.  Oil or grease in the steering box which appears to be a bit stiff
even when jacked up.?
Oil or grease in the King Pins and steering mechanism ?  What grades would be best for these jobs.  Thanks.

[Nick Turley]

If your steering is stiff, the driving will be horrible. 
In my view if it is stiff when jacked up it is unlikely to be lubrication that is the problem.
You need to find the culprit, my suggestion is that you remove the drag link as a start.
You can then test the steering box which should show no resistance throughout its full steering movement.
If there is any at all, I would remove the box and column get it on the bench and give it a full rebuild.

Then test the wheel movement, if you have resistance at all there I would pull the steering arms out so you can check the kingpin movements individually. If they seem OK then it can be the case that the track rod geometry is varying as the steering prescribes its arc of movement, this would need sorting.

If a kingpin is tight, lubrication is unlikely to fix the problem, it would need to be refitted.

Many Austin Sevens suffer from bad steering, it does take time, trouble and patience to get it right. 
Even a simple thing like over-tightening the kingpin cotters (should be 19 ft lbs) can cause the kingpins to be tight.

I use good chassis grease for the king pins and the steering box. Some people use heavy gear oil.

May I suggest that you find someone in you local club who can help you diagnose the issue on your car.

I hope this is helpful, good luck.

[Bob Culver]

When I was young I used to take lubrication recommendations very seriously. Remember dismantling a steering box just to change from clean grease to oil! With the wear so critical a moly grease seems prudent fror kingpins. Unsuited steering box as the stains from column drips  esp hard to remove from good clothes.
Cars used to be very neglected. Not uncommon to find shackle pins worn into the steel of axle. The original hub recommendations are absurdly excessive.

[Dave Wortley]

As Nick says, disconnect steering box from rest of steering and see how freely steering wheel turns throughout its normal zone of rotation. You should be able to turn the wheel with one finger. If ok do the following:--jack up front of car and turn front wheels by hand and if there are tight spots or general tightness and assuming the kingpins are not wobbling in the axle eyes (check by tightening the cotters a little) you can then take out one of the steering arms to identify which kingpin is short of lube. You can free this sometimes with a kettleful of boiling water poured on the stub axle assembly, followed by greasing or back axle oil in your grease gun. It is usually the bottom bush which is short of grease. If you take off the brass cap in the top of the stub axle you can utilise the 5/16" BSF  hole in the top of the kingpin to grease the bottom bush. I have made an adaptor  from a 5/16 bolt which has a grease nipple in the top.
Cheers, Dave.

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If the kingpin is loose in the axle eye then the axle needs to be removed and rectified. If not badly worn, then it may be possible to gently ream out suitable for an oversize kingpin. The axle eye needs to be inspected for any sign of cracking as obviously this is critical for safety.