Dust caps split every year causing MOT fail

[davidmiles]

Hi all, every year my rubber dust caps on the trunnions let me down in the MOT, and I have to renew them, and that's a pain as the whole lot has to come off so I can refit new one's, with my MOT looming next month, I wonder how other Minor owners cope. The rubber caps split every year, and the mot man says they fail as they no longer prevent the ingress of dust and grit.

I took this image to show the cap in place, as an aside,does my trunnion look to close to the tyre, there's only a couple of mm seperating them.[frame][/frame]

[philthehill]

Firstly it looks as if the tyre is rubbing on the trunnion. What size wheels and tyres have you got fitted? They look to be oversize and not the standard 145 x 14.
Also what hubs have you got fitted?
As regards the trunnion seals unfortunately you are reaping the benefits of poor production and quality control.
Until quality and production control is improved things will not improve.
The seals being developed by Declan Burns seem the way to go.
I always try and get NOS BMC MOWOG seals (auto jumbles are a good source) for the swivels if possible. The seals at either end of the bottom trunnion pin can be substituted with Marina/Ital ones as they are a bit thicker and the production and quality control seems to be better.
But more importantly that contact between trunnion and tyre must be sorted urgently and I doubt it will pass an MOT like that.
Phil

[bmcecosse]

As above - something seriously wrong there with the tyre rubbing - is the other side the same ?? Are the wheel bearings worn? And as above - are you running non-standard hubs/discs?? Fitting new polyurethane bushes in the top trunnion may help. Declan is THE MAN for the new seals he is producing! Other short term possibility may be to cut a small rubber ball in half - and then punch a hole in the top of each half. I suspect a 'squash' ball may be slightly too big - but maybe worth a try.

[simmitc]

Agreed that Declan is doing a superb job, but his seals are available I have used self-amalgamating tape for years - it can be wrapped around without having to disassemble everything.

[philthehill]

simmitec
Are you sure that Declan's seals are generally available.
I have not seen them advertised anywhere.
The last post I remember seeing from him was that the seals were on trial.
Phil

[danielvoorwerk]

I remember Declan said it would be just before or after Christmas 2015.... I m looking for them too, as I'm changing the trunnions soon....

[Declan_Burns]

Of course they are available. My mate, is doing the distribution but I have a few sets here.
Also rocker cover seals for A-Series and B-series and 948 convex tappet chest seals.

Regards
Declan

[simmitc]

Phil, sorry, my typo, it should have read "but until his seals are available..."

[aupickup]

i have advertised new old stock ones in the for sale section

[martin418]

the tyre has a mark on it's side wall as it clearly hits the dust seal and the seal is worn away , if the tyre was this close on the last mot it should have been a fail due to the tyre fouling a suspension component , what size are your tyres and are they std rims

[davidmiles]

Hi all, thanks for the replies, much help, I've ordered new tyres, narrower but similar profile, I've also ordered some self amalgamating tape, the present tyres are 175/65 R14 on original wide van/pickup rims, hubs are original type, and the suspension bushes are all recently renewed, so it has to be the tyres being the wrong bulge width. Thanks for all your advice.

[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Oh yes - these are FAR too wide at 175mm = 6.89" to be mounted on standard 3" wide wheels ! I'm amazed any reputable tyre place would fit them...there are guidelines on rim/tyre fitting which they are supposed to follow. It must handle like a half-set jelly..... Maximum size on standard 3" wheels should be 145 tyres - although some unwisely fit 155 tyres.

[Pikey]

If you are running the wider Van LP917 4.5J rims you can fit 155 or 165mm tyres. I run 155 tyres on mine (which has Lp917 rims) and I dont get any rubbing on the suspension components or inner arches.

I believe 155 are slightly harder to obtain compared to 165mm so most people tend to fit the 165mm really.

175mm are too wide though.

Cheers

Steve

[liammonty]

Oh yes - these are FAR too wide at 175mm = 6.89" to be mounted on standard 3" wide wheels ! I'm amazed any reputable tyre place would fit them...there are guidelines on rim/tyre fitting which they are supposed to follow. It must handle like a half-set jelly..... Maximum size on standard 3" wheels should be 145 tyres - although some unwisely fit 155 tyres.

Granted, although I am indeed most reckless, as I 'unwisely' run 155 R14 tyres on my Minor, I think David did say that he is using wide van rims, not standard 3" rims Perhaps there is more going on than the width of the tyres for that clearance between the tyre and trunnion and swivel pin to be so small?

[bmcecosse]

Hmm - 'original wide van/pickup wheels' - I don't think the LP917 wheels were ever fitted to Pick-ups - and only to the uprated later vans. Stlll too wide for the 4.5J wheels if that's what they are. 155 is ideal for these wheels.

[davidmiles]

I spent a packet getting wide rims LP917s' for my pickup thinking it was being true to original, oh well, they are on there now.[frame][/frame]

four new tyres at 165/65 R14, now they clear the trunnion by a thumbs width, and they don't look too small in the wheelarch, so I'm happy with the way they look, handling on the other hand is remarkably better.[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Well done. The wide wheels are a very wise/good investment.

[moggyland]

All 8cwt lcvs had the wider wheels fitted.

[SteveClem]

Looks great!

[bmcecosse]

And were there 8cwt Pick-Ups ?