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MG MGB Technical - FRONT GREASE FITTINGS

I was under the 1979 B with 135k+ miles to grease the upper and lower ball joints as well as the king pins.

The upper right grease fitting accepted lubrication
the right king pin, not so much. Unable to lube the lower ball joint due to the angle of the fitting. Removed the R/F wheel, turned right, left, no go

The upper left grease fitting accepted lubrication, lower fitting, problem same as the right. Could NOT find the fitting to the left king pin.

I strongly suspect the king pin nipple has broken off somehow. May coincide with fact my Wally-World grease gun seems to have packed up.

Would like to replace all the grease fittings due to its age and mileage.

Ideas for fitting replacements, etc.

Cheers

Gary
79 MGB

Gary Hansen

As far as getting grease in is concerned did you unload the suspension?

The middle nipple is on the back on the near-side whereas all three are on the front on the off-side.

What nipples do you have? Three different ones are shown in the catalogue - short straight for the top, longer straight for the middle although the extra length is not always needed, and angled for the bottom. If you find the angled one is pointing at the back-plate no matter which way you turn the steering then unscrew it a little then tighten it afterwards.
paulh4

Gary, I always jack the car up and remove the front wheels when greasing the front suspension, which gives much better access to the grease nipples. If you are having trouble getting the grease in, then its probably worth removing the grease nipples and giving them a good clean to ensure they are not blocked.

It's also worth thinking about buying one of these, which gives a much better grip on the grease nipple.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/harupink-Coupler-Pressure-Locking-Release/dp/B08911S9MQ

Andy
Andy Robinson

PAUL: Thank you for your input.

Yes, I did jack the car up to relieve the weight and remove the wheels.
My bad, I do not recall the king pin fitting residing on the near side.


ANDY: Thanks for responding.

My post was not clear about removing the wheels.

I am giving serious consideration about replacing the the grease fittings due to age and the "resistance" of getting the lubrication through the fittings.

I will go to Amazon for a new grease gun.


Cheers

Gary
79 MGB
Gary Hansen

Gary. The MGB uses the grease nipples having a 1/4"-28 tpi thread. You can buy them at any auto supply store. Les
Les Bengtson

LES: Thanks for the input. Just ordered from Moss Motors. Ordered a double set. With shipping for a double set came to $41.33.

I'm sure they are cheaper at a local auto supply store. I'll look locally for these items now that you gave me the physical dimensions

Cheers

Gary
79 MGB
Gary Hansen

The grease gets hard if the suspension is not lubricated regularly. This can cause resistance and make complete lubrication difficult. I believe that the interval indicated is even more frequent than oil changes. As mentioned above, definitely raise the wheel off the floor.

Lubricating the kingpins is well worth the trouble. Don't forget to lubricate the slip yoke on the drive shaft when you lubricate the front end. I have taken driveshafts to be balanced and they inevitably are out of spec due to a worn yoke and slip stub shaft.
Glenn Mallory

GLENN:

Thanks for the info. I hope to get on this coming week to get these fittings changed out and the front end
lubricated. I now have a double set of new fittings just arrived yesterday.

Cheers,

Gary
79 MGB
Gary Hansen

These are the grease fittings I just removed rom my 74. The threads "look" different from the 1/4 28 fittings at Auto Zone. Any chance there are different sizes?

Dan


Dan Hiltz

Dan. It is always possible. Either because someone used the wrong threaded grease fitting in the past, or that the part on the car is an aftermarket part that did not use the same size grease fitting as the factory part. The grease fitting, more properly known as a "Zerk" has been available in at least two standard sizes here in the US. It might well be possible that parts made elsewhere in the world may use a metric fitting.

The best way to figure out what you actually have is to measure the part with a pair of dial calipers and use an Imperial/SAE thread pitch gauge to determine nominal diameter and threads per inch. Rather than cover that material here, I suggest you Google: "MGB Bolt Sizes by Les Bengtson". One of the things that comes up is an article in the NAMGBR magazine that I wrote a number of years ago. It will tell you how to measure various bolts and covers how to use taps and dies when you need to retap a hole or clean up the inside of a nut.

But, to answer your question, the factory Zerks were threaded 1/4"-28 tpi Unified National Fine.

Les
Les Bengtson

Thanks Lee,

My bride bought the car new in'74, so what I'm seeing is factory original. I've ordered a gauge to check the thread count. I'll let you know what I discover.
Dan Hiltz

OK!! Thanks to all who shared their knowledge. I finally got a grease gun (the 4th one) that works. Pumped the grease gun until I saw grease oozing out of the seals.

Only had to change out one fitting.

I did notice the king pins like plenty of grease to which I gave generously.

Again, thank you

Cheers

Gary
79 MGB
Gary Hansen

During my restoration process, I stripped the swivel axles and examined the lower trunnion suspension setup,(bushes and spacer tube) etc. I found that the nipple, and the bush itself had been blocked by hard grease and no amount of pressure would have allowed the inner spacer tube to receive any grease. I guess that this results from a lack of regular servicing. Pays to regularly grease these parts!

Maurie
R M Prior

Indeed - suspension hanging down as well. And don't forget on the left-hand side one of them is on the back!

At least on the MGB you don't get the Moggie 1000 problem of the wheel flipping out. The same suspension was used on the Scimitar GTE. During a 300-miler with the family in mine the steering started feeling a bit 'funny'. On our return I checked the steering and front suspension over and found the lower joint was half-way out.
paulh4

Ha! I remember my sister's Morris 1000 lower trunnion separating as has been described. It was a few days before she was due to be married, so she needed to do a lot of running around beforehand. Yours truly to the rescue with an upright assembly from a scrapyard. Then found that the one from the van had a bigger brake drum, so had to swap that over too. Luckily, the separation at the trunnion only used to occur at slow speed, and I believe just on full lock.

With the MGB one I've heard the kingpin (if not the trunnion and fulcrum) will go on virtually for ever if it is regularly greased.
Peter Allen

Yes, full lock, which of course is stiffer when not lubricated. It's a screw thread, which wears with steering, until it finally strips and the weight of that corner pushes that 'bolt' of the chassis side out of the 'nut' on the hub side. I doubt you would ever break an MGB swivel axle or any of the front suspension components under the same circumstances.

My father-in-law worked for the GPO for very many years, they used thousands of Morris 1000 vans, and he said he had never known one of those go.
paulh4

I promised to confirm and so I am. The thread of the grease fittings are 1/2 28.
Dan Hiltz

Dan, Thank you.
Gary Hansen

Dan. You may wish to proof read your post. I rather doubt that the fittings are 1/2"-28 TPI. All that I have measured are 1/4"-28 TPI which is the standard Unified National Fine pitch for that diameter.

Les
Les Bengtson

Lee Bengston, you are correct! Thanks.
Dan Hiltz

This thread was discussed between 19/04/2022 and 19/07/2022

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