Topic: TG Rock Assault™ Trunnion Bearing Eliminator Kit

[WHITE_TRASH]

I am with you on that man. I wont criticize someone for trying to make something better though. People just need to look at stuff through their own eyes instead of just going with what is new and hip. Trail Gear has this, where as Marlin has their own upgrade for said bearings. Which is better? I personally have no idea. Which setup would I trust more? Marlins, no questions asked, for reasons I will not get into. (I know this is going against what I am saying but in this situation I feel justified in saying it) What would I do? Scrap the toy axles and work with something bigger.

There is no point trying to make a toy axle strong enough to take the loads that spacers and minimally backspaced wheels put on them when coupled with the large tires that are being ran on them. Toy front axles are marginal in stock form with 33s. Sure you can upgrade them to potentially handle 40s, but at what cost? And at the end of the day it is still a pretty narrow axle. Why not start with a larger axle, say a Dana 60 from a Chevrolet, and built it up? I feel many people would be much happier with their setups going this route if they really (ab)use their toys.

My

There are a lot of things I don't agree with you about but you are spot fawking on with that reply.  Toy parts can be upgraded to break less often with the right upgrades but you'll still break eventually.  Yes 'tons will break but you'll have to beat them like you hate them unless you are running insane gearing or lots of power and big tires.  And even then they'll last a lot longer than the yota stuff.

[TacoRunner]

Alright Guys I am curious to know if anyone has or is running this?
How does it ride or feel compared to stock?
Don't give me the "TG sucks speel" I want some tried and proven answers.

http://www.trail-gear.com/trunnion-bearing-eliminator

You need to speak to peacesells, he bought one if Im not mistaken. He doesn't run it in his truck, if that tells you anything.

[TractorDriver]

 I have been running big tires (38.5 sx's-39.5 irocs) and full hydrolic for a couple years running stock trunion bearings the only problem I ever had was I jumped a full cab 96 Taco 2.7 with leaf springs aprox. 2 ft off the ground landed mostly on the front and bent the pins that go threw the top bearing. I have since upgraded to the 25mm pins and have jumped it several times with no problems. The axle is under my buggy now were it see's a lot more abuse in competitions and worse situations. Thanks

[yota4x4sc]

Well im gonna order some  trial gear components for my boys samurai ill let u know hot they work, the king pin setup, i like how everyone always hates on anything and everything trial gear makes, i mean i aint a huge fan of it but some of the stuff they make is pretty good stuff, trial gear  will keep u on the trail at least 

[yoshaleng]

I'm currently running TG trunion bearing set up and I've had no problems! After a few hundred miles of DD, I took it apart to inspect it as suggested by DavezOffRoad and still looks like new. I can't even tell that I'm not using bearings.

[-Jake-]

I'm currently running TG trunion bearing set up and I've had no problems! After a few hundred miles of DD, I took it apart to inspect it as suggested by DavezOffRoad and still looks like new. I can't even tell that I'm not using bearings.

same here.  literally no difference in feel. 

[Rocksurfer]

Only time will tell......

[4RunnerChevy]

Well im gonna order some  trial gear components for my boys samurai ill let u know hot they work, the king pin setup, i like how everyone always hates on anything and everything trial gear makes, i mean i aint a huge fan of it but some of the stuff they make is pretty good stuff, trial gear  will keep u on the trail at least 

Henry runs them, and he seems to never have a problem.

[smokeybeans]

The worst case: My buddy and I were out playing around and he exploded a trunnion bearing on a hill climb (he runs 36s)
 He continued to drive his rig out hearing a nice pop every so often. (He needed 4 wheel to get out)
After we got out of the woods he put it in 2wd and drove home.

Ok here is the sad part. I tore the axle down to find what I suspected, an exploded trunnion bearing (drivers side)
An easy fix, So I started the repair as I inspected the housing and noticed that the inner axle seal was damaged badly...
At this point I had a bad feeling, so I pulled the third just for inspection and a single trunnion bearing had worked its way through the housing and managed to get between the pinion and the ring.

 Needles to say the 529/ARB third was toast, every tooth was broken 

After this experience I decided to try out the trunnion bearing eliminator kit. I will let you guys know what I think
after some use..

[rockin86runner]

iv been running mine for about 3000 miles and the still are brand new when i took it apart to look at them last week

[blackdiamond]

The thing thats a little different is that when you turn a little, with the bearings it'll usually come back straight when you let go of the steering wheel when goin down the road.  With out the bearings you have to steer it back to straight and maybe that'll be better as they get broke in a little more.

This is an indication that there is some drag in the bearing surface.  Something will likely wear and free this up, but the question is if it will keep wearing past this point.

I don't know anything about this product, but it sure looked like something that I might consider on a trail only rig and not at all on a daily driver.

[TacoRunner]

With out trying to stir any thing up. Because I'm sure lots of people know how I feel apart TG parts. However street driving isn't really a test for these parts, opinions and reviews may be worth more more creditable after several "Harder" off road trips. If they are lasting or breaking at that point, that is a review to listen to.

[rockin86runner]

With out trying to stir any thing up. Because I'm sure lots of people know how I feel apart TG parts. However street driving isn't really a test for these parts, opinions and reviews may be worth more more creditable after several "Harder" off road trips. If they are lasting or breaking at that point, that is a review to listen to.

i ran mine threw fordyce 2 times and the rubicon 1 time and drove to and from each time with out any problems what so ever and did some baja at moonrocks threw the whoops with som hard hits... they have been in my rig for almost 8 months or so and have taken them apart and still havnt seen any wear or damage to them. just my 2 cents

[sparkys83yota]

i ran mine threw fordyce 2 times and the rubicon 1 time and drove to and from each time with out any problems what so ever and did some baja at moonrocks threw the whoops with som hard hits... they have been in my rig for almost 8 months or so and have taken them apart and still havnt seen any wear or damage to them. just my 2 cents

thanks for the review. My front axle is in pieces right now. My longs are in the mail and im waiting for the rebuild kit to come in. But I am really considering this t.g. kit now.

[yoshaleng]

Mines been through Mini Rubicon twice along with jungle trial. Still handles great. just remember that as bearings...to keep units greased.

[blackdiamond]

My stock bearings that, as far as I know have not been rebuilt since I've owned my 85 truck, has survived the Rubicon and more than five full weeks in Moab.  The axle originally came in my 85 truck that I purchased around 2000 and also survived a couple summers of Colorado wheeling.  I've run 32, 33 and now 35 inch tires so it's not quite the same as the guys running really big tires, but the stock bearings hold up as long as you don't abuse your truck.

[peacesells]

My stock bearings that, as far as I know have not been rebuilt since I've owned my 85 truck, has survived the Rubicon and more than five full weeks in Moab.  The axle originally came in my 85 truck that I purchased around 2000 and also survived a couple summers of Colorado wheeling.  I've run 32, 33 and now 35 inch tires so it's not quite the same as the guys running really big tires, but the stock bearings hold up as long as you don't abuse your truck.

True, ive never seen a koyo bearing failure, Though I have broken trail jizz bearings. I had 25 year old koyos in my old rig on 40's, never beat on it too bad, but it made it though some of the harder trails in AZ without issue. BUT, I used a trail jizz rebuild kit in my 85's front axle, after 1000 miles and 6-7 medium trails on 35's the drivers upper bearing was broken and the TG tie rod ends were worn really bad for such little use... I now have marlins 25mm kit, arms, and rod ends on both rigs.

Anyone that I have seen in person break a trunion bearing was due to trail jizz bearings or steering arms, only seen one guy break an allpro 17mm pin, but he was running jap bearings and he BEATS hit rig... 250hp turbo motor and 37in sticky crawlers...

[Rocksurfer]

I've never had any trouble with stock units, I don't beat my rigs anymore than needed. If I can keep OEM parts I do, I have never lost a trunnion bearing, birf, or even an axle shaft in the front or rear, ever. I did snap an inner IFS axle once and I was being stupid. I always try to keep as many OEM parts as possible because you won't find a trunnion bearing eliminator kit at the local parts store or junk yard when you break one.

[rockin86runner]

OEM trunnion bearing are the only way to go only reason i went with the eliminator kit was be cause i destroyed the birf and it destroyed the bearing so it was a test to see what this kit was all about i got a hella good deal from my local offroad shop so i tested it out for them

[sparkys83yota]

That's a really good point about not being able to find non oem parts at the junk yard or local parts store.

[Rocksurfer]

Plus sticking with OEM or close to OEM (ability to swap back) help on the trail when you have broke something and you are looking for that part rig to rig on the trail. I've donated things to and have had people donate parts to me get them or myself rolling again. Once I lost a rag-joint on my Sammi and someone had one in his parts box, he actually had 3 of them and told me I should carry them too since it is a common thing that they tear up on the trail.

[kdub0013]

I installed the HD trunnion bearings and kept my stockers just in case, this way if you break on the trail you will have better chances of finding someone with OEM bearings in their tool box like myself and so many others and can do a simple swap on the trail or at camp.

[smokeybeans]

   Thats a great idea I am going to do the same. Just in case..

I installed the HD trunnion bearings and kept my stockers just in case, this way if you break on the trail you will have better chances of finding someone with OEM bearings in their tool box like myself and so many others and can do a simple swap on the trail or at camp.

[Sparkplug]

the kit is on sale right now, for 175

[kdub0013]

   Thats a great idea I am going to do the same. Just in case..

Don't get me wrong I like the eliminator idea, but I would not feel safe unless I had a spare or two. I got a buddy who has ran the HD bearings for a couple years on 42's filled 3/4 of the way full of water and the bearings are holding up real nice!

[Fo-runna]

  I installed the trunnion bearing eliminator kit and also the longfield wiper seals. I only have 100 or so miles on this set up so the jury is still out. I can tell you it definately feels different on the street. I think it may be the combination of the two though and not the T.B.E. kit itself. I set mine up to about 14 lbs because my next shim option set it at 0lb. If it doesn't "break in" so to speak, I'll probably go back to 0 lbs to compensate for the wiper seals.

The crowd that always preaches "you should have went tons" is getting redundant. Some people prefer a more street friendly rig. One that doesn't have 4dees and attract the law enforcements attention so much. Some people have a bunch  of money into their toy axles because that's all they had available when they started their build. What I'm trying to say is there are alot of different reasons why people run toy axles so who are we to tell them what they should have done or should do.

Not one post in this thread mentioned the main cause of trunnion bearing failure ... steering arm stud failure or lack of proper torque. You lose a steering arm for whatever reason, and your bearing is in pieces.  My T.B.E. will most likely be intact. This is the very reason I bought the kit.

I will say this, if I break, even once, this season, you will see the most built set of Toy axles money can build hit the chopping block in record time. I will tapatalk post those things for sale from the trail and will go one tons. Mark my words.

[superyota]

Not one post in this thread mentioned the main cause of trunnion bearing failure ... steering arm stud failure or lack of proper torque. You lose a steering arm for whatever reason, and your bearing is in pieces.  My T.B.E. will most likely be intact. This is the very reason I bought the kit.

I

or a birfield grenading

[yota4x4sc]

ya we ordered the eliminator kit yesterday and already got it today, i love how fast they ship stuff, installing in a few min, ill let u know how it goes

[Tofudude]

i saw them put that kit on Zuk on Extreme 4x4, has to be better than decent.

[zippo]

They are paid to use parts. Its bull crap they don't use a wider variety of vendors. I see one big problem with long term use of this product, no consumable part, so instead of replacing a simple bearing you are buying a hole new set.