Suspension overhaul

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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Tue 21.07.2015, 19:49

Looks great Andy!

I have decided to bite the bullet and replace my upper ball joints as well. I was inspecting them last night and there was a bit of play in one of them. Figured it is better to replace them now, than to be back in there in a year. Parts ordered.

Now to drill off the heads of the bolts to get the old ones free of the upper wishbones. Wish me luck.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby CalElan » Tue 21.07.2015, 20:36

Artaban wrote:Don't want to hijack the thread but thought some may be interested in some (not all) of the bolts washers etc that have been replaced in my recent suspension rebuild.

Image


Off to Blink Motorsport near Oulton Park circuit on Wednesday to get all the alignment done.
Andy


That looks like the pile of stuff I have left after doing the most mundane of tasks!
GULP!
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Artaban » Wed 22.07.2015, 18:27

Went to Blink Motorsport today in Winsford Cheshire http://www.blinkmotorsport.com to get all the suspension alignment done. They use Hunter Hawkeye kit which was pretty impressive. Even though all the bolts were easy to move (except a couple in the rear top links) it still took them nearly 4 hours to complete the job. However ride height is now perfect as are all the angles.

I made sure I arrived with half a tank of fuel and they put 75kg of weights in the drivers seat/footwell. The AVO shocks are set to the mid position so I'll drive it a bit first before I start experimenting with them. Spring rates were up 20% on standard but initial impressions on the way back home was that it was still a comfortable ride but felt much more stable in a fast bend. Since they set up cars for the road and track their knowledge is extensive so it was useful to be given various options on how I wanted the car to feel but in the end I wanted to know how the car would have handled from new so I had everything set exactly as per the workshop manual.

If I wanted to go lower than the book ride height I wouldn't be able on the front springs as it was on the limit so I'd need shorter springs at the front; I think the rears would be OK as you could easily drop them another two inches. However I'm happy with how it was meant to be when it left the factory.

I know you all want to know the price....£210 incl VAT. In the context of the thousands spent on the suspension rebuild it just had to be done.
Andy

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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby CalElan » Wed 22.07.2015, 19:36

Seems good value for the peace of mind that you know it's all functioning as it should be..
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Thu 23.07.2015, 16:48

Well, I managed to separate the ball joints from the front upper wishbones last night! I was considering buying an angle grinder for the job but figured I would try my oscillating multi-tool first. Surprisingly it worked with the help of a carbide blade, although it was not the most efficient tool in the world. But not bad really. In a little over an hour I was able to cut the heads off of the M8 bolts and then simply split the ball joints from the wishbones by hand.
BoltsCut.JPG
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Artaban » Fri 24.07.2015, 08:58

An hour! I have to admire your patience. Looking nice in red.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby lotusflasherman » Fri 24.07.2015, 14:29

Grant wrote:Well, I managed to separate the ball joints from the front upper wishbones last night! I was considering buying an angle grinder for the job but figured I would try my oscillating multi-tool first. Surprisingly it worked with the help of a carbide blade, although it was not the most efficient tool in the world. But not bad really. In a little over an hour I was able to cut the heads off of the M8 bolts and then simply split the ball joints from the wishbones by hand.


Well done. :clap: Looks like the bolts have become part of the balljoint casting and you'll be replacing the balljoint too.

If you're planning to do the other side I'd suggest you buy that angle grinder. Remember "The right tools and the right technique makes a 5 minute job take 3 minutes, without the right tools it takes 5 hours" - or 1 hour here.
An angle grinder with a 'cutting disc' (thin as cardboard not to be confused with a grinding disc that is much thicker) would cut through the balljoint cast iron and the bolts in just a couple of minutes.

Cut just on the edge of the casting as shown by yellow lines on your photo - but you'll only need to make two cuts towards the bolt heads if you've got the nuts off already

BoltsCut.JPG
BoltsCut.JPG (36.6 KiB) Viewed 12474 times


I couldn't live without an angle grinder or two ! I have a mains powered usually fitted with a cutting disc and Ryobi rechargable with a 'flap wheel'. The cutting disc goes through metal 'like a hot knife through butter' but leaves razor sharp edges so the flap wheel rounds them off before they give me 'an oil leak'. I also use the flapwheel to clean up the discs if I haven't used the car for several weeks - in cold damp UK discs can get surface rust on them quite quickly so I clean it off rather than get it in the pads and I find the OE brakes work fine with a bit of TLC. Not needed when it's warm but at the moment it's sitting outside in the rain at 60F/15C ... and we call this 'summer' :banghead:
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Fri 24.07.2015, 21:38

The 1 hour included both sides, so for now no need for an angle grinder. But I'm sure I will find an excuse soon enough to buy an angle grinder.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Thu 30.07.2015, 16:33

New ball joints arrived from Stratton Motors in the UK just in time for the weekend. Shipping was incredibly fast via InterParcel.
Thanks for the advice John!

BallJoints.JPG
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Mon 03.08.2015, 16:48

Top wishbones refinished and installed with new ball joints.

TopWishbone.JPG

Next, on to PNM front brake kit. Should be shipping soon...
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Thu 06.08.2015, 15:10

Looking good Grant. A word of caution though...

Over the years I have picked up several of the NEW upper ball joints from Lotus and just recently offered a pair to another US owner who was rebuilding their front end.

They replaced them using the original shims and spacers as they had recently had an alignment. They spent the next weekend at an autocross and then took the car in for a new alignment. Turns out that the "NEW" upper ball joints were real "sloppy" (worn out). After replacing them again, they decided to remove the rubber boots and retainers and put them on their original set which they had replaced because the boots had cracked and found that there was almost NO GREASE in the ball joints. The original ball joints were full of grease.

I just popped the boot off one of the newest ball joints I got from Lotus (last week) and it has almost no grease in it as well. It might be advisable for you to consider popping off the boots and if the grease is sparse, pack a bit of decent wheel bearing grease into the ball joints and boots and rock them around a bit to spread it and then reassemble.

Sorry, but I didn't want your rebuild to fail because Lotus' supplier isn't very good with quality control...

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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Thu 06.08.2015, 20:17

Thanks for the heads up John! Sounds like a real pain in the ass, but I was kinda wondering about that. They seemed very stiff and I didn't hear much greese squishing around when I moved them manually. Better do it. Grrrrr...
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Thu 06.08.2015, 20:39

For a picture of what I found look at this:

Image
There is almost NO grease in the boot and very little around the ball.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Wed 19.08.2015, 15:53

John, did you have any trouble getting the boots off without ripping them?
Any tips on how to do this safely?
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Wed 19.08.2015, 17:27

The boot is held on with a SpiroLox" snap ring. It is actually like a couple of windings of a spring and comes off by catching the upper end of the top coil and walking ir around while lifting until both windings are removed.

It is hard to describe but easy once you understand it.

This is a picture of a spirolox retainer:

Spirolox.jpg


Some other pictures from a PDF I found:

Spirolox.pdf
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Spirolox2.pdf
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Grant » Thu 20.08.2015, 17:10

Thanks again John, I got your message. Look forward to hearing what you find out from Lotus on the ball joints.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby Brit-Car-Nut » Thu 20.08.2015, 18:59

The official reply from Lotus is the ball joints now have a nylon cup and don't require any additional grease. They are within spec and are not designed for spirited driving: Autocross or the like.

They feel that adding grease will only lube the boot.

All of the upper ball joints Lotus is selling are from a 2006 purchase. Anyone that has purchased and installed upper ball joints is advised to get them checked regularly and if you do track days or autocross, they are subject to failure as the nylon cups melt.
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby madbilly » Fri 24.06.2022, 20:17

Hi Dave,
I just want to check - are all the rear fasteners 8.8, or are any 10.9, 12.9? I'm planning to do some work on the rear and want to make sure I've got good nuts and bolts to go back on.
Cheers :)
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby dapinky » Sat 25.06.2022, 10:31

Billy,

The rear suspension bolts are all 8.8 grade, with the possible exception of the cam-bolt for adjusting the rear toe setting. That is the only part which is 'specific', but I can't see that it would need to be a different grade to the others, just because it has the eccentric cam on it.

(item #61 on page 31.03A of the parts book)
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Re: Suspension overhaul

Postby madbilly » Sat 25.06.2022, 16:35

Thanks Dave :)
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