Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

A question was raised; in a different thread; re Setting Up the +2 following a full rebuild.

In my case, new chassis (Lotus), New shocks, new suspension bushes, trunnions etc, etc.
In the +2 Workshop Manual, in the Overhaul and Rebuild Section, see (e) of the attachment, it says to Load the Vehicle on the Front to Rear centre line, with the stated weights.



Now this has been interpretated in 2 different ways.
1) Split the weight stated by ? and place each on each seat. i.e. 84lbs on each Front seat.
2) Place the full weight stated on each of the seats. i.e. 168lbs on each Front seat.

The total weight in the car prior to tightening up wishbones and suspension mountings is very different.
i.e. in 1) Total = 370lbs. In 2) Total + 618lbs.
Which is correct?

In the original thread, Rohan posted his suggestion, which was a different method to set it up.
I am very grateful for his contribution and will follow his very experienced advice.

Having recently goggled this subject, I did find on another Lotus forum, someone suggesting using ? of the human body weight of a car of 2 Adults and 2 Children. This would suggest the answer as in 1) above.

But I am very curious to see how others understand the instructions in the Workshop Manual.

Thanks for posting this,Trevor.
I also didn't want to deviate on the other thread.
Yes, as I understood it from the WSM, the weight was distributed evenly (84lb on each seat) and the same reasoning for the rear. Obviously, this is open to interpretation but when I loaded the car with two wheel barrows full of soaking concrete blocks, I thought - holy carp! that's a lot of weight - and surely enough to give a 'usual' and 'general' load that the car will carry.
I can forget the kids in the back but maybe the occasional pair of cats going to the vets and of course, a big fire extinguisher in the boot
Rohan's method seems interesting but I'm not sure how that works?
I look forward to hearing others' thoughts.

Regards,
Kev.

If the car is usually driven solo, as most are,your equivalent body weight in the drivers seat should get it approx spot on...

John

Don't forget thats the "every day" way of tightening the bushings, there is a school of thought that says you should have low load on the rubber bushings in the position it spends most time (i.e. parked up) unless you don't care about how long the Bushings last and would rather have it optimised for Racing for example.

Personally i do all the geo work/corner weights (wet) with the bushings Nipped up, then gently drive it up and down the farms Drive to settle the suspension recheck the geo, then without jacking it back up and with some one sat in the drivers seat torque every thing up. Many of our Jag's are driven to settle the suspension then tightened with no driver (sadly most are show cars that get driven once a month if their lucky).

Depends how much you plan to use it tbh.

Does someone have a link to the referenced other thread?

Thanks

Stu

Hi Stu.

Here is the other thread:- lotus-talk-f50/let-the-pictures-the-talking-t29927-510.html#p271087

How rude of me, I did not thank the other posters for their contributions.

Thank you.