Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi All

I'm just about to start rebuilding my front suspension and want to replace the 'consumable' parts. I'm also fitting new (bolt on) hubs to replace the knock ons, so will need replacement stub axles. I'll be keeping my spare uprights with all the knock on parts fitted should I decide to return to knock ons at some stage, so please don't come round and lynch me quite yet

Can somebody recommend the best supplier for quality parts - I guess I can go to the Triumph suppliers as well as Lotus for these bits.

Thanks in advance

Wyn

I think you could use GT6 hubs and keep the same uprights and stub axles.

Paddy

Thanks paddy.

What pcd would end up with then?

3.75", same PCD, offset etc as the for the Herald/Spitfire/Elan bolt-on wheels except that you have the heavier duty stub axles and bearings.

Paddy

The alloy ones with Canley Classics (here - http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xh ... roduct.xsl) look good!

I went for alloy hubs but I'm not sure I would do it again. The problem is that the differential expansion of alloy vs steel gives two problems:

- you need a greater cold end-float on the bearing to allow the hub to expand;
- the bearing races become loose in the hub when it heats up.

There was a thread about it here:

elan-f15/front-hub-bearing-failure-t19304.html

Just my experience, I'm sure there are other opinions.

Paddy

Thanks Paddy

I've seen that post - I think I've gone through the entire archive

The car is a sprint and hillclimb car so it won't be generating the heat that an out and out racer would but I'll still need to be careful with end float. It seems from my searches that the cast GT6 hubs aren't readily available.

Regards

Wyn

lsdweb wrote:It seems from my searches that the cast GT6 hubs aren't readily available.

I got some secondhand ones from a Triumph breaker - I think they're not too hard to get but you're probably right that you can't get them new.

Paddy