Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

I have noticed a small but noticeable amount of play in my nearside rear axle which only seems to be present when I grab the tyre in the vertical axis. No play horizontally. It is definetly within the hub assembly but when driving the car I can't hear any rear bearing rumbling sounds. Over several thousand miles it does not appear to have got any worse. What I find strange is the fact that the play is only in one plane and not both. Could it be that the outer ring of the ball bearing is loose in the hub assembly? Has anyone come across this scenario before?

Will
That sounds to me like bearing play in the hub, if not excesIve rebuild with loctite bearing fit
Good luck it does work

Check the outer driveshafts that pass through the bearings in the hub carrier. They can get notched by the bearing inner race - happened to me: lotus-suspension-f42/rear-wheel-bearing-knocking-from-suspension-over-bumps-t40997-45.html#p287622

If the movement is always in vertical plane and not horizontal then it suggests wear in the fixed components in the strut rather than the moving shaft or bearing inner races.

So I would suspect wear in the fixed outer races or wear of the outer races in the hub. These components typically wear in the vertical plane as that is where most of the load is.
cheers
Rohan

Check to see if it is play in the strut. Sometimes the special "C" nut that holds the Insert in the Strut needs tightening.
Alan

Gentlemen, thank you for your replies. I have proved that the play is within the hub itself and reading into Rohan's reply this might explain why I can't hear any untoward noises when driving the car. Does it sound like a strip down job or could I leave it for the time being? If I did have to remove the complete strut assembly is it acceptable to leave the damper in the Chapman strut and be able to dismantle the bearings and drive shaft as I have only just fitted new dampers?

You can leave Chapman Strut in place. Remove Hub and Drive Shaft with Rotoflexes. Then remove Drive Stub Axle and Bearings no problem.
alan
ps. when you checked for play was the Suspension in full drop. You need it in full droop to put a finger between the Spring Coils to touch the Shock Piston rod and "C" retaining Nut at the same time. Get someone else to rock Wheel to see if you can feel movement. I had this problem on a 1973 +2S130, nearside "C" retaining Nut needed tightening

Alan, I have a few questions. I thought you had to remove the complete Chapman strut/hub assembly with brake disc etc to start disassembling the outer drive shaft and removing the inner and outer bearings? The complete rear suspension unit on my car is a bit easier to remove as I have solid drive shafts. I was hoping that the strut could be left alone and not removed from the alloy hub assembly. If the C nut refers to the nut holding the damper to the strut then I know that this is fully tightened as I had just fitted new dampers as previously mentioned. I can actually see the small amount of vertical play in the hub assembly with the wheel removed.

Once the driveshaft is dropped out the way you can easily remove hub, stub driveshaft and bearings.
Alan

Usually they make noise, not always

In the hub it is in order of approximate likelihood

Bearing
housing loose on the bearing
stub axle worn inside bearing[It happened to me]

There are two horizontal directions [or an infinite number if you want to get philosophical about it]
If by horizontal you mean end play it is normal to have side play in a dead bearing and not end play

If you have another meaning, then you need to be more specific

Hi Gus, I jack the car up and grab the tyre and try and wobble it horizontally and vertically and when I look at the brake disc I can see the vertical only movement which proves that the problem is within the hub. My own thoughts were that if the outer bearing case was rotating within the aluminium hub then the amount of play detectable would get worse (especially after 2000 miles!), but it hasn't. I can clarify that there is no movement in or out if I try to pull or push the wheel.

I think the best way to be sure is to uncouple the drive shaft, then test. When I bought my car I checked the rear bearings for play by rocking the wheels in both axes. They seemed solid, but in fact one outer axle was grooved and I didn't see this until I had the thing jacked up, wheel off and shaft decoupled.

Not saying a grooved shaft is the problem but you ought to make sure.

+1 Jon,
you're learning very fast with your +2S130
Alan

William2 wrote:Hi Gus, I jack the car up and grab the tyre and try and wobble it horizontally and vertically and when I look at the brake disc I can see the vertical only movement which proves that the problem is within the hub. My own thoughts were that if the outer bearing case was rotating within the aluminium hub then the amount of play detectable would get worse (especially after 2000 miles!), but it hasn't. I can clarify that there is no movement in or out if I try to pull or push the wheel.

Well, it is time to take the wheel off and get a closer look.
The 'vertical only' bit is still confusing, but if you are seeing the brake disk move independently of the the housing, then it isn't the strut

See if someone local has good Lotus rear hub pullers, that is the only difficult part

Don't use 3 leg puller. Please look at past posts to remove hub. You have been warned.
Alan