Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi

Any opinions on the Trakrite device/ Would it work on the rear wheels (can't think of a reason why not).

Regards

John

John

Trakrite....yes,why not,....I've just cobbled up/used an optical device on all 4 wheels,just needed a half a turn on the front left trackrod and set them all to the same toe-in........I suppose you just have to make sure it's parallel to the chassis...

John

Hi John, how much toe-in do you use?

Hi

In reply to last posting- I don't know at present! I'm using std rear A arms but over the years (I know- I should have attended to it before now)have noticed that the offside rear tyre consistently scrubs the outside tread quite noticeably. I'm pretty sure I know the reason for this- when I bought the car in 1978 the alloy hub casing had "fretted" due to the bolts running through the hub loosening. In those days hub carriers weren't so readily available so I had it alloy welded then line bored. I think the hole(s) are not quite true resulting in too much toe-in on that side.

I've had a pair of adjustable A frames made with the adjusters (two on each frame) immediately adjacent to the chassis mounting points. Before I get round to fitting them however I'd like to know if a Trakrite would enable me to set up the rears at home and save travelling (and money) to a specialist tracking service.

Regards

John

Aussiejohn

I'm not sure at present,I worked it out that the wheels form a Trapezoid,and first checked the rear wheels aligned with the front and to my amazement they did (no need for adjustable A-frames here then) then adjusted the front wheels to the rears (only 3/4 turn or so out)and went for a whizz today over the snake pass..... and it was right...

John

P.S. I'll work out my settings in the morning when sober...

Aussiejohn

The morning is here and I'm sober,just dug out the diagram I did while sussing out the geometry (Figures for Plus2- not elan-even though we're in things in common)

a picture is worth 1000 words,toe-in figures from the manual..

[attachment=0]tracking.jpg[/attachment]

John

John
I've used a Trakrite on both front and rear of my Elan. It works just the same front and rear and is ok but you do need a very flat area more than two cars lengths long to get consistent results. I tried on my short drive but a slight slope to one side and insufficient length to get the car running really straight and it gave me results which varied greatly on repetition (I'm just glad I did repeat rather that just taking the first reading on face value). Much better when I found a really flat car park - acceptable consistency. The Trakrite is also a bit of a pain to use, you have to sweep the areas where you place it free of grit, if you pick the thing up carelessly it can all come apart and you then spend the next twenty minutes trying to get all the little rollers back in place and the indicator needle in position correctly.

Vernon

Thanks John [worzel] and John [JPC], I think I will recheck mine again, cheers Aussie John.