Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hello all I would very much appreciate your help with two questions I have with the rear strut housing on my +2.

1) Is there any reason why I should not get the crack welded on the rear strut housing and re-use, assuming its feasible, see Pic 1, It?s the vertical mark at the bottom of the damper tube?
2) Am I wasting my time trying to pull the hub in the way I am doing, once I have heated the hub, Pic 2

All views are very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Peter

Peter. I am not expert on this one by any means, but understand you run the risk of warping your hubs doing the job that way. I used a tool from Ray at RDent.com for hub removal. A similar tool may be available from other suppliers, or perhaps someone near you has one you could use? The tool would be quite easy to send in the post.

Elan Knock-On Hub Removal Tool

Remove Elan rear KO hubs with this specially designed tool and eliminate chances of bending or breaking your rear hubs. This tool threads directly onto the hub while the center bolt presses on the end of the axle shaft. One tool works for both RH and LH hubs!

Ref. 36T0286HD KO Hub Extractor - $115.00

For the welding, again not sure for welding the barrel, although I had my brake mount welded back on by a specialty shop and it worked out fine. Ray recommended this as a viable repair.

HTH

The strut looks, from the photo anyway, weldable.

Wouldn't be attempting to pull the hub like that though.
I see distortion, or worse...
I made up a puller like the one pictured and it still needed a lot of heat and came off with quite a bang.

Ralph.

In my opinion it can be welded. Drill a hole each end to stop the crack propagating any further then weld up.

As for the hub, firstly you will never remove the hub with that tiny puller, you just might hurt yourself and damage the hub. Get the tool as illustrated above and use heat too.

thanks

Mark

Peter

Where are you based. If the postage is feasible I have a removal tool that I would be happy to lend.

Do not try to remove the hub as you have shown. As others have said you will end up distorting the hub.

Regards

Andy

Yes,location would help as I've a puller..

John

There is another way that you can do this without using a proper puller tool... undo the hub nut without taking it fully off so that it protects the thread on the end of the driveshaft. Get a stack of penny washers held together with tape or some other suitable spacer and hold them up against the nut (the spacer needs to be thick enough that when you put the spinner back on its thread and do it up it ends up pressing against the spacer rather than turning until you run out of thread). You then secure the strut and hub assembly safely and turn the spinner so that it acts as its own hub puller (sharp tap with a mallet usually works once the spinner is tight agains the spacer). Unorthodox but it worked for me...

Guys,

Thanks for the input I abandoned the approach I have taken using my puller as I have no wish to damage the hub.

Craig ? I purchased a puller from SJS Sportcars which acts like you describe, but I didn?t succeed. May be I probably was acting a little restrained as I did not want to damage the spinner.

John / Andy- I am in London SE3 and would be delighted to take either one of you up on your offer and pay the postage both ways etc. to borrow the correct tool. If the offer is still on let me know and I will send my address by PM.

Thanks for all the fantastic help and cooperation.

Peter

Hi all,

I had the same problem of removing a rear hub and found that the tools were in short supply so had a small batch made up. These are a one tool fits all design with a left hand thread on one end and a right hand thread on the other. There is a central bolt which applies pressure to the drive shaft just as in the photo earlier in the thread.

If anyone is interested in buying one - its ?65 + postage - please let me know. I can say that it works but its not quick and easy as a good taper fit that's been there for a while takes some shifting!
Regards
Peter

I went through this drill just this morning. My homemade puller, made from an old "Nader nut", failed miserably. I was using an impact wrench and had to stop when I noticed the nut deforming.

So... take care using the spinner approach.

Even at the machine shop it took their big press and a generous supply of heat to break it free. The guy operating the press was also a little unclear on the concept. He managed to drive the nut, which he had loosened and left on to protect the threads, part way (3/32?) into the hub.


I hate shops that don?t allow customers into the work area ?for insurance reasons?. I burnished the pushed up portions of the damaged area down to match the taper. I?m hoping it won?t be a problem.

Hi Peter

The puller I have is the one detailed in the Robinshaw and Ross book and is used with an old spinner. If. You wish I would've happy to post both the tool and two old spinners down to you. I don't know what type of puller John has.

Let me know what you would like to do.

Andy

Bud - Thanks for the heads up as I get the impression I might need some professional help, such as Andy at Spider, I do hope you are able to remove the other side with less damage.

Andy ? Looking at the Spacer Tool in Robinson and Ross?s book it looks like you have roughly the same tool that I have. I could kick myself really as only last week there appeared to be an original Hub Puller on ebay, I should have grabbed that while I had a chance. Thanks all the same for your kind offer, I do hope that John has something more substantial other wise off to Spider it will be sent.

Stu - thanks also for the R Dent suggestion, that also may be a plan.

Cheers

Peter

Hi Peter,
I used one of the SJ sports removal tools and it worked quite well for me. Mind you, you have to give the spinner a bit of a biffing to break the taper, and it doe's come off with a bit of a bang.
Give it another go that?s what I would do. If something won?t work the first time walk away and come back later. Somehow seems to work for me.
Regards Mick G

Mick,

Sounds like sound advice, I'll give it another go.

Thanks

Peter

Your puller was never going to work ... it isn't man enough for the job! I did mine with a 12 ton hydraulic puller I didn't bend anything but it was brown trousers when the hub released and 10kg of puller flew into the air legs flailing.... and it was worse doing the second one as knew what was coming!

The first time I pulled the hubs off I used an old spinner and some washers - I had to hit it so hard that my neighbours complained.

Before you get the strut welded clean up the bearing housing to see if it will hold the new bearings ok.

Simon