Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any hot tips for removing the top nut from the rear spring/damper unit. The Lotocone has failed so the top of the unit is free, but I just cant seem to get enough torque on the nut to undo it. The damper shaft just rotates. I do still have the spring fitted, but there is very little spring pressure.

Oh, and yes the split pin has been removed!

Thanks,

Ian

Ian, I had to put vise grips on the upper portion of the shaft on mine. Not sure if this is correct procedure though, or if there is a better way. The Plus 2 uses rubber bumpers over the shaft, so no problem in my case if the shaft gets a bit roughed up, but understand the Elan does not have these? Note the castellated nuts are special, with a small lip to centre them in the Lotocone and keep them from rattling, so make sure you keep them in case they don't come with new shocks (or sell them to others that didn't realize this). The new shocks I got from Spyder came with special Nyloc's (with the small lip), so they needed the vise grip back-up to tighten them up.

Ian, check the upper spring perch when you have it apart. The hole in the center should be 'D' shaped, to fit the shaft of the shock. It usually is good enough to keep it from turning. If yours is wallowed out, weld it up to a good 'D' shape to fit the shaft snugly.

Greg Z

The nut is sometimes easily undone with a 1/2 inch air impact wrench along with the appropriate socket (and air pressure) . That is the method I would use. If the strut insert is going to be replaced then Stuart's suggestion will also work but you will have to bite into the chrome shaft with the vice grips real good and the insert binned.

Gary

The first time I did that job to replace a failed lotocone I also used mole grips on the shaft as well. I just slipped the rubber bump stop down & fixed them as high up as possible, and as Gary says, you end up making a mess of the chrome. But if you grip at the top, the damper never compresses enough in normal use to see the damage and it's covered by the rubber bump stop anyway. Like Greg says, it will be the hole in the upper spring platform that has deformed allowing the shaft to rotate, but it's easy enough to repair once it's out.
Brian

Hi

Just fitted mine a few months ago. My body and rear screen is in situ so I could not get air tools in.
It was a real pain in the balls; I ended up using 3x sets of vice grips to hold the top of the damper.

My dampers are TTR so did not have a split pin only a nyloc nut.

Good luck

Jason