Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi,
On issue 18 bearing housing the two bearings are of different widths so there is no confusion as far as position is concerned. The wide bearing has an offset or extended inner raceway, on some supplied bearings a thin metal shield is pressed on this extension but this is surplus to our application and can be left in place as it does not protrude beyond the bearing. It?s THIS SIDE of the bearing faces inward toward the hub and the other bearing when assembled, the small circlip goes against this inner extended piece.
The thin outer LOTUS metal shield is located/centralised by the narrow shoulder at the back side of the spider, make sure it free after you press on the bearing.
May help.
Ron.

Just installed this bearing and am somewhat surprised that it is so wide you can't install the circlip on the outside of the bearing (the inner circlip does fit). Anyone have insights to this?

Glen,
Lotus produced two types of hub/bearing carriers.
The early type is referred to as an Issue 16. This type used 6206 type bearings for inner and outer bearings.
The later type is referred to as an Issue 18. This type used 6206 type bearing for the outer position and a wider bearing for the inner position.
Looking at your photos, both in this thread and your other thread, it looks like you have Issue 16 carriers and you have fitted the larger bearing to the inner position. This is why you can't fit the circlip. There is also a dust shield that should be fitted between the inner bearing and the circlip (Issue 18 at least has this).
Looks like you will have to dismantle the carriers and fit the correct bearings if this is the case.
Cheers,
Colin.

Certified Lotus wrote:Just installed this bearing and am somewhat surprised that it is so wide you can't install the circlip on the outside of the bearing (the inner circlip does fit). Anyone have insights to this?

IMG_4375-1.jpg

IMG_4376-1.jpg

fatboyoz wrote:Glen,
Lotus produced two types of hub/bearing carriers.
The early type is referred to as an Issue 16. This type used 6206 type bearings for inner and outer bearings.
The later type is referred to as an Issue 18. This type used 6206 type bearing for the outer position and a wider bearing for the inner position.
Looking at your photos, both in this thread and your other thread, it looks like you have Issue 16 carriers and you have fitted the larger bearing to the inner position. This is why you can't fit the circlip. There is also a dust shield that should be fitted between the inner bearing and the circlip (Issue 18 at least has this).
Looks like you will have to dismantle the carriers and fit the correct bearings if this is the case.
Cheers,
Colin.

Certified Lotus wrote:Just installed this bearing and am somewhat surprised that it is so wide you can't install the circlip on the outside of the bearing (the inner circlip does fit). Anyone have insights to this?

IMG_4375-1.jpg

IMG_4376-1.jpg

Also, with the narrower bearing, the TTR axles will require one small spacer for each side. I found this out the hard way as well.

Colin and Mike, thanks for the information that there are two different types of bearing carriers and the early one requires spacers!

Damn, now I've got to disassemble everything again

AHA, now I got it. I don't know how many times I have looked at the workshop manual and never noticed the lip on the bearing.
Once again, thank you all for the help and keeping me from doing something stupid.
Maybe I'll get them done this afternoon.

Bob