Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Hi,
Was talking to a chap at Mallory Park on the weekend and he manufactured spacers for the front hub bearing.
My understanding is that this is a spacer supplied with shims that goes between the two bearings thus setting the free play - all you have to do once set, is torque it up like a modern bearing.
Anybody used this?

Regards
Steve

Yes, I tried the rigid spacer with shims for racing. If it is set right, it helps to reduce pad knock off when you hit the kerbs. In my opinion it's not really necessary for the road and just being able to adjust the bearings from time to time is less hassle than changing shims. I've also stopped bothering with it on the race track - i just tap the brake with my left foot after hitting the kerbs hard which becomes instinctive after a while.

Paul

I am not sure what the spacer is supposed to achieve. The issue when racing is that the free play decreases as the hubs get hotter. The key is to set the free play just right when cold so that when the hubs are hot the bearings have a slight pre-load to prevent pad knock off but not so much that you overload and destroy your bearings. You do not need a spacer and shims to set this up.

It works for me but then I don't bounce my car off the kerbs much either as the stewards frown upon that in historic racing here but I don't see how a spacer helps prevent knock off if you have set the clearance right in the first place.

PS the Stewards say leave the kerb hopping to the "tin tops" ( touring cars in European terms)

cheers
Rohan

Thanks for replies,

Have looked on eBay UK and these kits are readily available - says as standard on Aston, Austin Healey etc?

Just typed in - Triumph front hub spacer

Regards
Steve