rolling chassis How safe to roll about?

[bob_rich]

Hi

Hope to have the body off tomorrow ( thursday 7-30pm BST). Will then be left with the rolling chassis. Because of space limitations will have to roll the chassis about quite a bit. I notice that both the Lotus +2 hand book and also Sue Miller notes on fitting the solid drive shafts ( one of my upgrade jobs) state that with the suspension at full droop it is not advisable to revolve the rear wheels. With all the body off the suspension is very high now, and will get higher when the engine and gearbox are taken off. This would mean the suspension would be almost close to what would be full droop. On various threads and web sites (e.g. spyder) there are a lot of pictures of the frame with 4 wheels and not much else.

so any precautions with regard to move the chassis and frame about under these conditions

thanks in advance for any advise

regards

Bob Richardson

[Elanintheforest]

Hi Bob
I'd put some spring compressors on those rear springs so that the drive shafts aren't under so much load. You could compress them and wire the spring coils together for safety.

Mark

[bcmc33]

Bob,

Is it correct to assume that you're doing a lot of updates?

If this includes adjustable struts and smaller springs, then do that first and droop will not be a problem.

[memini55]

Bob,

What I do is the take a ratchet strap and hook on the top of the strut tower and loop under the a-arm and then tighten it down to what ever height you want. No issue with rotation after that.

Best of luck on your rebuild.

Mark

[bob_rich]

Hi All

thanks for info. Used a couple of coil spring compressors on each rear spring so that drive shafts looked about normal angle. Not sure how far to go with modifications, had only planned to change to the Sue Miller drive shafts as doughnuts look a bit iffy but will look into changing struts and springs when I strip it all down.

thanks for advise

regards

Bob

[alaric]

Hi. I fitted the miller solid shafts as part of my rebuild, and have not noticed any binding when moving the chassis around. I think this is more of an issue with the 2 seater elan which is not as wide. I'd not be impressed if the shafts were likely to be damaged just 'cause they were rotating at the limit of travel of the suspension - I mean, the suspension geometry was known at design time wasn't it? If it is an issue, then my shafts will certainly be shafted.

Hope the work goes well..

Sean.

[stugilmour]

Bob, same experience on this issue as Sean. I have slightly different drive shafts supplied by RD in the States. No issues with rolling the chassis around quite a bit, including down the block and back for storage. Also noticed that the equipped chassis is a fair bit off of full droop with the chassis jacked up. CV joints would rotate without binding even at full droop. Not an issue if you have already compressed the springs, but if you find you have to relieve them during the rebuild I think you should be OK. Note the rotaflex couplings did not take well to hanging in full droop, so for now compressing the springs is very good practice.

If you determine the springs/shocks/struts are due for replacement, would seriously consider the adjustable perch route. I didn't get them, and kind of wondering where the body height will land; looks pretty high right now without full weight so thinking adjustment would be a good thing.

Good luck with the rebuild.