Lotus Alloy Wheels fit to Hub

[elj221c]

David,
I would get youself the proper dashboard clamp fitted before you drive your car again. Especially at 80 mph! There should be an alloy bracket affair which mounts to the dashboard mounting screw above the column and also has two screws through the board in the horizontal centre line of the column. Underneath is a 'U' clamp which allows the column to be dropped out. This is for an ordinary Elan. I'm pretty sure it's the same for the +2.
Or you could go Sean's route.

Roy
'65S2

[david.g.chapman]

I think Roy is correct for a collapsable steering column. My one is the fixed type with a plastic binnacle that just sits under the dash. I can't see anywhere for a bracket, although it would help.

I have a feeling that in manufacture, the rigid column was shimmed with washers on the clamp further down the column, until the binnacle was pressing on the dashboard to offer some extra rigidity. That's Lotus for you!

Dave Chapman

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Hi Guys,
firstly I'd like to appologise if I'm missing something here or have misunderstood something.

Surely the centering feature between the wheel & the hub is the pegs.
If the centre hole on the wheel sits closely on the hub then this would present a conflicting centering feature.
Is it possible that any inacuracies in steel wheels would be compensated by the inherent springyness of the steel pressing & therefore crudely avoiding major conflict?
My "Two Gates" alloy wheels were supplied with a "free floating" adapter ring which sits flush on a flat surface on the wheel & locates with the conical spinner, subsequently there is no conflict there being only one centering feature, the pegs.

Nix f?r ungut
John

[CBUEB1771]

Surely the centering feature between the wheel & the hub is the pegs. If the centre hole on the wheel sits closely on the hub then this would present a conflicting centering feature.

This is an interesting point and one that I was thinking about when the thread first started. I would be more worried about forces applied to the wheel and hub due to conflicting centering features than any imbalance. With the standard, steel, peg drive wheels the nut has a very strong centering influence. The conical surfaces of the wheel and nut are wide and form something close to a 45 degree angle to the axle centerline. Reading John's reply just made me think that perhaps the way the steel wheel is formed is for the purpose of allowing it to flex a bit and alleviate any error in concentricity with respect to the drive pegs. I think that most wheel manufacturers consider the conical nut to be the main, centering feature. Minilite wheels have a thrust ring for engaging the nut that really can't float much at all in the wheel. I think the Brand Lotus wheels are the same. The most extreme case is with Panasport, which due to the shape of the casting only engage three of the five drive pegs. I'll have to look at my Minilites more closely over the weekend and see if the thrust ring can float more than I can recall.

[Foxie]

Hi Guys,
My "Two Gates" alloy wheels were supplied with a "free floating" adapter ring which sits flush on a flat surface on the wheel & locates with the conical spinner, subsequently there is no conflict there being only one centering feature, the pegs.

Nix f?r ungut
John

My Two Gates wheels, ditto. The centre opening makes no contact, but this is what the wheel balancing machine uses as a centre. So I'd like the wheels balanced as they are actually centred on the car, ie on the drive pegs.

[david.g.chapman]

I did have one or two attempts to get my wheels balanced on the 5 peg holes when I had steel wheels. Some tyre fitters have peg adaptors, but one could not be found to fit.

There are also a lot of possible sources of error using the pegs - wear in the holes on the wheels, wear and misalignment of the pegs can all contribute to moving the centre point about. Using the central nut and clearing away "peg interference" appeals to me, as you now have only two minor sources of error (assuming the central spacer is glued to the wheel, as mine are). One is the different contact point between the wheel nut and the balance cone on the spacer (surely less than 1 thou or so?). The second is any sideways play in the nut on the hub thread (my nuts have about 10 thou of play - sounds rude ). If the nut tightens to one side of the thread then that's 5 thou out on the centre, or 10 grams of inbalance using my crude maths.

I am trying to think of a way of taking up that play evenly without using PTFE tape. Extra plating on the wheel nuts?

Dave Chapman.

[AussieJohn]

I found that there was still play between the inner and outer column even with new bushes, the column with steering lock has the top bush further down the shaft so I put a third bush near the top, this steadied the wheel and is much better.

[CBUEB1771]

My "Two Gates" alloy wheels were supplied with a "free floating" adapter ring which sits flush on a flat surface on the wheel & locates with the conical spinner, subsequently there is no conflict there being only one centering feature, the pegs.

I checked my Minilites and the thrust ring does not float in the wheel at all. Therefore there is possibly an interference. Now to check the fit on the hub when I finish shovelling our latest dumping of snow away, all Gary's fault for opening Marsh Motors early this year.