Another Suspension Refresh

[Phil S1]

Is there a garage that does this ? I want it doing but not got the time to do it myself .

 

I know Hangar 111 offer something similar although I bet it won't be cheap...

Hangar 111

[TheRon]

I've finally finished !

 

I have replaced:

 

New steering track rod ends

New toe link rod ends

1 new wheel bearing

New Bushes

New Balljoints

New ARB drop links

New nuts, bolts and washers throughout

New castor shims (including snubber washer)

New discs and pads

Had the Nitrons refurbished

New front springs

 

I've sandblasted and painted the wish bones, hub carriers, plinths, toe link rods and damper mounts with two coats of POR15. My ARB was fine with none of the rust caused by the drain holes that Phil had.

 

My garage is a large single garage so to give myself a bit more roof instead of raising the whole car I decided to just to raise and work on one side at time. I made up some solid mounts out of steel box section to replace the dampers on the side I wouldn't have jacked up so I could send all 4 shocks off to Nitron to be serviced at once. My Dad has a sand blasting cabinet so I blasted the bits myself over a couple of weekends.

 

I found one knackered wheel bearing which is very easy to change on an S2 (no press required).

 

I had one seized rear caliper slider (the boot had split - my left rear caliper seems to eat them for some reason).

 

Reading others refurbishment stories it seems it's a little easier on the S2 compared to the S1. Wheel bearings cost more but you don't need a press to change them. There's no ball joint plinth needed on the bottom of the front wishbone - the ball joint taper just goes straight into the upright. The rear wish bone bolts have these plate washers that you fold over the bolt and nuts to prevent them coming undone. The supposedly difficult rear hub nut came off easily with an impact wrench.

 

My particular car is a 2005 K-series and has a mixture of K-series and 111R parts. The rear uprights are the 111R type and the toe link ball joint is tapered. This means that when using the Eliseparts kit I need a special tapered spacer like the 111R and so have to ask them to make up a special kit with a mixture of K-series and 111R parts. I used the Eliseparts ball joint press and wishbone bush press and they worked very well.

 

I finished assembling everything on Saturday afternoon and then set my own geo with some poles and thread. I found it surprising easy to do but it took a fair while measuring, checking, adjusting, repeat until I was satisfied.

 

Replacing everything is a time consuming job but I took it for a short test drive and the difference is staggering. The cars done just over 40,000 miles and is nearly 6 years old but I've given it a hard life with around 30 events per year (trackdays and sprints/hillclimbs).

 

I thought it was still feeling OK but after the refresh it is like driving a brand new car, most of the bangs and rattles have gone and the steering feels very tight. I'm going to drive it a bit more during the week and then spend an evening checking everything thoroughly before Bedford on Saturday.

 

 

[Phil S1]

I had to replace one of the rubber boots that had split on my rear caliper as well, although it hadn't seized.

It costs a fair bit in parts for the refresh but as you say, when you end up with something that drives like a brand new car it's all worth it

 

 

[moomin]

What's the cost of new wishbones all round on an S2 ?

[TheRon]

Eliseparts do new wishbones (with new bushes and ball joints already fitted) that are powdered coated: http://www.elisepart.../73/suspension/

 

Comparing the price to Lotus (for the most expensive wishbone the RH Rear lower):

 

Eliseparts RH Rear Lower wishbone £199.95 (+VAT)

Lotus £223 (+VAT), then you have to add the bushes (x2) and ball joint.

 

It would be quite expensive to replace all your wishbones with new ones - only worth replacing them if they're bent or severely corroded I would have thought.

[moomin]

What would my old ones be worth off my 08 Exige S240 with 10k miles on them and nothing like as rusty as the ones I have seen on here , also do you think a few coats of clear coat on brand new ones done in a spray shop would be enough to stop them tarnishing ?

[dobbo]

Any extra coating will help preserve the existing coating. I guess with all components there's a trade-off during manufacturing - is it fit-for-purpose vs how long would it last if we gave it loads more paint / lacquer / etc.

 

To be honest, I doubt there's much of a market for second-hand wishbones. They're easily damaged but that damage might not be evident and is easy to cover up. There's also the potential issue of internal corrosion giving wall-thinning from the inside. For those reasons, I don't think many people would part with much cash for the risk of faulty parts.

 

Obviously, I'm not saying yours are, but if I were a buyer, I simply wouldn't consider it unless they were cheap enough to strip, inspect and re-paint.... and still come out cheaper than new ones.

[TheRon]

It's only worth stripping/painting/etc if you are planning to replace the bushes and ball joints because they're worn. Replacing the bushes requires that you remove the wishbones so it's only little bit more time and effort to blast and paint the wishbones and other bits while they're off.

 

If you are not replacing the ball joints or bushes then I'd just make sure all the components were clean and were coated in ACF50 and then wait until you feel a full refresh is worth doing.

 

 

[moomin]

I have a full set of new wishbones with ball joints and bushes on the way + hub carriers and bearings , I have a lot of intrest for my old ones already , even my dealer offered me £500 for them .

My plan is to coat the new ones in a POR clear coating so they look OEM still but won't rust or tarnish , I shall do the hub carriers and bearings to .

I'm also hoping to fit some sexy Nitron 46mm 1way shock and Nitron rear belled discs to match the AP belled discs on the front .

To be honest there's nothing wrong with my old wishbones and I would think there in better condition than most after 10k miles in mainly dry weather but my OCD wants me to have brand new looking ones even if they get wet .

What sort of price is a full Geo set up ?

[Phil S1]

That's some OCD you've got there...

I do my own geo's so not sure what the going rate is but somewhere like Guglielmi Motorsport in Daventry have a good reputation, might be worth a phonecall to them for a price Guglielmi

[kayj_prod]

Ah Moomin, but think of all the fun I'm having cleaning up and reassembling mine!

 

My wishbones are all PORd and looking pretty good considering I just did them with a brush. This weekend I'm hoping to put stuff back together.

 

I've been looking for bolts to replace the four from the plinth to the hub carrier today. I've only found 25mm bolts though and the originals are 30mm. I'm not looking forward to the PITA which will be getting the plinths back on the hub carriers with the ball joints in place, and I'm thinking that with the bolts 5mm shorter it will be much easier.

 

What do you technical engineering types think? Is 5mm less thread in the hole and bad idea?

[TheRon]

Can't you get them from Lotus?

 

If they're the bolts I think you mean then they are these: http://www.deroure.com/partinfo.asp?MAK=1&MDL=13&TBL=1275&SMA=0&SMO=0&ST=&SC=0&PBID=36299

 

Part no. A111W1158F - any dealer should be able to order them from the factory. The nuts and bolts I found tricky to find I ordered from http://www.sjsportscars.co.uk mainly because they had a decent website to order from.

 

57p (+VAT) each but better to get the right length and grade (8.8).

[Martin R]

Keith, i will have a look to see if i have some in my garage.

[Phil S1]

Keith,

Best practice for aluminium is to have a thread engagement of 2.5 x the thread diameter so for an M10 that would suggest 25mm engagement. If the current bolts are M10 x 30 then that allows 5mm for the plinth thickness which sounds about right. I reckon it would be best to keep to the 30mm length if you can rather than reducing the engagement and thus increasing the risk of stripping the thread in the upright.

[kayj_prod]

Thanks for the links and info. I'd always prefer to go for original spec- I figure there is a reason bolts that length were chosen, but I didn't know there was a 'rule of thumb'.

Martin, if you have some bolts that would be excellent. If you use Paypal I could always transfer some funds if that is easiest.

I looked on SJS this morning and held off pushing the buy button as they wanted something like £12 for delivery!!!