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Lotus in the Peak
28th - 30th June 2024

Toe Link Failure


Thomas Harborne

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So....after the failure, which was a rather scary experience. I find out its quite a common issue with the older elise'. Luckily i wasn't driving particularly fast at the time and somehow managed to pull the car back and gain control.

 

After having words with Gav at Unit 4 and DeanB i thought the best solution was the Spitfire kit. Expensive...but you can't put a price on safety. This should be done next week sometime, but if there is anyone who hasn't had a toe link change I'd recommend giving them a thorough check to avoid. Perhaps i need to spend sometime doing some more research and earning some moe cash to pay for some upgrades :bangin:

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I have the Spitfire kit on mine, the thing that annoys me most about it is the fact that its such a fantastic bit of engineering its a pity to cover it up:lol:. Never had a toe link let go on me but been in Elise circles long enough to have seen and read about failures and how scary it can be. Looking at the picture it looks like the suspension could do with a bit of tlc if its on the original ball joints and bushes?, I appreciate all of that costs money but nowt in life comes for free and it makes such a difference to the car. The Quantums are a big positive:tup:

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It's something people never check. When I had standard ones, I checked them on a regular basis. If you do track days buy a good quality upgrade.

Edit, they should rotate slightly via the ball joints. This allows for the movement required when the rear suspension extends or compresses. I would guess the ball joints on yours have seized and this has led to stress on the thread causing failure. You should check they rotate with a spanner on the flats in the picture at the very least.

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4 hours ago, Martin R said:

It's something people never check. When I had standard ones, I checked them on a regular basis. If you do track days buy a good quality upgrade.

Edit, they should rotate slightly via the ball joints. This allows for the movement required when the rear suspension extends or compresses. I would guess the ball joints on yours have seized and this has led to stress on the thread causing failure. You should check they rotate with a spanner on the flats in the picture at the very least.

That's what it looks like to me as well, seized ball joints.  You do need to check all joints move freely and all the bolts are tight on a regular basis. The bolts holding the wishbones to them stub axles came loose on my car after several years of working fine.  If the joints all work, a coat of waxoyl on the wishbones will stop the corrosion, I reapply it once per year.  £10 for a can. 

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