Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: jbcollier on Friday,August 26, 2016, 03:41:57 PM
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At the beginning of August I took the Europa for a four wheel alignment. It takes two cars as you also need to bring 300 or so lbs of ballast! I had already set the toe front and back and rough adjusted the rear camber (twin link). Up on the rack we find my included angle and camber are out on the front right; and, that, while my rear toe is correct, there was 0.76° rear thrust! Back home again and I order new front uprights, spindles and steering arms from Rimmers — if one is bent and the other is 50 years old, replace both. Once they arrive and are fitted, I check the camber and it’s still almost a half degree off on the right. I put adjustable upper arms on order from Banks. In the mean time I slot the upper right arms (9/64ths if you must ask), set the camber to spec and then tack weld the washers in place so the adjustment is permanent. At the rear I shim the radius arms to suit using a long alloy extrusion to see where each rear wheel points. I tweak them so that each rear wheel points to the same place on the tire in front.
Back to alignment shop today. On the way there it feels every so slightly twitchy when turning to the right (with vigour). Up on the rack and I’m damn close. At the rear I just need to remove 2 washers on the right and it’s perfect. At the front I back off the RH tie-rod a 1/4 turn and we’re good to go.
I get home, unload the sand bags, refit the seats, add one enthusiastic friend and…
John
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Congratulations, John! Another step closer to terrorizing the roadways!
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Congratulations! I've enjoyed reading your journey to road worthiness!
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Hi John,
As you know this alignment topic seems to fascinate me for some reason, so it's interesting to learn from others doing detailed adjustments. One thing I don't understand is what you mean when you said;
"while my rear toe is correct, there was 0.76° rear thrust"
I'm not familiar with the term "rear thrust", is that the camber angle or the individual wheels not aligned to the central axis so the overall toe is correct but pointing sideways ?
The other thing that has always intrigued me is the requirement for ballast when setting the car up. I know it says it in the manual and can imagine that 300lbs makes a difference if only for spring compression but what happens when you don't have a passenger ?
If you ever repeat the procedure it would be interesting to know the difference it makes between full ballast/half ballast and none at all.
Brian
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Ditto Brian's question about 'rear thrust'. I'm not familiar with this term but very interested to know more. Cheers.
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Basically rear thrust is a measure of whether the rear wheels are pointed in the same direction as the front wheels. You can set the rear toe to spec but still have the rear wheels pointed to one side or the other. I recommend getting a 4 wheel alignment by a good shop. However, you can get it close by using a long alloy extrusion and using it to "aim" each rear tire to the same place on its matching front tire.
http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/thrust-angle.html
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Ah, I get you. I know the effect you mean but didn't know there was a proper term for it. (every day is a school day :) )
Brian