Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Europa73 on Sunday,October 15, 2017, 01:57:30 PM
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Hi all,
I had play in the front right wheel.
I thought I would check the torque setting on the castle nut.
the nut still had the pin in it - but - it was lose - I could turn it by hand.
This is the odd thing - when I tightened the nut to the correct setting the wheel would not turn.
I took out the bearing and it looks fine - plenty of grease in there.
now for the wheel to turn freely - I need to back off the nut to half the recommended torque.
any thoughts?
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same issue on the drivers side :-(
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Where did you get the "correct setting"? The Series 2 workshop manual shows to use a dial indicator to set the end float then back the nut off 60 degrees or to the closest notch to replace the split pin.
http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/g/index.htm#2 (http://www.lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/g/index.htm#2)
There is a torque value provided in the Technical spec section of the workshop manual, but that value is for the nut on the backside of the vertical link.
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Lightly snug the nut, you will feel it go"snug". Do it several times. Pick the notch that lines up with the cotter pin hole and is on the loose side of "just snug".
Caution: If you fit new felt seals, they are frequently too thick and the bearings are then not adjusted properly at all! You are just crushing the too-thick felt seal until there is no play. If you are not sure, remove the felt seal and snug things up noting how far the axle nut goes on. Now check with the seal in place. Problem? Use the old felt seal.
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As the other guys have already said, there's no torque figure for the castellated nut, most folks arrive at the setting by feel.
What I do is jack up the wheels so they rotate freely. Tighten the nut while spinning the wheel slowly with my other hand until I can start to feel drag. Back off the nut until a slot lines up with the split pin hole. There's supposed to be a bit of movement allowed in the bearings, it's not like a modern design where everything is rock solid, no play.
Having said that, I've no idea how much end float the bearings have because I've never used the dial gauge option but the wheel spins smoothly with no significant movement at the wheel rim that I can find by hand. It passes it's MoT test like that so I'm guessing they can't find anything wrong because they do pull you up if they think there's any sort of resistance (brakes binding) or bearing wear.
Brian
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Hi all,
Many thanks for all the info.
Yep I was looking at the torque setting for the inside axle nut :blowup:
Cheers,