Rear Shock Absorber Inserts

[type26owner]

I use the high strength bearing retainer everywhere on the hub carrier assembly. Silly not to do so in my opinion. On the bottle the instructions recommend using the primer/activator for best results (highest strength). However, I've found usually the vendors that sell the adhesive never stock the primer/activator so you can't buy any even if you wanted it. Well there's a work around for that. IIRC, got this info directly from the application engineer at Henkel/Loctite/Permatex that the universal primer/activator for all the anaerobic adhesives is isopropyl alcohol. I use reagent grade stuff but any type will do the trick.

Unfortunately Lotus used a similiar hub carrier solution on their racecars of the that period. Continuously checking for play is important.
-Keith

[david.g.chapman]

All,

After much pulling and pushing with someone else under the car, we could not see anything moving. Even so, I could feel some play in the rear wheels with this soft knocking sound.

As I said before, it is not that loud, and you might not hear it outside of a garage.

Anyway, I took the car down to my local MOT inspector, and he gave it a rear wheel bearing test - pronouncing it well in spec.

So the moral of this story seems to be - a little bit of play is OK.

By the time you have amplified the normal radial run out on the ball bearings in their races (let's say 1 thou - but that will depend on the grade of the bearing), you might get several thou at the tyre tread. Not enough to see - but enough to feel.

Dave Chapman.

[type26owner]

et's say 1 thou - but that will depend on the grade of the bearing

Another common misconception I'm afraid. Actually ALL grades of bearings have about the same amount of losseness. The more expensive precision grades though reduces the size of what's called the 'sphere_of_confusion' which is comprised of the six degrees of freedom. It 's the cloud of points that the dynamic motion of the rotational axis generates at the center.

The spindle design of the strut is one where if a phone call had been made to the application engineer at a bearing manufacturer they would have steered the design away from this solution most likely. What amazes me is the coefficient of thermal expansion difference of the aluminum housing and the steel axle coupled with the size of this unit could easily lead to a catastrophic binding of the bearings if the temperature gradient ever gets large enough. Running the numbers for this solution looks scary to me on paper. It works though obviously, just not for very long. The axial looseness between the two bearings should be adjusted by positioning the bearing races relative to one another so there is enough axial play present so the CTE does not bind the bearings when the whole unit heats up in use. I do this by heating the aluminum housing up by ~ 60C and leaving the axle and bearings at room temperature when doing the pressing together upon assembly. The fixture that presses the second outboard bearing into place has a flat ended surface that contacts both the bearings races for the desired placement. Stop when the outer race just lightly contacts the pocket land (shoulder) in the strut housing.

Monitoring the play of the struts from time to time is prudent. Doing the MOT forces this process. The rest of the world just notices a problem when the wheel comes off. I wish we had an similiar inspection requirement here in California. Hearing a car coming up from behind with the brakes totally metal on metal is quite common. :angry:
-Keith