Sudden Grinding Sound From Rear Wheel

[Lotus49]

Assuming you have the correct jack in the boot for a +2 you don't need blocks of wood or anything like that at all for what you are trying to do. Blocks of wood etc will only be needed using a trolley jack and if you are doing more intensive work, but for your purposes they are not necessary.
For a simple jack up and change wheel etc. a +2 has four jacking points, two each side of the car in the sill. Just insert the jack and jack up as you would do changing the wheel on any other car.
See pic for +2 Jacking point.

+2 Jacking Point.jpg

Alan.

My progress in resolving this situation is pretty dismal. Work has been a massive time consumer as both my boss and my report are on vacation, leaving me to handle everything while they are away. Finally today I am not too tired to try to jack up the car.

The jack I found in the truck was not what I expected, and very different from the illustration of the jack in the manual. It seems to use a very narrow point to contact the car through a hole, basically putting all the weight of the car onto as little an area as I've ever seen a jack use. Quite the opposite as what most people say for all the other jacking points. I don't have confidence that this jack point is strong enough to withstand this weight so do not want to risk breaking the car.



I will have to buy a trolley jack this weekend and some plywood, just to be safe.

My ownership of this car is off to a dismal and depressing start. I hope it gets better.

[h20hamelan]

Lotus ownership requires one to quit their job.

You will be fine either way, use some wood in-between trolley jack and body if you go that route. Your jack pictured will be fine I am sure, though probably not as strong as trolley.
Consider the angle of your scissor jack, straight up and down, having it on an angle is not good.
Chock the wheels of course

[rgh0]

The original jack was designed to go into a hole in the fibreglass sill and into the steel side sills underneath and into a socket. So the steel inside the fibreglass carries the load and spreads it across the fibreglass its bolted to. Provided the side sills are in good condition it all works fine. However the side sills often corrode in that area you you need to carefully inspect before using the jack

cheers
Rohan

[Lotus49]

The original jack was designed to go into a hole in the fibreglass sill and into the steel side sills underneath and into a socket. So the steel inside the fibreglass carries the load and spreads it across the fibreglass its bolted to. Provided the side sills are in good condition it all works fine. However the side sills often corrode in that area you you need to carefully inspect before using the jack

cheers
Rohan

Yep, understood. Obviously I'm in no condition to evaluate these holes so to avoid making this problem worse than it is, I have to get a new jack that is safer to use.

[alan.barker]

Buy some Axle stands also that are solid.
Don't work under car only supported by a Jack.
Alan

[Lotus49]

Buy some Axle stands also that are solid.
Don't work under car only supported by a Jack.
Alan

For sure that is good advice. I will never get under a car supported only by jacks. I don't expect to get under the car anytime soon. I just want to jack the car up and reset the tire and then lower it back down.

Thank you for your reply.

Tom

[Lotus49]

The original jack was designed to go into a hole in the fibreglass sill and into the steel side sills underneath and into a socket. So the steel inside the fibreglass carries the load and spreads it across the fibreglass its bolted to. Provided the side sills are in good condition it all works fine. However the side sills often corrode in that area you you need to carefully inspect before using the jack

cheers
Rohan

Well, I have some progress to report finally. I decided to use the OEM jack and lift the car that way. I did so with great nervousness but went slowly and finally the wheel was lifted off the ground. Rotating the wheel did not produce the sound that I heard while driving the car last. There was very significant play in the wheel and I could remove the spinner without the use of a mallet. I could easily take it off by hand. I pulled off the wheel and did not see anything blatantly obvious that was wrong. There seemed to be a grease of some kind of the threads to the wheel so I wiped that all off.

Next, I re-seated the wheel and tightened the spinner by hand and then gave it a few knocks with a rubber mallet until it would not move. I lowered the car onto the wheel and gave it a few more knocks with the rubber mallet. It did not move much at all and so I stopped. Here's where my lack of experience comes in. How hard should I hit the spinner? I do not want to damage it so am hesitant to tighten it further.

With the car lowered there is zero play in the wheel now. None whatsoever so a big improvement there.

I want to drive the car now to test if there's any sound when the wheels roll under load. However, there are big storms in the forecast right now and I'm (as usual) paranoid that something serious might go wrong and my "new" lotus will be stuck out in the storm being immobilized for whatever reason.

I actually feel like I accomplished something, learned a bit even. The only thing that may have gone wrong was that the jack stuck to the car after it was lowered. Once the wheel was fully loaded, instead of the jack coming out of the car, the jack lifted off the floor. I'm thinking that's not a good sign as far as the integrity of the jacking point goes. I'm not sure if I should ever lift the car in that area again. Maybe some damage occurred today?

Any feedback from the group? I am keen to learn!

Here are some photos I took during the operation.

[Lotus49]

Ok, I think I've found something pretty big, as I'm sure you all will too after seeing my photos. There appear to be some bolts missing on the part that the wheel rests up against. This looks pretty bad to me. Advice greatly appreciated!

Here is my photo again followed by the photo of the same wheel that the last owner displayed for the auction:

[Sadbrewer]

Ok, I think I've found something pretty big, as I'm sure you all will too after seeing my photos. There appear to be some bolts missing on the part that the wheel rests up against. This looks pretty bad to me. Advice greatly appreciated!

Here is my photo again followed by the photo of the same wheel that the last owner displayed for the auction:

You've had a lucky escape...the pins are an interference fit, usually pushed in with a hydraulic press, my old man used to warm the hubs first to make it easier...my worry would be that the half wit who put those pins in has not fitted the others correctly.

[pharriso]

You are missing some drive pegs!!! Replace them before driving again.

The spinner should be f@@cking tight (200 lbft), more than you can get with a rubber mallet- you would need a lead mallet.

[Lotus49]

You are missing some drive pegs!!! Replace them before driving again.

The spinner should be f@@cking tight (200 lbft), more than you can get with a rubber mallet- you would need a lead mallet.

Ok, I have a lead mallet and will tighten up the spinner further.

Is the car safe to be towed to a shop in this condition? I don't think I'm the person to be doing anything further at this point. A real expert needs to evaluate this car from top to bottom. I can't drive it the 45 miles or so it needs to travel to a Lotus shop. I need to have it towed but I'm not sure how much risk there is with the wheel in this condition? Will *any* rolling at all risk damage?

Edit: and by towed, I meant taken by flat bed, not lifted and towed.

[alanr]

Do not drive the car!
I can see from your photos that you have at least two sheared off hub drive pins that need to be replaced.
My concern is also is for the wheel rim itself . Are the drive pin holes elongated in the rim? If so the wheel rim maybe scrap depending how bad it is.

Alan.

[Lotus49]

Do not drive the car!
Are the drive pin holes elongated in the rim?

Alan.

Are you asking, did the pins get pushed into the rim? Instead of being missing, actually where transferred into the wheel?

[Sadbrewer]

Do not drive the car!
I can see from your photos that you have at least two sheared off hub drive pins that need to be replaced.
My concern is also is for the wheel rim itself . Are the drive pin holes elongated in the rim? If so the wheel rim maybe scrap depending how bad it is.

Alan.

Alan, my guess is that the previous owner has ground down the pegs to make them fit, rather than pressing them in he's probably used a hammer.

[alanr]

Do you think so?...they look sheared off to me! What is the damage to the rim was my question.
Whatever, it needs sorting before driving the car!

Alan.