Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

John, Go to Business vendor Listings section to my knockoff tool site. On the second page, you'll see information on the torque settings and a copy of the Elan manual for the ear-less spinners of 200 to 220. An earlier manual said 160 to 180 and I assume for our three eared version. Others have said that higher torques made it difficult to remove. Again I use 190 with no problems. Lotus is the only car company that post a torque setting. The suggested method by everyone else is to use a hammer which would be a guess at torque.

Sarto

elansprint71 wrote:With your girlie US hexagon nuts

Laddie, they are octagonal, that is why a torque wrench is so important.

jbeach wrote:Thanks Sarto and Phil,

I'm seeing $71.72 when I follow Phil's link. Looks like I'm headed to Lowes some afternoon this week!

Btw, I thought I remembered my workshop manual listing the center lock nuts at 180 lbs. I'll look again when I get home tonight to confirm. I hope it is 220, as the tighter I can safely torque them, the safer I'll feel on the highway!

Best,

John

John,

More is not always better. If the application is designed for 180 ft/lbs then that's what you should use. That number will already have a stress factor designed in - maybe 20% or so - and if you go to 220 ft/lbs you are 22% over the design load. Not a good idea.

Also, regarding the Lowes torque wrench mentioned (I have one) while it is a reversing wrench, it is NOT a reversing torque wrench. The wrench will not function as a torque wrench in the reverse direction. In fact, it should not be used to loosen the nuts. That can damage the mechanism. Use a breaker bar for that.