Lotus Elise - Suspension Damage

Having put my Elise in for a 'routine' 18,000 mile service, I was surprised/disappointed/annoyed or whatever to discover that I had two bent rear wishbones, three worn out balljoints and two iffy rear toelink ends.

I don't know when I damaged the wishbones... suspect incidents (in order of probability) are:

Unintentional low flying incident on yump near Lotus Factory at 50th birthday party;
Unplanned off-track excursions at MIRA wet handling driving course;
Too many saw-tooth kerbs at track days;
Potholes, speedbumps, recessed manhole covers etc. on the public road.

Whatever the cause I never noticed any change in handling although some had commented that my car's ride height at the rear was lower than other Elises.

View of wishbone showing bend next to shock mounting. This is the n/s (LHS), looking towards the front of the car.
The hub mounts on the plate on top of the balljoint towards the top left of this picture, and the bottom of the spring/ damper assembly fits into the centre of the bracing plate.
Doesn't look too bad...

...until you put a straight edge next to it. Yikes!
This bend looks to me to have been caused by a single overload incident, such as bottoming the car - at the limit of suspension travel the springs and bumpstops are fully compressed and the damper is effectively a solid rod.
A disassembled balljoint. The wear seems to be mostly in the plastic cup, plus there is some 'polishing' of the housing and ball. The bottom plate was also distorted, which allows the ball and cup to move in the housing, although some of this is due to the extraction process.
I suspect these balljoints and the toe links are just not up to spirited driving and should be considered consumables.

Page last updated 15 November 1999

Comments to: Adrian Rose

	View of wishbone showing bend next to shock mounting. This is the n/s (LHS), looking towards the front of the car. The hub mounts on the plate on top of the balljoint towards the top left of this picture, and the bottom of the spring/ damper assembly fits into the centre of the bracing plate. Doesn't look too bad...
	...until you put a straight edge next to it. Yikes! This bend looks to me to have been caused by a single overload incident, such as bottoming the car - at the limit of suspension travel the springs and bumpstops are fully compressed and the damper is effectively a solid rod.
	A disassembled balljoint. The wear seems to be mostly in the plastic cup, plus there is some 'polishing' of the housing and ball. The bottom plate was also distorted, which allows the ball and cup to move in the housing, although some of this is due to the extraction process. I suspect these balljoints and the toe links are just not up to spirited driving and should be considered consumables.