The Lotus Grand Tourers

Hawaiis0 wrote:Got a clunking noise under braking. Had a quick nosey underneath and saw this at the botttom of the front AVOs as the possible source



Doesnt look good for just 6000 miles

I think the bushes are service items, I'm in need of a new set and a new front spring to replace one that's broken.

Did you use any grease/lube on the bushes when fitting?

The set up I have is the Avo Coil over and not standard springs. I was given replacement bushes by the vendor (LB) FOC. We believe the excessive wear is due to coil bound springs . Replacement for longer springs is due very soon, I will report back. No grease used.

I've got the Avo coil overs too, this was the front offside spring when I sorned it last year

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I run a low ride height at the front to get a bit of a rake and have the shocks set quite stiff. Maybe too stiff.....

Haven't contacted LB yet about it.

Reason for the lube question was I heard bushes last to bit longer if they are.

Your spring looks like its snapped dude.

Bash

Metal fatigue - could be caused by a manufacture fault/stress raiser ...or just poor quality spring steel. Mechanics are seeing more broken springs (and tie rods) and it's not all about the many potholes and speed bumps around here..but they don't help.

I doubt that you have caused it with your set-up -stiff dampers would protect/support the spring rather than transmit the type of stress that would cause break.

My money would be on poor quality spring steel made to a price rather than a high standard.

Harro wrote:I've got the Avo coil overs too, this was the front offside spring when I sorned it last year

I run a low ride height at the front to get a bit of a rake and have the shocks set quite stiff. Maybe too stiff.....

Haven't contacted LB yet about it.

Reason for the lube question was I heard bushes last to bit longer if they are.

Are you intending to keep the low rake at the front? If you are, then LB may have a secondhand set of E10s with 8k miles on them soon. I am going to up my spring length to E12 from my original E10. If you aren't in a hurry they might be available soon. Just need to find a workshop to do the swap.

I have had two sets of AVOs and not impressed with their ability to withstand weathering, I haven't had a failed spring but have had a failed spring adjuster. I would personally like an alternative with the same adjustability

New Dash Trim from Classic Dash

MrCoolA wrote:I have had two sets of AVOs and not impressed with their ability to withstand weathering, I haven't had a failed spring but have had a failed spring adjuster. I would personally like an alternative with the same adjustability

After a broken rear AVO coilover spring, I'm fitting protech adjustable dampers and new springs (standard Excel style) from SJ. The rears are adjustable for height as there is a platform on the dampers, it's only the front that isn't adjustable as the springs use the original lower seats. I'll report back when they're fitted.

Richard

I haven't looked into the Excel rear geometry suspension in any detail, but the original Elite rear depended on many of the bushes (struts, dampers, swing arms) distorting to take up the "imperfect" geometry. It wouldn't surprise me if the Excel's rear still had some dependency on bush distortion to account for its own imperfections despite the revision.

I tried coil-overs on the Clan once and whipped them off after just one road trip ..the front suspension geometry meant that there is a lot of twist in all sorts of planes that was normally SHARED by std body-mounted rubber spring seat and damper top bushes ...the coil-overs depended on their tiny top mounts doing the same job and it was moving all over the place ...and handled worse than the std set-up.

If the Excel coil-over top (or bottom) mounts are subjected to similar distortions then could it account for breakages?

Lotus-e-Clan wrote:I haven't looked into the Excel rear geometry suspension in any detail, but the original Elite rear depended on many of the bushes (struts, dampers, swing arms) distorting to take up the "imperfect" geometry. It wouldn't surprise me if the Excel's rear still had some dependency on bush distortion to account for its own imperfections despite the revision.

I tried coil-overs on the Clan once and whipped them off after just one road trip ..the front suspension geometry meant that there is a lot of twist in all sorts of planes that was normally SHARED by std body-mounted rubber spring seat and damper top bushes ...the coil-overs depended on their tiny top mounts doing the same job and it was moving all over the place ...and handled worse than the std set-up.

If the Excel coil-over top (or bottom) mounts are subjected to similar distortions then could it account for breakages?

Excel rear suspension geometry is pretty straightforward - upper as well as lower links so much less potential for distortion than on the Elite, and a shorter travel suspension. I suspect poor metal quality as you don't hear of broken springs on standard Excels. Also as the coilover spring is narrower than standard, the spring wire will be under greater stress. Finally, the standard springs have rubber mounts but the coilovers don't, so this will affect the rate of dissipation of the shock travelling through the spring.

ATB Richard

From the Harro photograph it appears that the coilover spring is shorter (spring width times number of coils) than the standard spring, probably to accomodate the ride height adjustment. This will produce a higher stiffness/spring rate and corresponding shock load on the spring. I ask if the Avo suspension is set as a harder ride, as this puts a higher torsion load on the spring wire, which could cause failure.

Dave the cog.

The beauty of summer driving

Better start scraping them off for LITP

You prep for a Town Show and then the Birds have a Madras