Installed my V2 steering arms yesterday as well as my new tie rod ends. All went well, upper a-arm ball joint on the passenger side released without any interaction, the driver's side needed very slight manipulation from a ball joint pickle fork. Not a big deal. Make sure to keep the nut secured to allow the ball joint to uncompress or release its energy. It may pop, without the nut still on it can fly up pretty hard as found in the Lotus link below. I put the V2 arms in without any shims or ABS plate, in theory I should have achieved 1.6 degree more camber than the stock steering arms. I was at -1.0 (running a 1mil shim per side) so that should have put me around -2.85 degrees on the front with maxed out negative camber. I also removed all my shims (including the abs mount) out of my drivers rear and added a 1 mil shim to the passenger rear. (1mm shim plate alters camber by approximately 0.25degrees°.) That should put me in the -2.6 degree camber range for the rear. Since I the Roadster seems to love a 1.0 camber offset between the rear and front wheels, I'm going to add about 5 mil of shims to each front wheel [ 2mil, 1mil, 1mil, 0.5mil, 0.5mil]. That should bring my front back down to a -1.6 degree camber. Will schedule an alignment appointment this Thursday and see what actual numbers come up and fine tune if necessary.
Also its good to sand / file lightly the surface at where your shims meet the wheel assembly. Also sand your shims if you didn't buy the V2 shim pack which I highly recommend. Steel parts like to corrode and build up high spots and give nonuniform results. The hardest bolt to get to is the rear wheel inner camber bolt, the one close to the shock. Most of my allen sockets, ones you can put a torque wrench to, contact the shock spring some. Does not get an ideal fit. I had to drop the Roadster some onto a 4x4 block to allow the wishbone move upwards to compress the spring when unbolting / tightening. Easy way to strip an allen head so be very delicate and careful here.
Some tips, while the ball joint is free on the a-arm, move it around to feel its condition. Also it helps to keep things mobile / lubricated if you move it in its full unimpeded range of motion. Spin your wheel hub to feel the condition of the wheel bearings, feel if any resistance between drivers/passenger side hubs. I noticed on mine, my passenger hub has a sticky / higher resistance compared to the drivers. I may pull these hubs off one day soon, verify the grease/pack, and re-grease if necessary. Also would like to look into possibly a lighter grade high temp bearing grease to replace with.
References:
V2Arms Install Log (pics questions too) - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community
Lotus Elise Maintenance, Suspension Alignment
http://www.sector111.com/parts/performance/suspension/v2arms2.cfm
http://www.sector111.com/parts/track/v2arms.cfm
V2shims
Also its good to sand / file lightly the surface at where your shims meet the wheel assembly. Also sand your shims if you didn't buy the V2 shim pack which I highly recommend. Steel parts like to corrode and build up high spots and give nonuniform results. The hardest bolt to get to is the rear wheel inner camber bolt, the one close to the shock. Most of my allen sockets, ones you can put a torque wrench to, contact the shock spring some. Does not get an ideal fit. I had to drop the Roadster some onto a 4x4 block to allow the wishbone move upwards to compress the spring when unbolting / tightening. Easy way to strip an allen head so be very delicate and careful here.
Some tips, while the ball joint is free on the a-arm, move it around to feel its condition. Also it helps to keep things mobile / lubricated if you move it in its full unimpeded range of motion. Spin your wheel hub to feel the condition of the wheel bearings, feel if any resistance between drivers/passenger side hubs. I noticed on mine, my passenger hub has a sticky / higher resistance compared to the drivers. I may pull these hubs off one day soon, verify the grease/pack, and re-grease if necessary. Also would like to look into possibly a lighter grade high temp bearing grease to replace with.
References:
V2Arms Install Log (pics questions too) - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community
Lotus Elise Maintenance, Suspension Alignment
http://www.sector111.com/parts/performance/suspension/v2arms2.cfm
http://www.sector111.com/parts/track/v2arms.cfm
V2shims
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