CV joints for TCS

[Europa73]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is a dumb question - but - I need to change my CV joints on my TCS.

I went through the manual but could not find any reference to the size needed.

Does anyone know the size I need to change all 4?


Many thanks,

[LotusJoe]

If you mean the U-joints.....
Hardy Spicer K5 GB161
(TR3, TR4, TR4A, TR250, TR6, Volvo 164)

Moss Motors stocks them. I would also expect RD Enterprises to them as well.

[4129R]

When you press the cups in with the needle rollers inside, make sure the needles don't fall down when you are pressing them in.

Otherwise you spend ages, in out, in out, shake it all about, until you get them right.

[BDA]

I smear some extra moly grease on the needles to help keep them in place for assembly.

[Europa73]

Many thanks for the info.

question - can I change the UJ's with the drive shafts on the car?

Or will I need to remove the drive shafts?

Looking at it I would rather do the job with the drive shafts on the car.

Has anyone done it keeping the shafts on the car?

Thanks

[EuropaTC]

Whenever I've done the job I've had to press the cups into the yokes and for that you need either a press or a bench vice.  Assuming you could dismantle the outer UJ whilst still on the car (don't know how you'd do it though) then removing the pin on the inboard yoke might get the driveshaft on the bench so you could replace the inboard joint properly and the cups in the driveshaft yokes.  Getting it all back together and the new cups in the outer driveshaft would be some trick though and I think you're into custom designed tools.

Personally I'd not even bother thinking about ways around it, I'd just strip the suspension down and get the whole assembly on the bench.  These things need to be fitted properly to have any chance of a decent lifespan, they're not only transmitting power but also suspension loads so any slight wear is bad news. You really want them to last as long as possible and don't want to be doing the job again in 12 months time.

Brian

[4129R]

Getting them back together in situ is very tricky, for my reason stated by me above.

I use a bench vice to press them together, and I have done a fair few recently.

[Roger]

I suppose you might manage it with some kind of G-clamp, but I wouldn't care to try. Remove hubs, probably with heat,  remove pins on the driving splines, and release the transverse link. Then do the job on the bench.
Don't forget to order  and apply the appropriate Loctite on the splines  for re-assembly.

[4129R]

Easier to remove the whole trailing arm with the hub complete.

Hardest jobs are undoing the brake pipe on top of the trailing arm, and the hand brake cable.

[Europa73]

Hi all,

Thanks for the comments.

Based on the advice I will be taking the shafts off the car.

Question for those who have done this before.

How have you removed the drive shafts from the wheel bearing housing?

A few taps and away she goes?

Or has this required a puller?

3 leg puller? the puller in the manual looks like a custom job

Many thanks,

[BDA]

You're going to have to heat the hub (that the brake drum sits on). It should be Loktited. When it's reassembled, you'll need Loktite 635 which is designed to fill in gaps. After taking the hub off, You'll need a puller. Check out the manual for the S2 (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2work/d/s2d.pdf) and the TC (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/tcwork/d/tcd.pdf). In fact the main page those came from is a wealth of information (http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/).

Before you put it all back together, you should make sure you have hardened bearing spacers. If I file won't bite into hardened steel. Here's a video that explains it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhGcRFYV018).

r.d. enterprises has small quantities of the proper Loktite as well as the hardened bearing spacers.

[EuropaTC]

How have you removed the drive shafts from the wheel bearing housing?

A few taps and away she goes?

Or has this required a puller?

Getting the driveshafts from the bearing housing has never been a big issue, the biggest problem has always been gettin the hub off the splined section. Assuming you're on drum brakes, after the drums and brake shoes are cleared away, as BDA says, you need heat and lots of it. I use a propane torch, rotating the axle slowly to try and break down all the loctite in there.

Loosen the hub nut and leave it a few threads clear to protect the end of the axle and then I use a 3 leg puller on the hub.  If it doesn't move easily then I keep up the heat until it does.  Once the hub and spacers are cleared and the driveshaft free from the output shafts on the gearbox, then the rest of it isn't too much trouble. It's a while since I last did it but I'm sure I just protected the axle with the hub nut & also a lump of wood and tapped it with a lead hammer to knock it inwards. I don't recall a struggle with that bit.

If you're going to that amount of work then it makes sense to replace the hub bearings as well, they are cheap and you really don't want to pull it all apart again in 12 months because of a grumbling bearing.

Brian

[4129R]

Getting the hub off the driveshaft is probably the hardest thing you can ever do to a Europa.

The nuts is very big, and you need at least a 3ft bar to get it undone.

If you can, leave the brakes intact and the wheel on, and on the ground, get someone to put their foot on the pedal to stop the wheel rotating, and then start undoing the nut.

With the car just on the ground, I managed to spin the tyre undoing the last one.

[BDA]

Another way to get it loose is to hook a long bar on two of the wheel studs that is restrained on the ground. I don't remember how I did it but I think I've seen where somebody put one of the studs in the hole at the end of a breaker bar (possibly with an extension so it is 3 feet or so long) and after turning the nut slowly, the bar will run into the ground and keep it from turning. It's a lot simpler to do than to say so I hope this make sense.

[4129R]

Keeping the whole suspension from rising up when you do that is a challenge. I used a 3' crow bar, but I was worried about snapping the thin wheel studs when doing it.