Elise S1 Ball Joints

[spacebug]

Hello All,

I am a new Elise owner and would firstly like to say hello!

I can't belive how much fun the Elise is to drive - it is the first car i've had since i was 17 that i have wanted to drive - just for the sake of it! :)

However, i have noticed a slight problem with my ball joints - Has anyone got any experience of replacing the ball joints? Do i need to remove the clamshells?

I've also ordered some polyeurathane bushes - anyone done this before? Do i need to remove the clamshells for this?

Any hints or tips, or links to places on the web would be greatly appreciated - i am going to tackle this myself at the weekend.

I will write up what i did so at least if there is no info out there at the moment then there will be after i've done it.

Oh... and are there any owners clubs or meets in the East/West Sussex areas??

Cheers in advance...

John

[djroadboy]

You don't need to take the clams off to do either job but neither are easy by any stretch of the imagination.

Pay particular attention to the position of all the shim washwers when you remove the wishbones.

You will need a press or a range of large sockets and a very big vice to remove the old ball joints and press the new ones in.

Make sure you grease the bushes up well before replacing the wishbones (especially on the ends).

And above all else make sure you give yourself plenty of time. This is not an easy job and I think you'd be struggling to complete it in a day on your own if you've never done it before.

HTH

Dan

jude Performance Services Ltd
www.judeperformance.co.uk

[spacebug]

Thanks for that.

I have given myself saturday and sunday to do the job.

I have also bought a tool from elise parts that makes removing the ball joints from the wishbones easy (apparently!).

Does anyone know where i can buy S2 suspension? I'm considering replacing the S1 suspension at the same time as doing all the rest of the work.

Cheers,

John

[randy]

You don't even need to remove the wishbones to change the ball joints. Order a ball joint removal tool from www.eliseparts.com, they also sell balljoints etc. Beleive me it will save you a lot of time and effort over pressing them out.

Nylon bushes are good in some ways but be very careful when installing. Estimate that it will take you at least a couple of days and spend plenty of time making sure the bushes move freely before and after they are installed. Best bet is to get a reamer of the appropriate size and ream out the bushes after they have been installed in the wishbone as they get distorted when they are fitted. These are not a fit and forget item and they will likely cause some problems and require some maintenance. That said they do work in holding the wishbones in the right place. After fitting make sure every wishbone drops under it's own weight. If it doesn't then the bushes are too tight and need attention.

I recon on changing all my ball joints every 10K miles and will check/grease/replace Nylatrons that need attention in at the same interval but its not unusual to have one or two seize faily regularly.

[spacebug]

Randy, Thanks for that.

I already know about the tool from Elise parts but i thought it would be a good idea to replace the bushes, meaning i will need to remove the wishbones... now i'm thinking it might be a bit of a mare!

I guess i'll just have a look when i've got it in bits and see if it needs doing.

Any suggestions on where to buy S2 suspension?

[randy]

Steve B from www.seloc.org will sort you out with S2 suspension.