Lotus 2004 Eleven Service Notes page 97

Lotus Service Notes
Alignment
Wheel alignment refers to the parallelism of the wheels when viewed from above and is crucial to vehicle
stability, handling and tyre wear.
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Alignment is measured either by the angle a wheel makes with the vehicle centre line, or the difference in
dimension between the wheel rim to wheel rim measurement at the front and rear of the wheel at hub centre
height. The wheels are said to 'toe-in' when the wheel paths converge ahead of the vehicle, and 'toe-out' when
they diverge. Wheel alignment is designed to vary with both steering angle (Ackerman) and suspension travel
(bump steer) and should be measured only 'straight ahead' at the specified ride height.
Front wheel alignment is adjusted be screwing the track rods into or out of the track rod outer end ball
joints. In order to preserve the required bump steer characteristic and steering symmetry, the effective length
of each track rod must remain equal - adjust each track rod by a similar amount.
Track rod end
Steering arm
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- Hold the track rod end using the flats provided, and slacken the locknut. Repeat for the opposite side.
- Turn each track rod a similar amount. As a guide, turning both track rods by one quarter of a turn will alter
overall toe-out by approx. 2.0 mm.
- When adjustment is correct, hold each track rod end and tighten the locknuts to 80 - 82 Nm (58 - 60 lbf.
ft).
When slackening or tightening the track rod end locknuts, it is important that the torque reaction is resisted
using the track rod end flats, and that the ball joint itself is not allowed to be stressed.
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Track rod end flats
Steering rack gaiter
Track rod end locknut
Section CI
Difference between
rim measurements
= overall toe out
FRONT
Individual
toe out
angle
Steering track rod flats