82 replies to this topic

[Muncher]

The postman has just delivered my new tie rod kit and it's an absolutely stunning piece of engineering, I don't really want to fit it to the car and get it dirty, it's finished so well, nice and smooth bar and extremely light weight. I'm guessing about half the weight of the Eliseparts kit that I had.

For those who are not quite sure what they do, they replace the rear tie rod link on the VX which controls toe in and toe out and prevents the rear wheels from "steering". Many many people have replaced their inner toe links on here because the hot cat dries which is close to them dries out the nylon joint causing it to knock quite loudly, especially when the car is hot.

The other, more important reason for replacing this is that the standard item is not strong enough and prone to failure when running sticky tyres and upgraded suspension which put more force through it. This is pretty dangerous and most people on SELOC agree you really should use an uprated bar when running sticky tyres on an Elise, let alone with the extra weight of the Elise. These rods are good for about 4 ton and the rod ends 19k lbs static, every component has been made to top spec mostly high grade stainless.

I think they're going to retail at about the same price as the current Eliseparts kit which is about £250+VAT, though I will be asking them if they'll do some kind of group buy for us.

Here's some pics of it

[andyroo]

Holy crap! Those are mega-thick! Would be up for some (at last... no thanks to Vauxhall) Cheers, Muncher, good work

[jasvxt]

Would be interested in a group buy Muncher Do they also do a front uprated ARB Kit ?

[Guy182]

look good. one thing though look like non stainless bolts to me.. over 250quid and they cant put the extra pennies into stainless?

[Muncher]

They're very thick but I'd say at a rough guess the rods weigh half as much as the standard items. I'm not sure about an ARB, will ask them. Guy - They look like stainless bolts to me...

[NickB787]

Yep I'm interested

[Guy182]

They're very thick but I'd say at a rough guess the rods weigh half as much as the standard items.

I'm not sure about an ARB, will ask them.

Guy - They look like stainless bolts to me...

stainless are usually a dark colour and usually not very shiny.

they look like the typical coated steel bolts that are a bluey silver colour..

[slindborg]

id rather set fire to the car than use stainless bolts in the suspension setup.... they are jsut oooooo brittle/like cheese to be doing that particular job. they do look nice. I thought the elise parts ones were fairly light (well lighter than the std setup) Bear in mind that the vxt changed to M12 outboard joints at some point. Is there a spanner flat on the tube for adjustment?

[Arno]

look like non stainless bolts to me..

over 250quid and they cant put the extra pennies into stainless?

Stainless is too weak in this application for the bolts, so would be useless.

Need to be at least 10.9 grade strength to be able to reach the required torque values, esp. on the outer bolt connection to the upright.

On the K-series Elise this also goes for the inner bolt through the wishbone bush, as it's done up on these cars with 72Nm.. You'll strip an 8.8 or stainless A4-80 way before that (somewhere close to 60Nm)

As long as the bolts are zinc plated (still possible on 10.9) or have something like a Dacromet coating (usually on 12.9 as you can't plate those.. makes 'em brittle) they should be fine. If you want you can spray some waxoyl or tectyl on the bolt heads and threads when done up to stop corrosion.


Bye, Arno.

[speedster]

Cool! This fits the NA and turbo?

[Guy182]

i stand corrected then just hate the way every bolt on these cars seems to shear off. (mainly due to the fiberglass riv nut crap though)

[slindborg]

Cool! This fits the NA and turbo?

M10 outboard ends "should" fit ALL N/A's and approx the first half of the tubbys then they swapped to M12 outboards.

[Muncher]

Fits NA/VXT and Elise as far as I know. I've asked for more info on the bolts , the outbound ends say "HH 10.9" on them, the inboard ends say "JD 10.9" on them.

[Morgan9122]

Muncher, When you fit these, can you take some pics and do a 'How To Do' guide for the numpties like me. Cheers.

[Muncher]

Muncher,

When you fit these, can you take some pics and do a 'How To Do' guide for the numpties like me.

Cheers.

Sure, they're pretty easy to fit but I'll write a guide.

Some more info


The long bolts (100mm and 90mm) are 10.9
Though it is easy to fit 8.8 if people wish.
The inners have brinks locknuts to avoid heating issues the outers are nyloc.

The 4 smaller 6mm bolts are 12.8 but academic as they are not stressed, the bracket will buckle first with any bolt except plastic they just happened to be in stock these could also be changed to another grade should someone wish. They are only a few pound for the whole set.


Under no circumstances can you use stainless bolts for this application unless you are suicidal!

I would not even use them for the 6mm bolts to hold the bracket on! 10.9 heavy plated are perfect for the main bolts which must be strong enough to not yeald under normal usage yet not snap if overloaded.

I only use stainless bolts for dress or non stress applications ie undertray bolts etc

The next batch will have a locknut included as an insert into the tube but not really necessary as several have been fitted without issue. The tube is large enough to get enough perchase to tighten a locknut which should not be over tight anyway.

[slindborg]

not that it matters for me, but will you be getting a 12mm outboard jointed version made up for those lardy arses in their later spec turbos? lol ps are the holes in the chassis for the plate threadded or need drilling?

[techieboy]

I'm definitely liking the look of that - better safe, than sorry. Put me down for a set if they're interested in doing a group-buy. Talking of group-buys, are you still going to try to put together one for the new ECU holders for the 2.4 inlet mod?

[Winstar]

I've been deliberating over buying the elise parts one so count me in any group buy, if not I'll still be interested

[Muncher]

I'm definitely liking the look of that - better safe, than sorry. Put me down for a set if they're interested in doing a group-buy.

Talking of group-buys, are you still going to try to put together one for the new ECU holders for the 2.4 inlet mod?

Yes I am, I'm using the same firm to get them made too.

slindborg - if the hole in the hub carrier is a different size then a couple of components will need to be changed but that shouldn't be a problem. You need to drill some small holes in the subframe leg to attach the brackets (which double as heat shields)

[hamlet]

Hello Muncher, these parts look really good!! I was currently looking at those from eliseparts to upgrade my N/A this winter after I have fitted semi-slicks and lower/stiffer springs. But these looks far better to me. Could you please give some more infos about the company where you bought them? Do you think there is a possibility for me in Switzerland to get them? Anyway, if you are about to make a group order, I would be definitely in! Thanks for the infos... Cheers - Hamlet