Elan rotoflex life

[lotusposition]

Hi
Does anyone know how long these rubber rotoflex couplings last (safely), on an Elan that has only covered around 2000 miles in 22 years. Car has been stored in a garage at all times and just driven a few times a year.

Many thanks for any help on this,

Don

[Lotus 50]

Like cam belts I suspect their life is both time and mileage limited. After 20 years or so i'd strongly suspect they need changing and even if they look OK now they probably wouldn't last long (and unless you have failsafe driveshafts the consequences of failure can be severe). Given the poor quality of current replacement rotoflexes I'd strongly suggest you look to replace them with either CV joint versions (on 2 seat Elans I believe you need to limit the suspension droop on these) or UJs with teflon coated sliding splines - they don't cost much more than buying a new set of rotoflexes.

Edited by Lotus 50 on Thursday 16th April 10:33

[lotus-types]

I would use original ones over the new ones any day, the new ones have a very short life(apparently)..... I have heard of them lasting only 3000 miles.
I would carefully check yours to see what they look like, they do tend to get slight surface cracks around the bolts but but this does not seem to be detrimental.
You must also check that they are the later Sprint interleaved type identified by them having a bonded in metal "plate" mid distance between the mounting bolts.
I fitted some original Lotus ones to one of my cars about 13 years ago and they are still fine although the car does not get a lot of use and is garaged the whole time, rubber deteriorates with age, light, heat and a climate.
A word of caution when checking them, do not jack up the car and allow the wheels to go into full droop, this puts a great deal of strain on the rotor-flexes and it becomes even worse if you turn the wheel.
You must try to jack up the car with the suspension loaded.....also wishbones bend very easily!

Edited by lotus-types on Tuesday 14th April 20:17