Firstly, a word about the videos above. The video top of the page illustrates the CVDS set up on a lathe test bed to illustrate the steep drive angle possible with our CVDS conversion. You should keep in mind that during normal, everyday driving the CVDS will not reach such a steep angle, but there could be a “moment” where you’ll be thankfull that such a steep drive angle is possible with out suffering from the dreaded CV lock-up.
The second video illustrates a full competition CVDS conversion which is installed on our S2 elan – We may in the future offer this CVDS product for sale, but for now, it is for demonstration purposes only.
Watching the under car CVDS footage, you may suspect that there is some A frame movement, but don’t be fooled, all of the rear suspension bushes are in top condition.
What you are witnessing here is the Go Pro camera movement which was mounted to the LH diff torque rod, the movement is created by the push and shove that the diff creates when you are on and off the loud pedal during hard cornering – just to make that clear.
If you are like the majority of lotus elan owners, you’ve been thinking of upgrading the rear driveline of your elan with the installation of a Constant Velocity Drive Shaft, or CVDS for short, then….
The process is quite simple.
Remove the old, and bolt up the new CVDS to the existing diff out puts and the outer wheel axle shaft.
We’ve been building our unique CVDS conversion for more than twenty five years, in that time, we have never had anyone inform us that an axle has broken, or a spline has stripped.
The GKN CV Joints will never wear out, your elan will be in a museum before that happens, but the boots, (I’m being upfront with you here) have for some reason, been known to split from time to time, but that is rare, and we are very quick to replace them, even if it occurs two years down the road, we back our product.
Now to The Vexing Question – Is There A Need For Suspension Limiting Cables Or Straps With Our CVDS?
No doubt you would have read and maybe heard on the “lotus grapevine” that all CVDS systems require shortened strut rods and also cable or straps to limit the rear suspension travel or droop.
New customer inquiries to our web site frequently ask us about this same thing – Does our CVDS conversion require straps?
The answer is – ABSOLUTELY NOT REQUIRED.
You see, a long time ago, we worked out what the problem was, and during manufacture of our CVDS conversion, we carry out a small modification to allow the CVs to rotate at a steeper drive angle without locking up, this unique modification makes the fitment of straps and cables redundant.
And that is why you will not need limiting cables and or straps – But please note, we’ll qualify that, and it applies to the stock standard elan rear suspension.
If for some reason, your elan has different length (IE Longer) strut rods than the standard item, there could still be a problem, but in our extended period of experience supplying CVDS to our customers, that is really quite rare, but just thought we should mention that to be sure, to be sure, as they say.
If you want to improve the reliability and driving pleasure of your elan, then the CVDS is the way to go.