glasgow

Phone call from Demon Tweeks this morning. They confirmed the wheels are buckled. They also said they tested another 5 brand new wheels and they all have the same issue.

Has anyone mention about mirrors. If yours are standard caterham with flat glass, get a good convex ones. I just bought http://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/large-carbon-fibre-effect-side-mirrors recommended by Ian SM25 and they are fantastic

Tried with two sets of tyres 1st one is 205 all around and the second is 185 front and 205 rear. Same problem of rear lock with both sets of tyres. I assume they are standard. How would I know?

Update: Replaced front pads with Mintex M1144, used grit 80 on the discs and did the bedding in.The only difference is the brake pedal feels softer (and brake is now squeaky) BUT still rear brake locks first. If I replace my standard rear pads with the uprated ones, my understanding the uprated rear brake pads would make the rear brake even "stronger" and won't help in my issue-correct? Any suggestions please? Thank you

I am using it today. moderate/Heavyish braking but no locking. They started squeaking so probably I will need to carry out for the next couple of days.

Put new Mintex M1144 front pads today (in order to solve a problem of rear wheel barke lock). I didn't change the original discs but grit them with number 80 to remove the coating from the old pads (standard pads) I then took the car for a drive and did about 20 emergency brakes. After I came home I did some reading and I realised emergency braking soon after installing new pads are not recommended (I know I should have done the home work before I drive the car). Do I need now to grit the discs again in order to get an even transfer film on the disc or just do moderate braking for the next few hundred miles? Thank you Ahmed

My car has its original de dion tube and I am aware of the problem of the old versions of the de dion tube that ​they can fail without warning. http://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/summary-dedion-tube-failures I will need to remove a few millimeters of the ears of the tube because of using 13" wheels. I am concerned that using a grinder could weaken the nearby welding joints. - Should I replace the tube with a new one instead of removing part of the old one despite mine appears to be in a good condition? - does the new ones come with shorter ears that doesn't require grinding? - is there a generalized agreement that the old de dion versions should be replaced even if they look in a good condition? (I had a look at mine but could not determine which version I have) Thank you Ahmed

2002, SV, original De dion tube. New 13 wheels are "VERY" close to the tube. the clearance between the rear wheel and the tube only allows 3-4 paper sheet thickness (according to Mr Google this is a 0.2mm space). The wheels doesn't touch the tube when the car on the axle stand. But when the car is moving, is it likely that everything stays the same or there may be a very slight movement and I better cut off a few millimeters of the tube. If so, how many mm should I cut. (I do understand the weight balance has to be about an inch away from the inner rim of the wheels) Thank you Ahmed

Is this applicable to any seven? Are there other factors that affects rear brake. For example tyre type/width, driver/passenger weight, car setup and corner weighting? Should the pads change be done one stage at a time to see how the rear brake reacts?

And as for 80 grit for the rotors, any guide of how "heavy" should I press with the grit please?

Thank you Duncan for the useful thread. So: - Front: Mintex MGB533 M1144 - Rear: http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=668 I do understand I need to upgrade the front pads, but why would I need to change the rear pads? Could I just keep the current standard rear pads unchanged? Any suggestion where to buy the Mintex MGB533 M1144. Google search suggested Merlin Motors and Qwix.co.uk

Having a problem of over brake rear tyres. They lock before the front. One of the suggestions is to change the brake pads and get more grippy pads at the front. Car is 2003, standard brake. My understanding is: A) Rear: The Lucas part number is: GDB472 "Ford Scorpio 91 on" (as in pic the rear brake caliper has "cn3 208 0659/7" written on it). B) Front: Can't read the writing . Can anyone advice about the type of the front caliper and pads please? Regards Ahmed

Just an update. Demon Tweeks contacted the supplier who confirmed they had a couple of similar issues. Buckled and non smooth machine cut at centre hole and at the bolt holes. How annoying the smart people who first balanced my wheels, they just put the max weight and sent them to the customer. Anyway, return is currently being arranged. Many thanks for all your help and finger crossed the new wheels will be better

Scot, I left the car with Kenny Brown motor engineering to sort it out (needs suspension reset as well). He took it to a wheel specialist and had the same finding as I experienced with Kwikfit. He said the problem are in the wheels not the tyres. I was not with him so can't tell if they took the tyres off the wheels or not.

Boxes are ok but I get rid of the foam fillers. If an item is defective, the p&p should be fully refunded - isn't it?

Informed demon tweek about the problem (which was confirmed by Kwickfit and another wheel specialist). They told me they need to contact the supplier and will get back to me. I am not sure will it be a refund or replacement?

Last week I bought a brand new set of 13X6" Apollo wheels. http://caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=5216 but for some reasons the wheels arrived buckled and I am arranging a return. Should I just consider it as bad luck and get a replacement of same type? Are the black Aplllo diamond cut wheels a better quality? http://caterhamparts.co.uk/product.php?id_product=5230 Apollo wheels are the lightest I could find but may be this is part of the problem-light wheel could easily buckle? Any suggestion for a better brand please? Regards Ahmed

Many thanks for all the information. I went for a wee walk in the sunny evening and passed by a Mercedes dealer and BMW dealer around the corner of where I live. Had a look at the tyre paint dot in the new cars and its relation to the valve. I saw about 20 tyres but only 2 of them had the dot opposite the valve!

Ian, I am not sure if mine are machined or not. Mine are 13" silver (not the black diamond cut). Are yours the same? So if mine are not machined, the rubber cone should not applied then and it should be the stud-plate, correct? Bloody hell, why nothing is straight forward with the Seven

Mine are fresh wheels and tyres. Did you end up balancing rhem dynamic (in and out) or only static? Did you visually see wheels spinnig "asymetrical"?

These wheels should only have weights on the inside in any case, - See more at: http://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/new-apollo-wheels-problem-balancing#sthash.ByQOuseF.dpuf Scott, when I said "inside" I meant the "inside part of the INSIDE surface of the wheel" ie the closer to the car as opposed to the "outside" which I meant "the outside part of the INSIDE surface of the wheels". I do understand no weight will be on the outside surface of the wheels. In you pic there are two weight, 45g on the outside and 20 on the inside. In my case the measurements were 75 and 85 on the dynamic and about 50 on the static so they put 50g on the inside then the static reading showed "ok", they did this for the four wheels and ended up showing "Ok" for static for the 4 wheels but you can still visually see they don't spin straight.

The word "static" it was my first time to hear about it yesterday, the guy told me it means they only measure the inside balance (or at least that what I understood from him). Thank you Scott for your explanation. As for the weight placement, demon tweek weight as well as Kwickfit they both sit 3-5mm away from the inner rim. Interesting to know about the paint dot. Just checked mine, none of them is actually opposite the valve! For general information if this paint dot is not seen (old tyre) can you tell the correct place of the heavy spot without removing the tyre and looking inside it?

But it is unlikely that the fault is in both kwickfit and demon tweak. I'm saying this because we ended up putting nearly similar weight in nearly the same place. Of course when the reading showed high figures they only put 50 and did static (ie only the inside) of the wheels. I can understand the tyres can come slightly of balance, but the wheel itself should spin smoothly without wobble, correct?

I am not sure about machined. But I saw the guys having a close look at the center of the wheel then they applied the rubber cup.