Hi all

looking for more words of wisdom from the wise

My faithfull focus has now covered around 120,000 A few years ago I made the mistake of replacing 1 broken spring (Alway Always replace in Pairs) so recently I felt the car was soft on one side and firm on the other, this was noticable to myself when comming out of a bend (50mph +) the front end wandered slightly.

Anyway was thinking about replacing both front springs and shockies but then I thought maybe it would be a good idea to replace the [b]original[/b] wishbones aswell since both struts would have to be removed leaving the wishbones easily accessable / replaced.

I got prices as a guide from my local factors for the above,
total cost all in is £196.80 (QH wishbones and KYB shockies - gas, not sure the brand of springs)

[b]However[/b]
My driver side spring shattered tonight, so Im now wondering if I should use kwickfit as I dont have a grate deal of time just now, I'd be happy with there springs & shocks but not sure what brand of wishbones they use. Or depending on price local ford dealers Or local MOT garage????

Through previous experiences steer clear of kwik fit, that's all I am saying.

[quote name='Leemaxd' timestamp='1299224462' post='116834']
Through previous experiences steer clear of kwik fit, that's all I am saying.
[/quote]

Yea I do tend to avoid them, but if you reach a suitable deal fair enough. I think they have improved.

In the past I remember fitting Sachs Boge springs and the always seemed to be very well presented and carried a good name, they seemed to have dissapeared from the factors.

I saw on shop.co.uk they offered Sachs Boge springs for my car (04 1.6 Mk1) part no. 25-E03-0

Has anyone else seen / used Boge springs etc lately or have any thoughts on this?

[b]Update[/b]

Ok So I called rapid fit and they quoated over £201.84 per side £££££ (ford parts)
Kwick Fit has Quoated £331.95 at first which is sachs boge springs & shockies and also includes wheel alignment, However after some Negotiation we agreed on £290.75

[quote name='bt_cav' timestamp='1299239907' post='116863']
[b]Update[/b]

Ok So I called rapid fit and they quoated over £201.84 per side £££££ (ford parts)
Kwick Fit has Quoated £331.95 at first which is sachs boge springs & shockies and also includes wheel alignment, However after some Negotiation we agreed on £290.75
[/quote]

for springs arms etc try this good quality stuff http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-FOCUS-FRONT-2-x-LOWER-SUSPENSION-WISHBONE-ARMS-NEW_W0QQitemZ280077201546QQihZ018QQcategoryZ21654QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-FOCUS-MINTEX-NEW-FRONT-BRAKE-DISCS-AND-PADS-SET_W0QQitemZ280077157144QQihZ018QQcategoryZ21654QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-FOCUS-98-04-REAR-UPPER-WISHBONE-SUSPENSION-ARM-NEW_W0QQitemZ300209251997QQcategoryZ21654QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D15%26pmod%3D370216558594%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7344343568320310516

Hey mate cheers for the links, looks good. Wonder what brand the arms are? They must be good to have such a high feedback

I've always been a fan of mintex don, I worked in a commercial motor factors donkeys ago and we Relined brake shoes using mintex don linings, one customer used pagid linings which looked a much smoother compound

hope you all sleep better knowing this lol

[quote name='bt_cav' timestamp='1299354426' post='117081']
Hey mate cheers for the links, looks good. Wonder what brand the arms are? They must be good to have such a high feedback

I've always been a fan of mintex don, I worked in a commercial motor factors donkeys ago and we Relined brake shoes using mintex don linings, one customer used pagid linings which looked a much smoother compound

hope you all sleep better knowing this lol
[/quote]

the arms are made by the same manufacturer as make them for ford without the motorcraft badging used these over 2 years ago on a friends and they were really good mintex get a good rep the standard ford disks and pads arent that great the mintex are a vast improvement really meaty looking disks as well

[quote name='bt_cav' timestamp='1299354426' post='117081']
Hey mate cheers for the links, looks good. Wonder what brand the arms are? They must be good to have such a high feedback

I've always been a fan of mintex don, I worked in a commercial motor factors donkeys ago and we Relined brake shoes using mintex don linings, one customer used pagid linings which looked a much smoother compound

hope you all sleep better knowing this lol
[/quote]

same arms as i have just fitted, although i removed the round bushes and replaced with genuine ones. so far they seem to be ok, the ball joint rubber boot seems to be a bit oversized though.
I believe the arms are supplied by truparts

[quote name='stef123' timestamp='1299412073' post='117148']
same arms as i have just fitted, although i removed the round bushes and replaced with genuine ones. so far they seem to be ok, the ball joint rubber boot seems to be a bit oversized though.
I believe the arms are supplied by truparts
[/quote]

some of the parts are remco or summat like that and some are truparts yet weirdly last time i got stuff from ford thr sticker on the front that has ford part number etc under it it has a trupart sticker difference in price was 30 quid so it would seem ford sometimes order the stuff in put there own sticker on then sell at ford prices no surprise. last time i did them for a friend we just popped some poly bushes on the front and yeah the boot is slightly oversized however if you wanna check the joint and pack a bit more grease in its easy to do then whip a cable tie round

Hey lads, cheers for the info, always good to get options before splashing out for random parts, but these sound good

Once again my mind went off wandering.....since my focus has done 120K would it be worth replacing the top strut mounts? I have no idea of the cost of the mounts but wouldnt think they would be much, see what thew lads kwickfit say.

[b]Update[/b]
Found strut mounts on ebay £9.95 + pp
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-FOCUS-MK1-FRONT-TOP-STRUT-SUSPENSION-MOUNT-NEW-/400083570950?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d26d6d106"]Clicky Clicky[/url]

Well Hats off to the guys in KwikFit, Although When I went in the guy who gave me the quote was on holiday and the guy on the desk didnt know anything about [b]Sachs Boge[/b] but he did look into it and got the parts, also fitted a new pair of strut top mount kits for £80 (no labour costs) so it was £369.99 all in, which I thought was fair enough.

The Mighty Focus feels So much better now, nice positive steering, road handeling has been restored, and the car is sitting higher than it has in a long time.

Thinking of replacing the rear springs and shocks in the summer since they are original, but I'll do that when I'm on holiday in the summer, watch this space