Mondeo Mk4 Rear Toe Adjustment

[StephenPalmer]

Hi all, 

Hoping you can help. I took my car to Kwikfit to get the tracking sorted on the Hunter machine. 

 

Front Toe etc is fine, but Rear Toe is quite out. 

 

The chap said that the bolts that are used to adjust the rear toe are really rusty so he recommended that I get some replacements incase they snap.

 

Are these the correct bolts for adjusting the rear toe?:

 

This is the tracking results for the rear:

[TomsFocus]

They are the correct bolts.  However, I'd suggest the rear arm bushes may be worn to knock the toe that far out on the left hand side.

[Frembrit]

As above, check the trailing arm bushes. When mine went the handling felt most weird when turning quite sharpish in to junctions or going quickly round a roundabout...would sort of understeer at first and then oversteer as the load shifted more laterally during the cornering. My car was 7 years old with 84,000 miles when they went.

Do you know when they were last changed on your car?

These were my bushes before I changed them. They don't look too bad really but under load they caused the problem as described above. The rear tyres also started to wear unevenly too.

[StephenPalmer]

@TomsFocus @Frembrit

 

Thank you both. Apologies I should have mentioned. The rear trailing arm bushes have just been replaced, so I took the car to get the tracking checked and that's when they point out these bolts and told me to replace them before they will adjust it. 

 

Really sorry I didn't mention it. 

 

Based on what you guys are saying, now the trailing arm bushes are new, replacing these bolts and adjusting them properly should resolve all issues with rear toe etc 🤞🏻

 

Ps. Frembrit, I had the exact same as you. Also felt like the car wobbled at the back too, couldn't out my finger on it until someone from the mondeo Facebook forum mentioned it. The bushes were Completley torn through... Don't know how the car was still driveable! 

[Frembrit]

Yeah, just get those bolts then. Surpised it's that far out though, but I don't know enough about it to comment any further.

Wheel alignment was spot on after I changed my bushes myself 😁

[StephenPalmer]

@Frembrit Let's just say, the centre rubber of the Bushs were not even attached to the metal anymore... They were proper shredded. I was so surprised and it made me really uneasy when I realised I've been driving on the motorway etc with them like that...

 

Bolts ordered, will replace this week and go back to Kwikfit Saturday for adjustment 😊 

 

Really appreciate your help, thank you! 

[StephenPalmer]

@Frembrit @TomsFocus

Sorry just want to get opinions before I go replace the bolts...

Can I just jack up one side of the car, wack an axle stand under and then replace the bolt that side, then do the same the other side?

Obviously when the car is on the floor the tyre is going to be acting against that bolt and will not only make it hard to get out but also when it is out it will push the arm out of alignment with the subframe making it impossible to get the new bolt in... And I correct?

Kwikfit won't touch the current bolts incase they snap. Which I understand. So they told me to replace them myself before bringing it for alignment.

[Frembrit]

I don't know and not at home so can't even check my Haynes manual. Can check later if no one else can advise

Whatever you do I would suggest getting a wire brush on them first and soak with WD40 or similar a few days before you actually attempt replacing them.

[StephenPalmer]

Thank you, I only have the online version of the haynes manual and couldn't find anything unfortunately. 

Yeah I've already soaked and cleaned them up abit and will just use abit of heat to remove them easier too. 

[StephenPalmer]

@Frembrit Found it, I need to compress and remove the springs. What a pain lol

[Frembrit]

You should be able to remove the springs by undoing the nut/bolt on the other end (so behind the hub) and then lowering the arm, it's what I did when I change my shocks and bump stops. Clean that bolt/nut too before you start. There should be a you tube video of someone doing that to change his springs.

 

Found it....Here

[M0ndeo]

There is a high risk , that those bolts are rusted together with metal bushing.

In that case you will be unable to take those bolts out , unless cutting them near bushing with foxtail saw or angle grinder.

Also you need to be sure that your trailing arm bushings are correctly mounted when those had been changed.

When pressing them to trailing arm , if you go too far in or not far enough, it will affect your toe in reading of the backwheel.

And then if you compensate that with that bolt adjustment , you are also affecting camber of your rear wheel.

So if we imagine that other side trailing arm bushing is correctly fitted and other is not, then you adjust other one more with that bolt.

Meaning that another of your rear wheels will be equipped with more camber than the other one.

These will make your car very poor to drive.