Hello again people

Back again with more issues on my 2010 focus 1.8 petrol

Had lots of clunking from the front end and mechanic said it was due to front wishbones

Had them both replaced, and noticed the handling feels terrible afterwards.. even after 4 wheel tracking

Alignment shop print out shows that the camber is off and can't be adjusted on these cars

The alignment shop is well known and reputable so it's not as if he doesn't know what he is doing

Why would new wishbones ruin the geometry of the car? Can anyone help me solve this?

The handling feels terrible now and the steering wheel is slightly off center as a result of the poor geometry

Poorly manufactured wishbones. After market ones quite often are not made to exactly the same dimensions as ford o.e ones. I refused to fit aftermarket ones when I worked at ford garage, the amount of times we had to play about getting the geometry right as opposed to just putting ford ones on that just fitted and no tracking / alignment needed as such. Just at a quick check and still within specs. 

6 hours ago, iantt said:

Poorly manufactured wishbones. After market ones quite often are not made to exactly the same dimensions as ford o.e ones. I refused to fit aftermarket ones when I worked at ford garage, the amount of times we had to play about getting the geometry right as opposed to just putting ford ones on that just fitted and no tracking / alignment needed as such. Just at a quick check and still within specs. 

Thanks mate, the mechanic did use drivetec ones gutted I never got the Ford ones now.. I might have to get some OEM ones on there instead because it feels like ***** to drive now 

8 hours ago, iantt said:

Poorly manufactured wishbones. After market ones quite often are not made to exactly the same dimensions as ford o.e ones. I refused to fit aftermarket ones when I worked at ford garage, the amount of times we had to play about getting the geometry right as opposed to just putting ford ones on that just fitted and no tracking / alignment needed as such. Just at a quick check and still within specs. 

Ford parts uk want over £300 for the wishbones, that can't be right surely??

8 hours ago, Mrbensam said:

Ford parts uk want over £300 for the wishbones, that can't be right surely??

Yes, that's right.  They haven't actually increased in price with inflation as they cost that much when I did mine in 2017!

Drivetec parts are all crap.  There are some decent aftermarket wishbones.  I used TRW for mine at about half the price.  They tracked fine on a 4 wheel Hunter machine afterwards.

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yes, that's right.  They haven't actually increased in price with inflation as they cost that much when I did mine in 2017!

Drivetec parts are all crap.  There are some decent aftermarket wishbones.  I used TRW for mine at about half the price.  They tracked fine on a 4 wheel Hunter machine afterwards.

Robbing ***** haha! Might have to try the TRW arms then, cant justify spending 600+ on the Ford ones for an old shed!

4 minutes ago, Mrbensam said:

Robbing ***** haha! Might have to try the TRW arms then, cant justify spending 600+ on the Ford ones for an old shed!

Oh, £300 each!! 😮  They were about £300 the pair back in 2017 lol.  £150 the pair for the TRW's.

Just checked eBay and they're £220 each on there which is still ridiculous.  

Genuine Ford C-Max Focus Mk2 Front O/S Lower Wishbone Suspension Arm 1570284 | eBay

Genuine Ford C-Max Focus Mk2 Focus C-Max N/S Front Lower Wishbone Arm 1570285 | eBay

 

Mister-Auto have TRW, Febi, Delphi and Monroe for about £75 each.  Or Lemforder or Meyle for about £100 each.  I'd try any of those tbh...

I fitted delphi ones - went straight on - cost peanuts ( I think I paid 60 quid the pair) and the geometry is 100%

 

literally got it done on friday about 6 months after fitting them - I was was lazy, things seemed about right, drove in a straight line and the tyres almost wore evenly - but just saw the right track ends had split its boot so fitted its first ever new ones (joints were both still like new !) and as I had new front tyres ...got the geometry adjusted toe and camber on all 4 wheels in middle of spec at 160k miles (it was the Hunter posh laser beam non- wheel damaging gear they used)

10 hours ago, Botus said:

I fitted delphi ones - went straight on - cost peanuts ( I think I paid 60 quid the pair) and the geometry is 100%

 

literally got it done on friday about 6 months after fitting them - I was was lazy, things seemed about right, drove in a straight line and the tyres almost wore evenly - but just saw the right track ends had split its boot so fitted its first ever new ones (joints were both still like new !) and as I had new front tyres ...got the geometry adjusted toe and camber on all 4 wheels in middle of spec at 160k miles (it was the Hunter posh laser beam non- wheel damaging gear they used)

Oh really? The guy who done my alignment uses the hunter system too and is well known.. I must have just got some poorly made arms from Drivetec. Can't see any other reason the geometry is off.

did they do more than one spec for different cars - hers has the stiff sport suspension and the big ball joints

there's a post on this thing somewhere about a coloured band on the bottom ball joint blue or yellow - so you get the correct ball joint taper diameter....   it would be possible (and a bit dodgy) to use the smaller earlier diameter taper on the mid 2007 prod year or later cars

they'd fit (badly) but the joint could come lose and or could sit a long way out .... 18mm yellow vs 21mm Blue

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Botus said:

did they do more than one spec for different cars - hers has the stiff sport suspension and the big ball joints

there's a post on this thing somewhere about a coloured band on the bottom ball joint blue or yellow - so you get the correct ball joint taper diameter....   it would be possible (and a bit dodgy) to use the smaller earlier diameter taper on the mid 2007 prod year or later cars

they'd fit (badly) but the joint could come lose and or could sit a long way out .... 18mm yellow vs 21mm Blue

 

 

 

Well mines on eibach springs 30mm drop and its a 2010 facelift so he uses the sport suspension specs I think, and hes done my alignment perfectly at least 6 times since I've had the car. I've done that much suspension work its probably had more alignments in 2 years than most people do in their life haha! I will have to make sure the mechanic used the right size ball joints and failing that try some different arms 😞

I was just looking for something, and came across one of the thick plastic bags one of the new front arms I fitted came in - it has a massive VOLVO sticker on it

11 minutes ago, Botus said:

I was just looking for something, and came across one of the thick plastic bags one of the new front arms I fitted came in - it has a massive VOLVO sticker on it

The V50 is basically a Mk2 Focus underneath.  Lots of interchangeable parts.

 

18 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The V50 is basically a Mk2 Focus underneath.  Lots of interchangeable parts.

 

And Mazda 3 I vaguely remember .