Focus suspension arms / bush replacement

[Micro]

Sup all! 

Recent service/MOT shows that my front rearward bushes are deteriorating (but not excessive movement as of yet). The Ford service centre quoted £200~ iirc to replace the bushes both sides and included retracking.

Looking into the replacement process, I understand that these bushes will likely need cutting off the suspension arm/wishbone, and will not come quietly.

Unipart list the entire suspension arm for £30-£50 with all bushes and ball joint, with a 2 year guarantee. The rearward bush is £20 with them (£25 with  http://fordpartsuk.com/shop/ford_focus_mk2_front_susupension_arm_bush_2005-2008_f_1883046.htm - not quite the correct one for the car but an example). Thoughts behind the entire arm being, if i'm replacing a bush thats nearly worn, then surely the other bushes will have been exposed to the same conditions!

I'm certainly willing to give it a go, leaning more towards replacing the entire suspension arms vs. cutting off the old bushes. Is this something that can be done on the driveway with a couple of jacks/stands and hand tools only, or would people really recommend just getting a garage to do the job?

 

Cheers!

[stef123]

It's definitely a driveway job. 

The essiest solution is just to replace the full arm but the bushes as you have already said can be replaced. I have a set of them I bought for a job and never used, I ended up replacing both arms instead for other reasons. 

[Micro]

On 12/01/2017 at 7:31 AM, stef123 said:

It's definitely a driveway job. 

The essiest solution is just to replace the full arm but the bushes as you have already said can be replaced. I have a set of them I bought for a job and never used, I ended up replacing both arms instead for other reasons. 

Arms definitely less complicated than the bushes alone...

Do the suspension bolts need replacing too? I hve read that they are stretch bolts and therefore will not torque corrctly after refitting?

Is there a torque table definitely for the UK Focus mk 2.5 anywhere?

[Micro]

So I thought...

Right ball joint nut was an absolute BANANA to get off. It took two hours of hammering and a 13/16ths spanner (what the actual hell Ford?) - a 21mm spanner was slightly too big. The other bolts in the arm were metric and the front long one came away with no trouble after my electric impact got used.

The left hand arm pretty much just dropped out, the bolts had grease where they went through the bushes so I think someone had had it all apart at some point.

I am now having trouble getting the rear bush on the left to align properly with the holes. The rear hole seems to line up but the bolt will not thread into the other side (I test fitted the bolts in the new arm and they fit ok). As a stop gap I've managed to align everything else (ball joint, front bush and the forward rear bush bolt). My plan in the morning is to either try turning the steering all the way to the left/right and jacking up the ball joint to put it under some load. Anyone else got any tips?

Turns out the arms were a good idea, the ball joints both sides were quite floppy (no in/out though), the anti roll bar drop links were too, and the rear bushes were completely split and the rubber perishing.

[iantt]

its not 13/16ths . lol . 21mm . jack up the ball joint and rear bush will line up.

[Micro]

its not 13/16ths . lol . 21mm . jack up the ball joint and rear bush will line up.

21mm felt very loose - maybe a dodgy spanner - did wonder for about 30 mins why it was a different standard.

Will try jacking the ball joint up in the morning, cheers matey!

[Micro]

Got the arm on, a slight bit of persuasion with a mallet and it aligned.

Had the alignment done, and showed that both sides were toe out. Got them to tighten the front arm bolts on the ramp as couldn't get enough leverage on the stands.

The steering wheel is unfortunately a tiny wee bit out of line now driving straight, not sure I can be bothered to go back though it's so minimal!

[Micro]

And unfortunately my low rumble on uneven ground / steering whilst stopped or moving has returned but seems more pronounced now. Whilst the front of the car was off the ground there was no noises on turning the steering wheel and it all moved lovely and smooth. Car drives straight, doesn't pull and doesn't pull on braking.

Some days it's more pronounced, some days you can hardly hear it or it's not there at all. Really bizarre!

[Dee_82]

Hi guys, just riding off the back of this since its related to the OP.

Ball joint separators, I'm needing to get one tomorrow but options are lacking.  anyone know of a tool I can pickup from Screw fix, Machine Mart, EuroCarparts or Halfords?

ive been a little confused with the sizes, most of the forks seem to be 19mm wide but my ball joints 21mm so in my mind that makes all of those useless?

any suggestions?

 

[Micro]

Hi Dee,

I bought a separator (the one that you put on and do the bolt up to pop it out) for £4 off eBay.

In the end i didn't use it as my helping hand (ex HGV mechanic) just whacked the collar the ball joint goes through with a hammer, and it popped out before i could try it.

[ScaniaPBman]

Yup, I have had this ball joint off several times without any taper breaker tool.

Once you have the technique it just falls off.

First loosen the ball joint nut a few turns, then put a sturdy lever through the lower arm so that you can put a seperating force on the offending taper. A force equivalent to Mrs ScaniaPBman's weight on the end of the lever does the job nicely.

Wallop the collar that the ball joint taper is held in, and bingo it releases.

ScaniaPBman.

 

[Dee_82]

yeah, ive heard it being that easy, the thing is ive also heard it can be a royal pain in the bum, so I was wanting to get a tool just in case it plays hard to get.  I have my control arm with me today so ill pop in to a store and see if an of them fit.

[Dee_82]

jobs a good-in :) thanks for the advice guys

I ended up getting a fork and knocking 7 shades out of it, the ball joint eventually separated fairly easily.  its not a hard job, but getting the old bolts out was a bit of an effort.

[Micro]

Hardest part for me was getting the bolts back in! Glad you sorted it! :)

[Dee_82]

aye, the back two were ok but that front one was a bugger.  I cant get over how much of a difference its made to the ride, the car was very noisy on the front end, now the front is silent and you can clearly hear every drop an knock on the rear.  going to replace the rear drop links soon and see if that will clear it up.