Rear drop links/ rear tyre wear

[wilto]

Hi all, can someone confirm whether a defective rear anti roll bar drop link can cause tyre wear on inside edge of tyre, and I also noticed that the same side rear shock absorber outer plastic sleeve is also rubbed away.

Does anybody know the correct part number for them please. Car is a 2010 1.8 petrol Zetec S. 

What are the like to change, as I can't find anything in the Haynes manual. 

Thanks guys 👍

[Dan P]

IIRC your car is lowered, so as a possible alternative cause, have you had your tracking checked since lowering the car? This can lead to uneven tyre wear and require installation of adjustable camber bolts. I didn't need it for mine but I know@Lenny did.

[wilto]

I haven't lowered the car since I've had it, don't know if it's been done before though, I can't really tell, all I know is that the spring's aren't red or yellow or other colours associated with lowering springs.

[Lenny]

7 hours ago, wilto said:

I haven't lowered the car since I've had it, don't know if it's been done before though, I can't really tell, all I know is that the spring's aren't red or yellow or other colours associated with lowering springs.

Eibach lowering springs on my Diesel focus are a gloss black but it says Eibach all over them; 

Aside from that the rear camber on the focus is factory set to be a bit negative which allows for better handling and prevents the rear from slipping out on corners, 

Unfortunately the negative camber is the sole contributor to the inner tyre wear,

The problem isint or shouldnt be too bad when rolling a 16" wheel as the width is 6.5" so the angle doesnt dig too deep on the inner sidewall.

but when rolling 18" wheels there are 8" deep resulting in further 1.5" width of tire being pressed in to the road excessively more than the rest of the wheel, 

This results in your tyre looking like New on the outside but on the inside its down to the wire strands here's some of mine from previous years 

This has happened to me every 9-10 months for the past three years, the laser tracking alignment did help as the first set only lasted me 6 months due to excessive negative camber.

it all depends on how much youdrive it aswell I'd do around 400km per week.

I've since gone back to 16" because of the tyres lasting me 6 months longer as the reduced width they don't wear out early and there cheaper to replace.

overall or to summarize things; you can't completely irradicate the issue on a focus mk2/mk2.5 but if i was you I would get the laser tracking alignment set, and if your rolling 18" then get them to put the focus ST alignment setting in on the tracking machine instead of standard focus because your chassis and 18" wheels will be the same so the camber and tracking will be the best match you see the laser tracking computer has a list of all vehicles and the camber settings that should have;

so when they put your car in the hoist that select focus ST and adjust the camber to the computer it does help alot and costs half the price of one new tyre.

[Dave1981]

I changed all my arb links a few months ago on my mk2.5 titanium 2.0. Simple job took me about an hr for front and same for the rear. The rears were slightly harder to swap only due to the top nut bein siezed n lack of clearance to get a decent leverage on it. But once off it was a doddle!! 

Rear shocks also simple to change only 1 bolt on bottom and 2 on the top. Just make sure to jack the wheel hub 1st to take the tension then undo the bolts and slowly lower it down then remove. 

[Dan P]

I haven't lowered the car since I've had it, don't know if it's been done before though, I can't really tell, all I know is that the spring's aren't red or yellow or other colours associated with lowering springs.

Sorry, your car looks great so I just assumed it was lowered!

[Gizza11]

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

Aside from that the rear camber on the focus is factory set

 just wondered Is there not an  changeable aftermarket adjustable Camber link  for this as there is for the ST and RS looks like a red  c shape thing with an adjuster at one end

[Dave1981]

Ebach do adjustable camber bolts for the focus if you mean them? I thought id need them for mine but cause i run 16's i got away with it.. 

[Dan P]

Eibach camber bolts are about £30 on eBay.

[wilto]

Can't understand why it's only one side, and it's only become prevalent in the last 8 months since my last MOT the tester advised me of the drop link being worn, and said the tyre wear, witch wasn't that bad at the time, was because of that.

At the time he said the wear was stepped ? High and low points.

[Dave1981]

Cud be that the drop link has just given up totally n cause its not doing its job its affecting the handling and or camber? Id change both tho its not a hard job and parts rnt expensive. 

[wilto]

That's what I'm hoping it is Dave, to be honest, I'll start looking around for a pair I think, and see if does the job.

[Dave1981]

Got mine from eurocarparts durin a 30% sale..think i paid bout 30quid each

[F0CUE]

These look interesting.

https://h-tune.co.uk/hardrace-rear-reinforced-drop-link-ford-focus-mk2-mazda-3-bk-bl-03-13-mazda-5-cp-99-05-mazda-5-cr-05-10-volvo-s40-04-12-volvo-v50-04-12-volvo-c30-06-13-volvo-c70-06-13/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwgODIBRCEqfv60eq65ogBEiQA0ZC5-b_vY5jUg31uWcTvGc7bL7099G2PdRsa4xLUalPjaNcaApfR8P8HAQ

[wilto]

Cheers for that link Ian, they look very interesting, £53 for a set, and because it's over £50 it's free delivery to the UK as well. Will do a bit more research on them and probably buy them. 👍

[TangoDaz]

Anti roll bar link will have no effect on the camber or toe of the suspension they are adjusted by either a bolt that has a cam head on it or by the use of a threaded adjustable bar 

[Dee_82]

4 minutes ago, TangoDaz said:

Anti roll bar link will have no effect on the camber or toe of the suspension they are adjusted by either a bolt that has a cam head on it or by the use of a threaded adjustable bar 

but if the roll bar was gubbed and wasn't preventing the roll of the car, it would lean more on to a tyre and thus damage the tyre more.

In saying that, I seriously doubt a damaged but connected anti roll bar link would cause anything noticeable in a shortish period of time unless you were wringing it around a track! :) 

[Dave1981]

All above posts are valid but if you got told the links are worn then id change them regardless as they will only get worse in time.. 

Daft question have u looked at all the suppension parts on the rear for signs of damage, i.e. u not driven over owt that cud have damaged any part of it i mean? 

 

[wilto]

No I haven't, I'm going to have to try and find some time to get it looked at, I don't seem to have any spare time at the moment, 12-13 hour night shifts, family time on weekends etc etc.

Only seen the tyre again when I was in tyre place last week having my tyre valves changed, ( aluminium valve caps welded themselves to the tyre valves ) this time the tyre wear was worse than I saw it back last year, and also noticed the shock absorber upper plastic shroud rubbed away.

 

[Dee_82]

drop links are a 10 min job to replace, I didn't even need to get the car up when I did mine the other day. but I very much doubt it will make much of a difference to your tyre wear, itll make the rear a little quieter though.