ST220 rear anti roll bar drop links

[Howard-]

I need to replace one (or both) of mine.

I though it'd be as simple as whacking my reg into Eurocarparts and trotting off to my local branch and ordering the part, before trundling merrily home to fit said part.

Nope. Too long. Back I go, refund I get.


Why are there two lengths of rear ARB droplink for the mk3 Mondeo? Why does the ST220 use a short one which is about as rare as a pig in flight?

Where the bloody, bloody hell do I get one? I bought some off eBay which purported to be the right length but are they? Are they bks.


Do I have to ask Ford, and then bend over as they bleed my wallet dry whilst performing mild buggery?


Apologies for the curt nature of this thread. I'm annoyed.



Thanks!

[Aztek]

Yep I had the same problem mate and it is only the ST220 that has the shorter drop links, even the diesel version has the same as the standard Mondeo Mk3..

I wrote quite a long post on the subject that you can find here: http://www.stdrivers.co.uk/forum/topic/46033-drop-...


The Ford Part No:1152952 this you can find here: https://www.fordpartsuk.com/shop/ford_mondeo_st220...

An alternative 'Link Stabiliser DELPHI TC1171' can be found here: http://www.mister-auto.co.uk/en/anti-roll-bar/delp...

[Howard-]

Impressive thread resurrection! I sorted the issue shortly after by buying the Ford parts which were only about £25 each, and vowing never to bother with Eurocarparts again!

[Aztek]

Ha Ha Yeah just noticed it was 2012, and car parts sales sites still getting it wrong..!

[Podie]

Never saw this, otherwise could have helped.

The ST TDCi was merely a styling exercise - the ST220 had quite a few tweaks and changes over the standard Mondeos (although sadly not the brakes!)

[njw1]

Podie said:

The ST TDCi was merely a styling exercise

I've owned a 2.2 tdci Titanium X and an ST tdci and whilst there was obviously no difference in performance they do drive differently, the Titanium had more body roll, less grip and didn't feel as tight as the ST, the ST felt more driver focused (if a diesel mk3 Mondeo ever can be!) and the Titanium felt like more of a comfy cruiser. The ST sits a lot lower too, even though the suspension appears to be standard.

[Podie]

njw1 said:

Podie said:

The ST TDCi was merely a styling exercise

I've owned a 2.2 tdci Titanium X and an ST tdci and whilst there was obviously no difference in performance they do drive differently, the Titanium had more body roll, less grip and didn't feel as tight as the ST, the ST felt more driver focused (if a diesel mk3 Mondeo ever can be!) and the Titanium felt like more of a comfy cruiser. The ST sits a lot lower too, even though the suspension appears to be standard.

Go and compare the ST220 suspension to the ST TDCi.

As I say, a styling exercise.

[Rat_Fink_67]

Podie said:

As I say, a styling exercise.

Designed to make reps and Joe pinch-pennies feel part of a team

[swooshiain]

Podie said:

Never saw this, otherwise could have helped.

The ST TDCi was merely a styling exercise - the ST220 had quite a few tweaks and changes over the standard Mondeos (although sadly not the brakes!)

Seriously, why were the brakes on the ST220 so poor? I loved mine - I had it for six years - but the brakes were easily the worst part of the car.

[Rat_Fink_67]

swooshiain said:

Seriously, why were the brakes on the ST220 so poor? I loved mine - I had it for six years - but the brakes were easily the worst part of the car.

They were the same setup across the entire mk3 range, a cost saving exercise. Fitting Focus ST225 calipers was the first thing I did with mine.

[gdaybruce]

Rat_Fink_67 said:

They were the same setup across the entire mk3 range, a cost saving exercise. Fitting Focus ST225 calipers was the first thing I did with mine.

Interesting. Are the ST225 calipers a straight bolt-on swap and are we talking about just the front brakes (not that the rears matter very much!)? Presumably the discs are the same size?

How much of a difference do the ST225 calipers make?

[Howard-]

The ST220's brakes are fine. I certainly had no issues with just fast road driving. On a track things will probably be different.

[Podie]

gdaybruce said:

Rat_Fink_67 said:

They were the same setup across the entire mk3 range, a cost saving exercise. Fitting Focus ST225 calipers was the first thing I did with mine.

Interesting. Are the ST225 calipers a straight bolt-on swap and are we talking about just the front brakes (not that the rears matter very much!)? Presumably the discs are the same size?

How much of a difference do the ST225 calipers make?

They require a small spacer (3mm, IIRC) but otherwise the discs, calipers and pads fit straight on. They're a bigger disc, with a bigger pad and a larger piston.

I picked up a pair for a mere £50 when I had mine (before people realized and they started going for 3 figures).

In fact, I have a pair of ST225 calipers in the garage...

[Rat_Fink_67]

gdaybruce said:

Interesting. Are the ST225 calipers a straight bolt-on swap and are we talking about just the front brakes (not that the rears matter very much!)? Presumably the discs are the same size?

How much of a difference do the ST225 calipers make?

Yeah, a straight bolt on. You'll need the calipers, mounting bracket and then the relevant discs and pads. The only negative is that the space saver spare will no longer fit, but apart from that everything else in unaffected. You stick with the Mondeo flexible hoses too, as the Focus ones are too short. The rears are more than adequate, and are the exact same dimensions as the Focus setup already.

I find the ST225 calipers so much better; the surface area is much bigger, which positively affects the stopping power, and also increases heat dissipation and fade resistance.

[Rat_Fink_67]

For comparison...

[gdaybruce]

Rat_Fink_67 said:

The only negative is that the space saver spare will no longer fit, but apart from that everything else in unaffected.

The solution to which is simply to bolt the space saver to the rear and move the rear wheel to replace the punctured front tyre. This is what you have to do as standard on my Honda S2000 which has different sized wheels front to rear, as per the instructions in the handbook. So even that issue is scarcely a negative!

[Rat_Fink_67]

gdaybruce said:

The solution to which is simply to bolt the space saver to the rear and move the rear wheel to replace the punctured front tyre. This is what you have to do as standard on my Honda S2000 which has different sized wheels front to rear, as per the instructions in the handbook. So even that issue is scarcely a negative!

Yeah that's exactly what I'd do too, but I suppose not everyone can be arsed with changing 2 wheels that's all.