Replacing Lower Suspension Arm on Ford Focus

[Andy 308GTB]

Focus MKI (2002) failed the MOT because of play in the Front ball joint.
This requires the replacement of the lower suspension arm - as it comes complete with the ball joint (and bushes)
Garage wanted £180 to do the job which I thought was reasonable.

But a quick look at the Haynes manual makes it look like a very simple job.
1. Car on axle stands.
2. Undo the bolts that clamp it to the chassis
3. Separate the ball joint
4. Reverse the above steps to fit the new part

Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Edited by Andy 308GTB on Saturday 27th September 21:27

[cambiker71]

That's pretty much it, it's an easy enough job but do get the wheel alignment checked afterwards, it's usually quite a way off afterwards.

[Andy 308GTB]

cambiker71 said:

That's pretty much it, it's an easy enough job but do get the wheel alignment checked afterwards, it's usually quite a way off afterwards.

Thanks for that, I'll get the alignment checked too but I assume that the car won't fail the test on that alone?

[cambiker71]

Andy 308GTB said:

Thanks for that, I'll get the alignment checked too but I assume that the car won't fail the test on that alone?

That'll be fine, the alignment isn't a part of the test.
One more thing though, to make sure the bushes in the arm dont fail prematurely, only tighten the mounting bolts fully with the car back on the ground or use a jack and lift it under the balljoint so that the arm is in its normal road position.
If you don't then the inner bushes will be always twisted and under load when the car is sat on its wheels.

[Andy 308GTB]

cambiker71 said:

Andy 308GTB said:

Thanks for that, I'll get the alignment checked too but I assume that the car won't fail the test on that alone?

That'll be fine, the alignment isn't a part of the test.
One more thing though, to make sure the bushes in the arm dont fail prematurely, only tighten the mounting bolts fully with the car back on the ground or use a jack and lift it under the balljoint so that the arm is in its normal road position.
If you don't then the inner bushes will be always twisted and under load when the car is sat on its wheels.

Yes, that makes perfect sense and something I would not have thought of.
Thanks again.

[Andy 308GTB]

Some weeks later and the car is now going back for its MOT

This is where it all went wrong:

Andy 308GTB said:

2. Undo the bolts that clamp it to the chassis

The 2 rear bolts that clamped one of the bushes to the chassis came out fine.
The bolt that clamped the ball joint came out fine.
The front bolt that the front bush rotates on didn't...
I later realised that this is torqued down to between 170nm and 230nm (according to the Haynes Manual)
Combined with 12 years of muck and rust, it wasn't going to move with the leverage I could exert (with the car on axle stands)
I spent many hours with an Angle Grinder.

I got the job done but I think a proper mechanic would be in tears (of laughter) at what I had to do!

[Matt Seabrook]

Just goes to show the so called simple jobs aren't always as simple as they may seem. At least you have sorted it well done.

Edited by Matt Seabrook on Monday 13th October 19:46

[trickywoo]

Andy 308GTB said:

The 2 rear bolts that clamped one of the bushes to the chassis came out fine.
The bolt that clamped the ball joint came out fine.
The front bolt that the front bush rotates on didn't...

This is how all car repairs go. Access to a ramp and air tools make things so much easier.

[Andy 308GTB]

trickywoo said:

This is how all car repairs go. Access to a ramp and air tools make things so much easier.

You're not wrong.

The front bolt has to be torque'd to 120nM and then a further 1/4 turn applied.
You then check and it should be in the 170-230nM range.

Needless to say I did the 120nM bit but couldn't not get any more onto it. So I'm a bit uncomfortable driving it at the moment. So this weekend I'll go to my local (independent) tyre place to get the tracking done & ask them to tighten it up properly. Air tools are what you need.

[The Wookie]

Andy 308GTB said:

The 2 rear bolts that clamped one of the bushes to the chassis came out fine.
The bolt that clamped the ball joint came out fine.
The front bolt that the front bush rotates on didn't...
I later realised that this is torqued down to between 170nm and 230nm (according to the Haynes Manual)
Combined with 12 years of muck and rust, it wasn't going to move with the leverage I could exert (with the car on axle stands)
I spent many hours with an Angle Grinder.

I got the job done but I think a proper mechanic would be in tears (of laughter) at what I had to do!

Could be worse, I had to change the ball joint on an RCZ recently, after much fruitless effort with air tools, I ended up with the upright in a vice, hanging my not inconsiderable weight off a scaffolding pole attached to the end of a breaker bar to get it cracked!!