2005 Mondeo lower suspension arms

[CHimeara3]

Hi

My 55 plate 2.2 diesel 5 door just failed MOT, been advised that both front suspension arms need replaced. I've seen plenty for sale on line. I'm reasonably competent with a spanner. Is the work involved in replacing the parts something I can tackle myself or is it a pig of a Job ?

Any advice on how to go about the job is appreciated. I will be getting a Haynes manual before doing anything.

[Justin S]

If its anything like my ST Focus, then a pair of axle stands, a couple of hours and a few undone bolts should see it done. Just remember to get the tracking reset afterwards. Ford wishbones are as consumable as oil filters.

[Rich's Granny]

to replace the wishbones on a mk3 or do most other jobs on the front suspension you need to lower the front subframe as per the manual.
Its not as hard as it sounds. Get yourself a Haynes and follow what it says.
If you try to separate the bottom ball joints without dropping the subframe you will damage the wishbone bushes. same with the new ones if you try and lever the wishbones down to get the bottom ball joints in place you will damage the bushes in the new wishbones because of how much you have to lever them down.
As I said lowering the subframe is nowhere near as difficult or as drastic as it sounds.

[neiljohnson]

The subframe has to be dropped to get the rear bolts out regardless
It's a straightforward job as long as the subframe bolts come out as if the captive nuts spin you will have to cut a hole in the box section to access it then weld a plate over the hole you just cut!!
When you drop the subframe make sure you have disconnected the steering column inside the car first (takes 2 mins) to prevent damage to either the column or rack

[CHimeara3]

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping a Haynes manual would help but wasn't sure if it would go into enough specific detail. sounds like it will. Cheers.

[prussianguard]

Subframe doesn't need to be dropped just cut the old ones and reverse the bolts ie nuts at the top.did mine a year ago and passed not since.

[Rich's Granny]

Justin S said:

If its anything like my ST Focus, then a pair of axle stands, a couple of hours and a few undone bolts should see it done. Just remember to get the tracking reset afterwards. Ford wishbones are as consumable as oil filters.

Not all Ford Wishbones are as bad as the likes of mk1 and two Mondeos. My mk3 has done 190k and the original wishbones are fine...

[GaryST220]

CHimeara3 said:

Hi

My 55 plate 2.2 diesel 5 door just failed MOT, been advised that both front suspension arms need replaced. I've seen plenty for sale on line. I'm reasonably competent with a spanner. Is the work involved in replacing the parts something I can tackle myself or is it a pig of a Job ?

Any advice on how to go about the job is appreciated. I will be getting a Haynes manual before doing anything.

Are you sure they need replacing? Suspension arms are not a consumable on the Mk3 Mondeo, unless of course you mean the ball joint boots are split in which case you can buy them from Euro Car Parts.

[Justin S]

Rich's Granny said:

Justin S said:

If its anything like my ST Focus, then a pair of axle stands, a couple of hours and a few undone bolts should see it done. Just remember to get the tracking reset afterwards. Ford wishbones are as consumable as oil filters.

Not all Ford Wishbones are as bad as the likes of mk1 and two Mondeos. My mk3 has done 190k and the original wishbones are fine...

You'd be doing well to get over 50k miles out of a set of the rear front wishbone mounts. Mine were knocking they were that gone. I know many other ST owners with the same issues. Torque just kills them and they leak oil out. In fact my Volvo V50 has the same wishbones and I saw they looked poor last week at 52k miles as well. Mine was picked up at the MOT as an advisory. I now have a spare set, which I might poly bush as spares for when the oe ones gone again. The front bush and balljoint as as new.

[GaryST220]

Justin S said:

You'd be doing well to get over 50k miles out of a set of the rear front wishbone mounts. Mine were knocking they were that gone. I know many other ST owners with the same issues. Torque just kills them and they leak oil out. In fact my Volvo V50 has the same wishbones and I saw they looked poor last week at 52k miles as well. Mine was picked up at the MOT as an advisory. I now have a spare set, which I might poly bush as spares for when the oe ones gone again. The front bush and balljoint as as new.

Yes but the Focus / Volvo suspension is crap in comparison to the Mondeo.

My Focus ST had worn out its front wishbone bushes before 25k, whereas the wishbone bushes on my Mondeo ST220 showed no obvious signs of wear despite having done over 130k.

[CHimeara3]

GaryST220 said:

Are you sure they need replacing? Suspension arms are not a consumable on the Mk3 Mondeo, unless of course you mean the ball joint boots are split in which case you can buy them from Euro Car Parts.

according to the MOT failure report both the front right and left suspension arms have excessive play. I've been quoted £100 each plus fitting. I've seen complete wishbones at onlineautomotive.co.uk for about £50.00 each.

[neiljohnson]

You can buy cheap ones but the quality varies massively
I've fitted customer sourced lower arms (off eBay etc) that have been worse than the ones I've removed!!!!
If your planning on keeping the car a while the extra cost for genuine parts will pay for itself in the long run or you can just re bush the originals with some polybushes

[CHimeara3]

[quote=CHimeara3]
The car has just on 60k miles at the moment, don't expect to do more than about 6000 miles a year so the ability for the replacement arms to last Mega miles is not a high priority.

[GaryST220]

I would consider getting a second opinion on those arms. Unless they have been physically damaged then I can't see how they would ever be worn out at that mileage.

Edited by GaryST220 on Saturday 24th August 08:07