This guide will prove useful if your car has failed the MOT due to a damaged or faulty bush in the lower wishbone.
As the dirt and grim can ingress into the bush and cause almost total failure it is recommended
that you change the wishbone as soon as possible for your own safety.
You can tell if you wishbone bushes have gone as when you turn a corner you will hear a loud
clunck and it may feel like the wheel is folding or kinking inwards, it actually isn't but it feels like it.
Another way to check the condition of the wishbone is to visually check them for peeling and splitting around the edge.
If this is the case then this guide will guide you through the replacement process step by step.
Tools Needed:
Socket set
Torx key bits
Torque Wrench
Chisels
Trolley Jack
Axle Stands
Wire brush
Parts Needed:
Lower arms
Fitting nuts and bolts
Brake Cleaner
Rags
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Nice 'n' New
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Shiney and New
Yup
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Right before you begin you will need to see if the bushes are actually gone, in my case below you can see they are splitting, so are an instant MOT failure.
Go out and buy your replacement lower arms, I recommend you replace both at the same time, so it has even wear.
DO NOT buy the cheap pattern parts as they will not fit properly and wont last five minutes.
A decent set of Febi(BMW) aftermarket arms will set you back around £30 each and they are good quality.
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Now you will need to buy brand new nuts and bolts for the arm carrier and brand new pinch nuts and bolts set.
Only buy Ford parts for these as they are stretch bolts and can only be used once!
The set will cost you £9.05 but this covers both arms.
| Description |
Finis |
Qty Required |
| Nut Special Hex M12 |
6797866 |
x4 |
| Screw Special Head M12x72MM |
6203229 |
x4 |
| Screw Special M10x51MM |
6080625 |
x2 |
| Nut Special Hex Self Locking M10 |
1505594 |
x2 |
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With the parts collected you will need to remove the wheel trims if fitted then slacken the front wheel
nuts on both sides of the car then chock the rear wheels to stop it from rolling away whilst you jack it up.
Place the trolley jack under the rear of the gearbox cradle and proceed to jack up the front of the car,
you may notice that the car will drift slightly, this is normal so don't worry too much,
but as always keep your hands and feet well clear just in case.
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With the front in the air you will need to support the weight of the car with the axle stands for safety.
Place these under the chassis legs just after the lower arm mounts.
Slowly lower the car down onto the stands, make sure they are secure and the car wont fall.
If that's fine, just make sure you pump the jack up so its just touching the gearbox cradle,
this is for added safety, if one of the axle stands gets knocked then the weight of the car would still be supported.
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Now that the front of the car is in the air you can completely undo the wheel nuts and remove the wheels.
To make life easier for this exercise you will need to remove the plastic arch liner,
this is held in with 5 Torx headed screws in various locations under the arch.
With these remove you will be able to manipulate the liner out from behind the shock absorber and out from the arch.
Be prepared for what may lurk behind it, mine was rusty and had a load of mud collecting in between the sill and the wing.
Identify the upright mounting nuts and bolts that pass through the lower arms and the arm to chassis carrier.
Give these a good soaking with WD40, as this will help later on.
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Look at the back of the brake disc and you will see a hex bolt and Torx headed pinch bolt,
give these a blast with WD40 and wait a few minutes. Use the Torx side as the solid side and slacken
the nut side with a long bar as it will be really stiff.
Once the nut is completely removed you will notice the pinch bolt will not budge,
so give it a gentle tap with a flat chisel and it should pop out.
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Now you will see one of the reasons why you need new nuts and bolts, they are rusty and corroded, therefore cannot be used again.
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Using a flat bladed chisel prise open the carrier around the ball joint,
then use the chisel to lever the arm down and hopefully pop out the pin from the carrier.
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Now it is time to remove the vertical mounting points. As you soaked these earlier with WD40 they should be easier to remove.
The back mounting will require a 18MM spanner to fit into the gap, or in my case as I didn't have the spanner,
an adjustable spanner works just as well, as long as it can be held on the nut.
Use a long breaker bar or torque wrench with a 15mm socket on it to undo the bolt,
you will hear a few groans from the nut but that's normal and nothing to worry about.
Slacken this off and remove the nut from the upper section, u will also notice that the bolt doesn't drop out,
so you will need to give it a helping hand with a flat round chisel.
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Repeat the above but for the front mount, the only difference with the front mount is
that you can use a socket over the nut instead of the adjustable spanner.
With both of the mountings removed, you should now be able to rotate the arm towards
the front of the car out of its bracket and free from the car and you will be left with an empty space!
Clean the carriers thoroughly to enable the new ones to fit correctly.
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As you can see from the pictures below the old arms especially the rear bushes were quite badly damaged, also shown below is the new replacement arm.
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The hole in the spindle carrier now needs to be cleaned out of any rust or debris
to enable the new ball joint to fit correctly, simply use a wire brush.
Make sure you try not to touch the brake discs while you do this.
Push the new pin into the hole into the carrier; making sure that the rebate on
the pin is in line with the hole that the pinch bolt passes through.
Put the new pinch bolt through and finger tighten the nut as much as you can.
Using a Torx key to hold one side stationary, tighten the nut up to 50NM.
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Rotate the new arm back into the carrier on the chassis but you will notice that you cannot get it in line correctly.
A simple solution is to place a jack under the ball joint with a rag or block of wood to protect it,
under the hub and slightly raise it enough so it becomes level and then you can push the arm into the
carrier with a block of wood, I used a small round chisel trough one of the mounting
holes to get it into the right position then the bolt was pushed through from the
underside and the nut tightened finger tight on the top.
Repeat this for the front mounting hole then lower the jack and pull it away from the hub.
From underneath of the car you will be left with what it looks like in this photo,
two very slack bolts going trough the carrier, you can if you want tighten these up a little more but DO NOT tighten them fully.
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Now comes the strange part, with the bolts loose you need to refit the road wheels
and remove the axel stands then lower the car to the floor, tighten the wheel nuts fully
and then move back to the lower arms. These need to be tightened using a Torque To Yield method,
which means that all the weight of the car needs to put stress on the bolts.
You can just reach all the nuts and bolts from in the wheel arch if you lay down at the side of the car.
This procedure only needs to be carried out for the two vertical nuts and bolts holding the arm to the carrier.
Please follow the method below otherwise the nuts will fail!
| Stage |
Value |
| Stage 1 |
50NM |
| Stage 2 |
Slacken completely |
| Stage 3 |
50NM |
| Stage 4 |
Tighten through a further 90° |
Do not tighten any further as it will make the nuts and bolts useless and that's £9.05 worth wasted.
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Jack up the car again and re support it on the axel stands. It's up to you at this
point if you want to under seal the inner arch or not, I didn't as I dint really have time,
so put the nicely cleaned liner back under the arch and behind the shock absorber and screw back up securely.
Be sure to clean the brake discs after this, as they will more than likely be contaminated with grease or dirt from the liner.
Refit the road wheel and lower again and tighten up the wheel nuts, replace the wheel trim if there and that's it done,
Repeat all of the above for the other side if you need to.
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On a final note I want to thank my 2 helpers for the day for keeping me entertained with their rolling in the mud. Poppy and Sal, poppy is the white one
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Now you need to go and get the tracking done at a tyre place or a garage.
Go pass the MOT!
Hope this guide helps alot of you.
Guide Written and © On 13 April 2006 by Andrew Whiteman (AW3K)
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