Front Up Part two continued from last month.

Reassemble by forcing a new bush into one side of the control arm then insert the pivot and finally the other bush. While again supporting the control arm tap the bushes home being careful not to distort the arm. Fit the new ball joint to the arm but do not tighten the bolts and washers of the pivot ends until the car's weight is back on its wheels.

If the Lower ball joint is original and needs to be replaced the rivets that hold it to the control arm will have to be ground off, or drilled out. Snice the puplication of this item we have had a number of emails informing us of spot-welding on some lower arm balljoints, in which case drill the weld on the balljoint not the arm. It may also be necessary to replace the bush at the other end of the lower arm, in which case pack the under side of the arm so it will not distort as the old bush is forced out and the new one pressed in. Fig. 3.

To service the saddle the spring must be decompressed and removed, this can be done by loosening the nut on the top of the threaded rod providing there is enough rod protruding to allow the spring to become fully expanded before the thread ends.

Reassemble with the threaded rod through the new saddle, compressed spring and plate in place in the tower. Then add the control arms and hub, but leave plenty of slack on the pivot to body bolts of the top arm. This will allow you to move the arm around and engage the bolts of the spring saddle in the holes of the arm.

Carefully decompress the spring to a point where the hub and arm can be lifted up to meet the bolts of the saddle. Block up the hub at this point and replace the saddle nuts. HINT; another jack under the lower arm is a great help at this stage. Replace the nuts, pins and shims etc, Then remove the threaded rod. HINT; stick each stack of shims together with grease to form one big shim rather than a lot of fiddley ones.

Fit the radius rod with the new bushes. It's worth dusting the friction surfaces of these and the "D" bushes with graphite powder prior to fitting.

Before refitting the end links and bushes, undo the "D" bush saddle clamps and replace the "D" bushes. These have a slit across the back and will open to clip over the bar. Finally replace the shockies, tighten all the nuts and fold any split pins etc.

The track and toe will be good enough to drive the vehicle for a 100 km or so until both sides are completed, then get the wheel alignment done.

Fig.4 Click to see the full diagram from the manual.
Thanks to Ford Australia for the use of this drawing.

Back to Part 1.

© BigH 2001

DISCLAIMER While this method has been tried and works, NO responsibility will be excepted by the Author, the Club or any of its Members.