S
smithtrevor
Failed the MOT today !! 1). "Front lower ball joint gator deteriated to the point where ingress of dirt possible."
2). Both Front lamps - bean low on both sides.
Ford actually do a kit replacement for this rather than replacing the whole arm which is £100 each side
So...the new kit is supplied with 3 bolts and the idea is you "drill the 3 rivett heads off each side, yeeeh right !!"
Wheel off, caliper off, disc off & undo the pinch bolt...so goos so far...Then small chisel in the back to open the
pinch flange, drops down about 10mm then the back of the lower arm hits the Ft sub frame and will not allow the ball joint to clear the suspension yoke so....
Out comes the angle grinder and cut straight through the ball joint, now the suspension yoke is clear and i can move the suspension leg left to right to get good access to the rivett heads. Now the tricky bit...i grinded a flat on each of the topside rivett heads and then used a 6mm drill to drill down the center of each rivett head, then out comes the hammer & chisel and chopped all the rivett heads off, then it was a case of splitting the underside ball joint plate from the lower arm, came off no problem.
Took me an hour to do the first one & 20mins to do the 2nd (experience from the 1st), the new kit is no issue...
push the ball joint into the bottom of the pinch flange, spin it round, 3 bolts in and run down to torque and lock down the pinch bolt. Anybody else done this or did i waste 1 1/2 hours of my life !!
