[mondy 269]

The front arm assy (front wishbone)of my mondeo tdci 96kw from 2002 should be replaced on the 2 sides said the mechanic in the shop. It is 215€ a piece he said. That's a huge price I think. I saw prices of 50€-90euro a piece. Which aftermarket brand should I buy?

 

[mondy zetecs]

front Suspension arm - 2974 results found - Buycarparts.co.uk search
I've been looking at them but not replaced my arm assembly/ wishbones its your choice.
I prefer Lemforder ,Febi bilstein, Moog, Swag only because i'm familiar with the branded names.

 

[Steve_v6]

Euro car parts in the UK have arms for £83.99 (95.96 Euros) but what is wrong with your arms?

The bushes can be replaced though i have not done them myself on the mondeo but the ball joint can also be replaced and i did that on both sides on my mondeo for something like £4 or £5 a side as the bushes were and still are ok.

The ball joint is a case of drilling/grinding the head off one side of the rivets and punching them out then you use bolts to secure the new ball joint.

 

[mondy 269]

In the webshop in Europe 55€ each side

 

[Steve_v6]

At that price, i would buy those arms and not bother replacing parts on the arms themselves, as said, ive not done the bushes but the ball joints was something i didnt enjoy other than the cost saving.

When you lower your subframe to remove the rear bolts on the arms make sure you put pressure on the subframe near the bolt with a jack, if you dont you risk the captive nut breaking free from its mounting and if that happens you have to lift the carpet in the front footwell and make a hole in the floor to get access to it with a socket.

Sounds worse than it is, there is an area clearly designed with it needing access in mind should the nut break free, strips of metal which you cut away rather than solid floor pan, just a pain you dont need and a mistake i made on my previous mk3!

If you lower only one side of the subframe, do one arm the bolt back up and do the other side, you should not need to align the subframe, you will still need to have your tracking done though.

Not a pic taken by me but this is what i mean about the strips to gain access to the captive nut, its not as violent as it sounds

 

[Rekusu]

I recently replaced both mine. Had considered replacing the bushes and ball joint but the combined price compared with a new arm was not worth the hassle.

Having replaced them, I have out of interest, attempted to remove the ball joint and the bushes. Unless you have the mean of doing it, do not even think about it. The three rivets are *[email protected]#&!! difficult to grind and remove; as for the hydro bush, without a press, I don't think it is possible, and if you do succeed, then you have the joy of attempting to fit the new. So I have lost interest and took them to the dump.

Fortunately in my case, the hydro bush bolts had been inverted so did not need to lower the sub-frame to remove. I therefore did the same when replaced but added some threadlock.

 

[Steve_v6]

The three rivets are *[email protected]#&!! difficult to grind and remove

Ha ha, i know that all too well!

After attempting to drill, i then ground the heads off and once that was done i had to beat the things with a hammer and punch with crazy levels of violence and smacked my hand holding the punch numerous times and my hand was bruised for a few days after

You can be pounding the things and thinking they are never going to come out but once they move just 1mm, the rest of the way is easy, its just getting them to move in the first place.

It can be done and at the price of the joints, id do it again if the bushes on an arm were ok but would procrastinate heavily lol.

 

[mondy zetecs]

I can vouch for the stubborn 3 rivets easy to grind off and drill but impossible to punch the rivet through,whole new arm if i have to do it again.