Can anyone help with advice on 53 reg Streetka suspension (don't think it's the same as Ka?). The lower end of the strut on this car is tied to the frame with a wishbone. At the inner end the wishbone is carried on two rubber bushes. I noticed when changing the brakes last week that the rubber bushes appear to have been bonded to the wishbone, but the rubber now seems to be splitting away. Is this common and will it need new wishbones?
Car is just 4 years old, has 29k on the clock and light use only (one lady owner etc etc).
Thanks
Stuart
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/10/2009 at 19:54
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Stuart,
Yes, it'll need new lower arms. This is a very common problem on the Ka, Fiesta and Puma, all of which share the same basic suspension design.
The arms are not expensive - known brand pattern parts are available for around £20 a side, or a little over twice that for genuine items. It's a hassle free solution to swap the lot out, as the arms have to come out anyway to change the bushes, and they are a press fit in the arms. Far easier to just swap the lot out, and you get a new bottom balljoint as a bonus. If you're doing it DIY, bank on about 90 mins a side, but a good garage can do the pair in an hour or so. Ford recommend the bottom balljoint to hub pinch bolt and nut are renewed at the same time, as the nut is a nyloc type which loses its self locking properties once it is undone. Most factors carry these bolts for a couple of quid each.
4 years is a good life for these bushes, believe it or not. It's not unknown for them to go in 2 years! These bushes are under immense twisting forces and loads, and they are just not up to it.
Oh, and get the tracking checked once you've done the job. If it's been set up with the bushes worn, it will be out once you've put the suspension back how it should be.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 19/04/2008 at 02:15
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It may be worthwhile checking further-like a visit to a friendly MOT man;they can appear to be coming apart a long time before there is any "play" in them.
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Thanks for a clear answer. That's bad and good news. I figured the arms may need changing and it looked like a quick job. Just expected them to be more expensive. As later advised I'll run them into the MOT station and get them to take a quick look as it was tested recently and they didn't pick them up then. Pretty sure the Streetka will be worst than a Fiesta etc for wearing these as the suspension is really hard.
Is it worth getting better quality bushes and pressing them in or uprated arms?
Stuart
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A year or so ago I did get round to replacing the lower arms on this car with some pattern parts from a motor factor - not too bad a job.
It was fine after the repair - no clonking any more. Last month or so it's behaving badly again. This time it's swerving quite strongly to the left when accelerating, pulling against the steering, then as soon as you stop accelerating it swerves back to the right. I've taken a look around the front suspension and it looks and feels O.K. except for a small tear in the front bush of the RHS arm where it meets the central bush.
Any thoughts? Seems to me it's probably the arms again though they aren't clonking yet. Not too happy with the thought of replacing these every year. The car's parked in a yard with difficult access (full lock turns etc) so maybe this is seeing them off. Grrr.
Stuart
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My dads need doing again after just 18 months. Its getting impossible to keep up with the suspension work its just one thing after another. What will end up scrapping his Fiesta is not the engine or bodywork but the suspension.
Having said that its clonking like mad and only suspension advisory was top mount bushes and bearings which have now all been replaced but its still clunking. It also makes a racket when you steer it too (its suspension related rather than the steering rack).
In their efforts to get good press Ford have designed a brilliant but sadly prone to wear suspension which is not upto the job in a city car which spends all its life going over bumps and pot holes.
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The car's parked in a yard with difficult access (full lock turns etc) so maybe this is seeing them off. Grrr.
Quite possibly, yes. I've had Mondeos previously and an Escort currently that do seem to eat bottom wishbone bushes. My Escort had the left side done at 90,000m for the MoT in April, the right side done in July at 95,000m and the left side done again the very next day because it still wouldn't track straight. It went over 100,000m yesterday and already there is a "clonk" coming from underneath when I take up drive in reverse.
FWIW I have been buying the £20 pattern part wishbones.
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Not Ford but general view of Vauxhall club members is you can pay a fraction of the genuine VX price for bottom arms but if the cheap pattern metal doesn't fracture and cause a nasty crash, the rubber bushes can be rubbish needing new arms again in a very short time. You can of course keep your existing arms and have something like Powerflex bushes installed that will probably outlast the car. www.powerflex.co.uk/
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