Lower Arm Wishbone Replacement

The Ford Mondeo hit our roads in 1993, and has consistently been a sales success. Now on its 4th incarnation, it remains a drivers favourite.
For more information, visit the Ford Mondeo forum on TalkFord.com, the definitive resource site covering all Fords from the present day to the 1970's.

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Overview Guide
Ford Model:	Mondeo Mk3
Petrol/Diesel:	Both
Estimated Cost:	£40-£90
Difficulty?	Moderate
How long does this take?	2-3hrs

Tools Needed

• Jack (Trolley Jack recommended).
• Axle Stand (Needed as you need to use the jack later).
• Socket set with 32mm Socket.
• Torque Wrench.
• Breaker Bar.
• Hammer.
• Various Spanners.
• T55 Torq Bit/Key

Parts Needed

• Replacement Lower Arm.
• Recommended Lower arm bolts are renewed.
• Recommended a new pinch bolt. (£2 from eBay)

First Remove the wheel Centre cap if possbile and use the 32mm socket on the hub nut, this has to be undone with the wheel on and on the floor as its very tight, once its loose, jack up and use an axle stand on the sill (you will need to use the jack later).

Loosen off the rear bush bolt, you will need a 15mm ring spanner for the top and 18mm socket for the bottom. As long as you put your finger on top of the ring it will stay there and put the spanner between your thumb and finger and that should hold it. undo the nut at the bottom i suggest a half inch drive or if your a bit weak like me use a 24" Breaker bar.

Now you need to undo the front bush bolt, the nut part is welded to the subframe so you only need a 15mm socket, again I would suggest a power bar, make sure as your undoing it you keep the socket straight so as not to round of the bolt head.

next the ball joint if your lucky like i was just undo the nut with a normal 18" socket hopefully the other side wont turn. the other side takes a T55 torx best use the ones fitted into a socket. what i found was the nut came off easily but i had to turn the torx end a few times before i could tap it out with a hammer. obviously tap carefully you dont want to damage it! saying that the end of the bolt is a fair few mm from the threads.

next working on the rear bush again tap the bolt up so it comes out of the bottom part of the subframe. now for the ball joint again, lever something under the hub, between the hub and the ball joint to release it a bit. then when i got enough clearance i put a power bar under the hub and banged down on both sides, 1 side at a time. this is the best way to do it without damaging anything imo.

once you have it out move the hub over towards the front of the car, driveshaft is likely to pop out on gearbox end (when i say pop out i mean pop out inside the rubber gator dont worry) this is fine it will go back into place easily by turning the disk and wiggling a bit.

ok now comes the tough part.

undo the 2 10mm bolts on the plate that goes to the rear subframe bolt. next you NEED a power bar and a 21mm socket. undo the subframe bolt at the rear of course, and take it all the way out.

now your getting worried and thinking sod that! lol but its not as bad as you think. the rear engine mount is bolted to the rear of the subframe also and so is the other side of the subframe. the subframe will come down about 10cm or so and the bolt is about 15cm long.

what you might want to do is between the subframe bolt and the rear wishbone bush, put in a trolley jack about 5-10mm lower as you undo the subframe bolt and lower it a bit at a time this isnt nessecary though.

once the bolt is out you can pull up the rear wishbone bush bolt, then you will need to put the power bar on the top of the subframe rear bush and lever down the subframe. best thing to do here is have a second person lever it down while you have your hands in pulling up the bolt from the rear wishbone bush.

im not sure but you might need to undo the front subframe bolt about 4 or 5 full turns as i did. but you might be able to do it as above, just thought i would let you know in case your thinking "its not working."

refitting is important too if you dont do it in the right order then your going to have problems.

firstly you need to get the rear wishbone bush in place. i would suggest you put the bolt in the bottom and the nut on the top. these will be what ill be explaining now because after the time it took to get the bolt out the top i was sure as hell not going to put it back in there!

put the wishbone in place make sure the front bush is in the track dont worry about being lined up yet. next you might need to put a screwdriver through the bottom of the subframe and through the rear wishbone bush to line it up to get the bolt through the bottom. once the bolt goes up it wont go all the way up yet. you need to again lever the subframe down in order to get the top part of the wishbone bush straight and in-line to push the bolt right through.

ok once you done this put the nut on top turn it a few turns but dont tighten it up yet. keeping the front bush in its track now you need to put a power bar accross the wishbone where the ball joint rivets are and push down both sides in order to get it low enough and use your knees (or have some help) to manouver the hub. once its under and over the hole and in-line best possible, put the power bar under the wishbone under the same place as you did at the top and pull up hard on both sides to knock the ball joint up.

next you need to bolt up the ball joint but dont tighten it yet. now the front bush will likely be somewhat in-line but too low. i used a bar off a trolley jack and put it under the wishbone and it sat on the subframe ledge and pushed up to get the hole in line to put the bolt in.

ok at this stage tighten everything up on the wishbone and next its the subframe bolt. you will need to put a trolley jack between the rear wishbone bush and the subframe bush. jack it up but not all the way yet. when you done that put the plate back on and the 2 10mm bolts, dont tighten them up until you got the subframe bolt in a few turns then tighten them and the subframe bolt job done!

you will need some wd40 specially for getting out and putting in the ball joint the rest shouldnt really need it but thats upto you.

torque wrench settings for wishbone.

ball joint 80nm front bush in 2 stages, 80nm then 60 degrees. rear bush 90nm and then 90 degrees. subframe bolts 142nm

if you havent got a torque wrench most things should be a bit tighter than you would do up an alloy wheel. the subframe however needs to be a bit tighter!