Wishbone, will it fail m.o.t

B

BRICKO

New user
Aug 27, 2012
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Laurencekirk
Hi everyone,
There is slight movement coming from the front bush's on the wishbone's left and right is this a m.o.t fail also hunted for wishbone's on the web and there about £100 for each complete wishbone, can i buy poly bush kits or other bush kit to fit these wishbone's? Also the steering when driving just wants to veer to the left would this wear in the bush's do this as i have been threw the mill trying to fix this wheel alignment tyre presure steering rack ball joints checked and so forth, yet again thanks to anyone that gets back to me,the help previously has been great
 
Depends on how severe the movement is. There is built in movement on any rubber type bushing, there has to be but as a rule of thumb, if you put the wheel at full lock, put your foot against the tread of the tyre and push! if there is excessive movement appx 1" then it's going to fail. Complete wishbone replacement is the only solution as the bushes are bonded and welded to the wb. If you've found wishbones complete with bolts for £100, BUY THEM! Wishbones could be the cause of all the other faults.
 
Sounds like the wishbones are shot. You can't replace the bushes, you have to replace the entire wishbone. There are a couple of used ones up for sale ions of the breakers threads. Worth doing both at the same time, ,if one is knackered then the other won't be far behind (y)

Just bare In mind, you need to replace all the bolts with new ones when you replace the wishbones too.
 
I just priced a pair of these direct from Ford £136.00 each (bushes pre fitted). Looking at the installation guide the front sub frame has to be dropped at the front, enough to clear the removal of the bolts!! Looks a real fun job!
 
smithtrevor said:
I just priced a pair of these direct from Ford £136.00 each (bushes pre fitted). Looking at the installation guide the front sub frame has to be dropped at the front, enough to clear the removal of the bolts!! Looks a real fun job!
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Or you can do it the northern way.....chop the bolts then refit the new ones upside down, no need to touch the sub then :thumbup:
 
Be careful fitting the bolts upside down as then the longer, threaded end can quite easily come into contact with the bottom of the gearbox.
 
Quicksilver said:
Be careful fitting the bolts upside down as then the longer, threaded end can quite easily come into contact with the bottom of the gearbox.
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This happenned when i did mine, take note, some gearbox's sit lower than others :oops:. I had to pack a couple of washers on the underside to affectively shorten the amount poking out of the top. I could have cut the bolt but this was just prior to my engine port polishing/cam work etc, so while the engine and box were out, i took them out a refitted them the "right way" :cool:
 
I wont mention wishbones :giggle:

But if the car feels like someone else has control over the steering wheel and you aregetting inner edge tyre wear it's time toi change them
 
I like the idea of chopping the bolts but the manual states "bolts down nuts underneath." I have to say though can't see any reason why not to do it the Aussie way.
 
frosty2.0 said:
Just a thought, but if i've read other threads it mentions that the wishbones are similar to the Mondy ST200, if this is the case Powerflex do some Poly bushes for that car see link, http://www.powerflex.co.uk/road-series/products/Mondeo+(2000+to+2007)-2410/1.html might be worth a try ???

Don't know if this is true, but i'm sure someone will correct me if it isn't (y)
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Your link is to the Mk3 (2000-2007) mondeo Powerflex page, the Cougar has suspension parts in common with the Mk2 (1996-2000)
One major difference to the base Mondeo is the front wishbones, the mondy ones have replaceable bushes. The exception to this is the Mondeo ST200 which has the same, non replaceable bushed, wishbones as the Cougar.
 
smithtrevor said:
I like the idea of chopping the bolts but the manual states "bolts down nuts underneath." I have to say though can't see any reason why not to do it the Aussie way.
Click to expand...

the idea is that if the nut's drop off the bolt stays in place through subframe and through wishbone and through the subframe again, holding wishbone in place but not secure still steerable etc, the other way is the nut comes off the bolt drops out and the wishbone is then adrift to pull out of subframe and drop, effecting steering/suspension etc.
If the bolts are done up tight/correctly then they shouldn't come undone, it's just an old fashion fallback
 
lazybones said:
the idea is that if the nut's drop off the bolt stays in place through subframe and through wishbone and through the subframe again, holding wishbone in place but not secure still steerable etc, the other way is the nut comes off the bolt drops out and the wishbone is then adrift to pull out of subframe and drop, effecting steering/suspension etc. If the bolts are done up tight/correctly then they shouldn't come undone, it's just an old fashion fallback
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To be fair, if the the nuts were even starting to come loose (not something I've ever heard of happening on wishbone bolts), then I imagine you'd be experiencing all manner of dodgy handling, way before the nuts actually came completely adrift.
 
lazybones said:
the idea is that if the nut's drop off the bolt stays in place through subframe and through wishbone and through the subframe again, holding wishbone in place but not secure still steerable etc, the other way is the nut comes off the bolt drops out and the wishbone is then adrift to pull out of subframe and drop, effecting steering/suspension etc.
If the bolts are done up tight/correctly then they shouldn't come undone, it's just an old fashion fallback
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it was a general reply as to why the bolts where fitted that way
 
It's usually faster to just do it properly by slackening off the subframe mount bolts one side at a time and levering it down.

There is another benefit to having the bolts the correct way up. Because the bolts are shouldered and a reasonably good tolerance, it's bad practice to spin the bolt in the hole. By doing it the correct way, you just hold the bolt still with a spanner and ratchet the nut from underneath.

You heard it here first - courtesy of the JD School of Doing Jobs Properly.
 
BRICKO said:
Hi everyone,
There is slight movement coming from the front bush's on the wishbone's left and right is this a m.o.t fail also hunted for wishbone's on the web and there about £100 for each complete wishbone, can i buy poly bush kits or other bush kit to fit these wishbone's? Also the steering when driving just wants to veer to the left would this wear in the bush's do this as i have been threw the mill trying to fix this wheel alignment tyre presure steering rack ball joints checked and so forth, yet again thanks to anyone that gets back to me,the help previously has been great
Click to expand...

I have a pair of used wishbones in fantastic condition, only done 2000 miles IF THAT

PM me if interested

Alex
 
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