fiestaturbo.com

[paulfrst13]

EDIT, ADDED BY JAYRS
Ive made this thread sticky as i find more and more questions about bottom arms and im forever searcing for this thread to link to, so its easier for all if its here

Alright, wanna replace the lower arms on my xr2i 1.8 L-reg but im now aware there are many different types

seen this already: "There are the standard base Fiesta one's in both 2 rivet and 3 rivet options (1989-1994)
Then only the 3 rivet fixings for cars 1994 -> on

Then there is the XR2i and RS Turbo one's (1989 - 1992) again with 2 rivet and 3 rivet options (the 2 rivet ones are being phased out though)

Then to confuse matters there is also the 1.8 XR2i and 1.8RS 1992-1995 available with either angled or straight joints"

but which ones will actually fit my car, bought a pair already and was given the mk3.5 ones, ones that came off were 2 bolt for ball joint

[paulfrst13]

anyone know whether i need 2 or 3 rivet ones

or angled or straight ball joints

i dont know which ones i need as the ones that i removed were odd, one was 3 rivet and one was 2

[fiend]

I can't answer your question but just noticed we have similar license plates.

My XR2i is L993 LJN and its Cayman blue aswell!

[jayrs]

2 rivet fixing was for everything, (not FRST) upto about 93 inc xr2i,

from then on you got 3 rivet fixing ones, both in power steering and non power steering, power steering model should be 10mm set back (angled) and the non power steering ones straight, BUT, the ball joints them self are the same, its the mounting holes in the arms that set them back 10mm

then you have 3 rivet fixing ones for the FRST where are different to the above 3 rivet ones, and were fitted to the FRST only, as they were 10mm longer on the ball joint it self, as well as 10mm set back on the arm.
it has been said some of the rs1800's had these fitted also but i cannot confirm this

now if your bottom arms are the correct ones, you should have the 3 rivet fixing ones, if you have P/S then the P/S ones

you dont or shouldnt have fitted the FRST nor early/low spec model ones of 2 bolt fixing, but the only way to be sure is to check whats on there, but this dont always help, ive come across fiestas with 3 hole fixing one side, and 2 hole fitting one the other, not that it should matter with you as your changing them.
just be sure to have tracking checked after new ones fitted.

and if you get any sort of wondering in the car after new ones have been fitted, take them off and refit again, but fit them right, i.e leave bolts slack and put the car on the wheels to allow them to settle before tightening, i admit, i dont norm do it this way, but a couple times ive had too when they wont settle

[dontpannic]

I can't answer your question but just noticed we have similar license plates.

My XR2i is L993 LJN and its Cayman blue aswell!

NUMBER

[dangerousdave]

both wrong its just plain and simply REG!!

[fiend]

I can't answer your question but just noticed we have similar license plates.

My XR2i is L993 LJN and its Cayman blue aswell!

NUMBER

wtf?

[dontpannic]

license plates are so american

Can't stand it when Brits say "license plates", "windshield", "garbage", "trash", "sidewalk" yadda yadda

[paulfrst13]

can someone please tell me which wishbones i need,

are they the 3 bolt ball joint ones with the angled ball joints? and are FRST ones the same?

[jayrs]

did you not read my reply above...??? read it, it explains everything

to sum it up again,
3 rivet fixing bottom arms are the ones you need, if you have power steering you need the 3 hole 10mm (angled) back ones, if you dont have power steering then you need the 3 hole non angled ones

[paulfrst13]

did you not read my reply above...??? read it, it explains everything

to sum it up again,
3 rivet fixing bottom arms are the ones you need, if you have power steering you need the 3 hole 10mm (angled) back ones, if you dont have power steering then you need the 3 hole non angled ones

ive been supplied the 3 bolt angled ones from 2 different suppliers and my car is manual steering

and my mates lent me a pair of FRST wishbones and they look exactly the same (3 bolts and angled ball joints)

is there somewhere/someone that can confirm this as i'd assume the frst ones would be the same as the xr2i zetec ones

[paulfrst13]

I can't answer your question but just noticed we have similar license plates.

My XR2i is L993 LJN and its Cayman blue aswell!

dont suppose you know what type are fitted on your car do you?

[jayrs]

did you not read my reply above...??? read it, it explains everything

to sum it up again,
3 rivet fixing bottom arms are the ones you need, if you have power steering you need the 3 hole 10mm (angled) back ones, if you dont have power steering then you need the 3 hole non angled ones

ive been supplied the 3 bolt angled ones from 2 different suppliers and my car is manual steering

and my mates lent me a pair of FRST wishbones and they look exactly the same (3 bolts and angled ball joints)

is there somewhere/someone that can confirm this as i'd assume the frst ones would be the same as the xr2i zetec ones

mate ive explained the arms/ball joints, im confirming it.
if you have a matching pair there be fine, but FRST ones are different to the rest, if your mates "FRST" ones are not 10mm longer and 10mm set back they aint FRST ones

i'll post some pic's..

[jayrs]

left, non power steering 3 bolt fixing
on the right power steering 3 bolt fixing ball joint (on frst arm)








take the non power steering ball joint, and put it in the FRST/power steering bottom arm, you have a set of "power steering" bottom arms

FRST bottom arm and FRST ball joint, note the extra 10mm on the ball joint length (from arm to the ball joint fixing) compaired to the non power steering




all 3 arms/ball joints are mine, the FRST arm shown above is the one used to fit the shorter 3 rivet fixing ball joint.

you should none, the non power steering arm and ball joint is a cheap pattern part one, the rest is gen ford arms, and the power steering ball joint is a QH one, so it shows how much things differ between makes


as i said in my reply above, the ball joint it self for power steering or non power steering is the same, its the holes in the arms that set it back or not.
but as the pic shows, the FRST ones are different.

the reason for all this is the fact that the FRST rack is a quick rack with a ratio of 3.75 turns lock to lock
the non power steering fiesta has a 4.25 turn lock to lock
the power steering rack i belive is something like 3.5 turns, but it uses the angled back ball joints bacause of the rack ratio

ive had a lot of dealing with the ball joints/arms on the mk3/3.5 fiestas, as i went into detail on what was about years ago, because when i lowered my car the camber was too much and i had to find a way to pull it back in and maintain the 10mm set back, and i looked into every ball joint and arm there was, so i whats about.

only thing you have to watch is the motor factors, they list 1 arm for a whole range of models, where as another motor factor wont, or there arm will be different


anyway, do what ya gotta do, but if you have a matching pair and get the tracking done when you have fitted them you shouldnt have a prob, you know which you need from my reply few posts above

[sikora]

Jay - Do you think fitting PAS arms to a non PAS car would cause problems? I've just checked my lower arms that i've made camber adjustable and they're angled, however my xr2i is non PAS?

They were on the car when i bought it so i know they fit. But i only did about 100 motorway miles in the car before i took it off the road so couldn't say if it affected the steering

[jayrs]

na wont cause a prob but your need to have tracking checked and adjusted

i use FRST/power steering arms with non FRST ball joints, basicly if you want i have power steering arms and ball joitns fitted to my RS and have done for years with no probs

[lukeyboy]

Hi i have a mk3.5 m reg will power steering lower arms fit even though i have manual steering? thanks luke

[Smo]

You also get two different sizes of ball joint pins - 16.5mm and 17mm, so watch that too!

Yours should be 17mm pins, but check.

Firstline list two types for the XR2i 16v - Straight 2-rivet and angled 3-rivet. The angled 3-rivet jobs listed are DIFFERENT to the FRST ones. The ball joints on the listed 3-rivet XR2i 16v ones do not extend out as far as the FRST ones, but do still have the angle.

Like Jay says though, as long as they match, they should be fine. Just make sure you get the right pin size, or you could end up with some play in the hub carrier!

[Mav Singh]

contributing to this thread, i just had my wishbones done on my 1995, mk3.5, 1.6 Si, N REG with power steering.

the ford part numbers for my wishbones were: 1111410 and 1111412

i used Quinton Hazel wishbones part numbers: QSA1471S and QSA1472S
the above ones were correct for my car.

for other pattern parts matching these ford model numbers: 1111410 and 1111412 i have compiled a list below:

Autogem AM273 and AM274
Balco BWB1471P and BWB1472P
Delphi TC670 and TC671
FAI SS514 and SS513
Falcon FJ1694 and FJ1695
Febi Bilstein 01809 and 01811
Firstline FCA5647 and FCA5646
Lancer LSJ5018S and LSJ5017S
Lucas TRW JTC182 and JTC184
Mafco Bell SJ5018 and SJ5017
MOOG FD-WP-4139 and FD-WP-4140
Motaquip VSA719 and VSA718
Sachs CA1027R and CA1027L
Unipart GSJ888 and GSJ887
Veco VB1206 and VB1205

Remember that the above part numbers are compatible with for part numbers 1111410 and 1111412 for MY wishbones and should be fine with others who need wishbones for a similar 1.6si as mine.

i hope this post is of help for someone in the future.

[Sambo1501]

I can't answer your question but just noticed we have similar license plates.

My XR2i is L993 LJN and its Cayman blue aswell!

NUMBER

Mine is also Cayman Blue and the reg is L924 LJN..!

[1977paddy]

Hi, I am in the process of replacing the lower arm on my 96 mk3 fiesta. (if this is in wrong area sorry - but deperate for a soloution)I have followed the Haynes manual version of removing the the lower arm mounting bracket complete with lower arm. I have run into major difficulty with the ball joint end- i cannot get it into the hub. It seems to have moved or maybe while i was trying to force off the old one I moved the drive shaft or strut or both.

Whatever the reason, now the hub is about an inch or more away from the ball joint on the arm. Is this common, can i push inwards ?- ive tried and it hardly budges. I have tried jacking up and it seems to push the hub/strut up but not near joint. If i removed the track rod end would that offer me greater maneuverability or not help at all - how can something that was such a straightforward job go so wrong? All the guides seem smooth, error free - please help, car is on blocks and unable to move anywhere - Mot is end of week. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[jayrs]

sounds like the inner cv joint has poped out the gearbox, however you would have oil everywhere, so whats more than likly happened is the insides of the cvh joint have popped out.

if you have the 3 roler type, its a case of lift the shaft (gearbox end) and tunr it untill it lines up and slip it in.

if you have ther ball bearing type, then in fairness it should not of come out, so its popped out of its clip so need a good smack to get it to clip back in, or the cvh joint has come apart in some way....

if it is in fact the cv joint, then you might need to take the inner boot gator off and have a look whats going on, but make sure you have some long cable ties to put the boot back on with, and i would get some CV joint grease as it will prob lose a bit when you pull the boot back etc

[1977paddy]

Thanks for that -hopefully straighforward

[jayrs]

sound slike ti could be, im just going on what you said, but tbh, thats really the only think that will stop it moving in or out as it will move with the shock etc still bolted up

[1977paddy]

sound slike ti could be, im just going on what you said, but tbh, thats really the only think that will stop it moving in or out as it will move with the shock etc still bolted up

Thanks, it was indeed the drive shaft that had come out of its housing. I think perhaps what may have happened was when i was trying to remove the defective lower arm from the spindle i possibly used a little more brute force than necessary.

Once i removed the rubber gater, the tripod bearings were outside the housing - i rotated the wheel, lipped it back in and almost instantaneously the spindle ball joint slipped in - torqued the bolts as per the torque to yield and now drives really snug.

Thanks, for support.

[jayrs]

ah nice, a easy fix, thought it would be that, glad i could of been of help mate

[RS EDDIE]

Gawd!!!!

Right on my FRST 92, ive got the wishbones that are 10mm longer balljoint and 10mm set back at angles, are these the correct ones??

If i was to use any other ones in case i couldnt get mine would it matter???

Regards edd.

[jayrs]

yeah there the correct ones for the frst, if you fit others you will need the tracking redone

[RS EDDIE]

Ta Geeza!!

[Maddin]

I need a part number for long version of the RST ball joint, my local dealer didn't found them.

[Roounit360]

Are wishbones and ball joints still available from ford? Does any one know the finis code for 1991 frst?

[DanFraser]

Wishbones are. Pricey though as expected but decent stock numbers. Almost as if they expected them to fail often!

[jayrs]

thats right mate, theres a good money maker for fords so they keep on doing them, although imo QH is just as good

[b0yracer]

keep this info in mind as i need to change my bottom arms soon, they were advisory on last mot, no play but the bushes were starting to show signs of wear

[jayrs]

dont be tempted by cheap bottome arms mate, when i say cheap, i mean some the cheap stuff on ebay which doesnt even come named, or there be first line crap, stick with the higher end of pattern parts, such as QH (my first choice everytime) or unipart