Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Problem or technical question?

Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Gadget on Thu Nov 21, 2013 6:44 pm

I've bought some rose jointed / polybushed lower arms for my FRST.
When cleaning them up, i noticed they have a '94 part number so assume they are MK3.5 items?
I need to know if they are compatible with my FRST hubs or if the geometry settings are different on the mk3.5 arms / hubs?

Part no.

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And the outer joint kinking to the front of the car

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I've not got my car at the mo to compare the arms.

The front bushes are 54mm diameter and the rears are 47mm if that is of any relevance?

Cheers, Gary
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby russ-RST on Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:25 pm

If these are indeed for a mk3.5 and no use to you il take them of your hands :)
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Gadget on Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:33 pm

russ-RST :If these are indeed for a mk3.5 and no use to you il take them of your hands :)


If they are no good to me, then by all means :)
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Smo on Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:34 pm

The ball joints look correct so it's probably just a case of the bare arm being a pattern they use for all arms. Measure the pin... I can't remember which way round it is, but the MK3 is one diameter and the MK3.5 is another diameter. Someone else may know which is which? I thought the MK3 is 16.5mm and the MK3.5 is 17mm, but it's been a while!

I'll try and check, but I may be a bit slow replying!

Edit: I'm pretty sure it's actually 17mm for the MK3 and 16.5mm for the MK3.5! So ignore the above!
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Gadget on Thu Nov 21, 2013 8:26 pm

Which arms are 2 rivet fixings for the outer bush?
I'll be putting new outer bushes in these arms anyway so wonder even if they were mk3.5 outers, i can replace them with FRST items :wink:
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby jayrs on Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:57 pm

That is the correct arm and ball joint for the FRST

The reason the arm prob has 94 stamped on it, is because the same arm (not ball joint) is used on oower steering models, but as said the ball joint differs on power steering models

But they are the right arms for your car
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby russ-RST on Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:44 am

jayrs :That is the correct arm and ball joint for the FRST

The reason the arm prob has 94 stamped on it, is because the same arm (not ball joint) is used on oower steering models, but as said the ball joint differs on power steering models

But they are the right arms for your car


So would the wishbone's off a mk3.5 with power steering be the same arms as the FRST ?
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Gadget on Fri Nov 22, 2013 5:51 am

jayrs :That is the correct arm and ball joint for the FRST

The reason the arm prob has 94 stamped on it, is because the same arm (not ball joint) is used on oower steering models, but as said the ball joint differs on power steering models

But they are the right arms for your car


Thank you for clearing that up Jay
I'll get some new ball joints sorted then ( these are ok but before i paint them and use them, i thought i may as well nut and bolt new ones ready! )
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby jayrs on Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:05 am

Yeah there be fine mate, and I done the same, drilled out the rivets and bolted some on for ease of changing in the future



Russ, the 3.5 ball joint are a tiny bit bigger but can be made to fit the mk3, as I ran power steering ball joints as there shorter and pull the wheel in at the bottom, I was suffering tyre were due to lowering.
I have since gone back to Frst ball joints and so far no problems with tyre wear which is strange lol
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby FRSJON on Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:03 pm

jayrs :Yeah there be fine mate, and I done the same, drilled out the rivets and bolted some on for ease of changing in the future



Russ, the 3.5 ball joint are a tiny bit bigger but can be made to fit the mk3, as I ran power steering ball joints as there shorter and pull the wheel in at the bottom, I was suffering tyre were due to lowering.
I have since gone back to Frst ball joints and so far no problems with tyre wear which is strange lol

you dont drive it enough for tyre wear :lol: :P
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby jayrs on Sat Nov 23, 2013 10:13 pm

Lol too true mate, but back in the day when she was a daily :bonkers:
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby RS EDDIE on Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:44 pm

Jay are you sure??

That offset looks like the correct 10mm offset but im sure that FRST ones are meant to be 10mm longer than what they appear in the pic aswell!!

It just looks a bit short from the edge of the wishbone to the joint!!!
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby jayrs on Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:13 pm

Looks right from the pic mate, or at least at the angle it's taken at.

Have a look in tech room at top, I sticky'ed a post about bottoms arms and there's info and pics in that thread you can refur too fella
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby Gadget on Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:01 pm

To the top for FezzRS :D
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby fezzRS on Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:36 pm

Just need the correct ball joint as gadgets measure 17mm on his arms and tgey dont fit my hub so jay can you recomend a ball joint for
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby fezzRS on Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:38 pm

Think im going to nedd tge mk3.5 ball joint
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Re: Fiesta front lower arm know it alls please.. compatibility??

Postby jayrs on Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:14 pm

If there's nothing wrong with the ball joints from your old arms drill the rivets and fit them to the new arms mate.

If you wanna stick to the 10mm longer ones your have to get some Frst ball joints
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