Ford focus rear trailing bushes

[Adam]

My focus just went in for its MOT. Passed but received 2 adviories for the
the rear trailing arm bushes saying they are worn but there is no excessive
movement (both sides)

The MOT guy said aim to get it done with in 6 months or by the nextMOT at
latests.

Aparantly he said its a 4 hour job and they usually have to drop the rear
subframe and do it on the floor when both sides are done costin £280 does
this sound reasonable ?

He did say this is not a home doable job as its a pig ?

What do you think about the cost or whether this is doable ? as thats a lot
of money to part with. I'm hoping it may be a drive way doable job.

Any advice or tips if anyones done it would be good.

thanks

[Mrcheerful]

I have not had to change them, but:
little thread on it here:
http://www.rac.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?6810-Ford-Focus-Rear-Suspension-Trailing-Arm-Bushes

seems you can just get the arms easily enough. replacing bushes alone is
beyond (most) home mechanics, but it could save you a few quid.

[Adam]

"Mrcheerful" <g.odon...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:z%gcr.8285$ov6...@fx15.am4...

Thanks for the post MrCheerful.

Seems it would be easier for me to just replace the entire arm. I called to
ford parts and they said the arm £57.72 per side which seems ok £115.44
which is a saving from the £280 the garage would h to charge which doesn't
sound that unreasonable. Now to have a look underneath to see how exactly it
has to come out.

After some googling, some say the rear subframe should be dropped to do it
easily but thats when replacing just the bush. I'm doing t the whole arm for
simplicity as he bush is already pressed in as I read many have damaged
bushes and the sleeve it goes in trying to replace just the bush.

Thanks

[Adam]

"Mrcheerful" <g.odon...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:z%gcr.8285$ov6...@fx15.am4...

Just had a poke around underneath at the offending bushes. Like the
adviories said no excess movement just perished. Still doing its job. I gave
it a go checked and definitely no excess momvement. I took a few pictures of
the passenger rear side the other side is much the same.

http://tinyurl.com/c23nyzf
http://tinyurl.com/cs34j53
http://tinyurl.com/coo5noq

from looking at those photos apologies for the quality my camera is not the
best would you say I should change the arm or leave them till next MOT and
see how it goes and possibly expect a fail ? or change the arm. I had a look
whats connected to it and bolts etc looks fairly invovled but doable on the
drive to change the arm. Famous last words :)

[Mrcheerful]

if there is no movement then leave them alone till they fail. I have
another focus in tomorrow, I'll have a look at that and see what the sp is
for changing them.

[Mrcheerful]

The trailing arm is the big lump with the hub attached
good picture is here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ford-Focus-Rear-Suspension-Trailing/dp/B0035923NU

It would not be usual to change that whole lump (4a493) I imagine it would
cost a small fortune the bush that attaches to the body work (5A638) would
be the only part you could describe as a trailing arm bush.

From the above image you can see that the more commonly replaced bit is 5500
A

None of the above parts is that hard to change from what I saw underneath
today, as to actually changing that bush in the front of the arm .......?
Most garages should have a press, or there may even be a Sealey tool to
change them in situ, but it would be out of the scope of most home
mechanics.

I would still leave it alone until it starts clonking or fails the mot, even
massive failure of the rubber bush would not make a huge difference to the
handling or safety since the bolt through the middle would restrain
everything.

[Chris Whelan]

On Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:13:32 +0100, Mrcheerful wrote:

[...]

> None of the above parts is that hard to change from what I saw
> underneath today, as to actually changing that bush in the front of the
> arm .......? Most garages should have a press, or there may even be a
> Sealey tool to change them in situ, but it would be out of the scope of
> most home mechanics.

According to Mr Haynes, none of the rear suspension arms have replaceable
bushes; they are bonded in, and replacement means changing the arm.

> I would still leave it alone until it starts clonking or fails the mot,
> even massive failure of the rubber bush would not make a huge difference
> to the handling or safety since the bolt through the middle would
> restrain everything.

+1

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

[Adam]

"Mrcheerful" <g.odon...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

news:8cEcr.4836$8i....@fx19.am4...

Thanks for having a look and passing the valuable info along. I will take
your advice and wait till it actually fails. I spoke to a mechanic at the
local ford specialist as I was usually press them out but pressing then in
can damages theyon a job nearby and he say the rubber if not done right so
sometimes they opt for changing the arm. Aparantly this bush is a git and
usally needs a torch on it to get it out cleanly.

When it does go I think I'll leave it to the garage to reknew.

Thanks again for the post(s) they have been very helpful.

Adam

[Adam]

"Chris Whelan" <cawh...@prejudicentlworld.com> wrote in message
news:5DEcr.2040$Hp5...@fx12.am4...

Yeah sounds like it could be a a bit premature changing it it now and
shelling out on a fairly expensive repair. I'll be prepapred come next MOT
that it could fail on this and have a bit extra put by just incase.

Although I'll leave them to fix it :) ... looks a little too involved for
me. I have the tools, just lack the experience/confidence to remove that
much. Maybe it would be good for me to have a go only way to learn is to
have a go. Time will tell on that one.

The MOT tester did not one other advisories, stepping on the offside tyre
inside edge. He said it was due to my tyre changing shap/warping ? neer
heard of this but he said it was fine to drive on and run it down then
change it.