Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

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Re: Wisbones for L- reg xr2i zetec

Postby b0yracer on Sun Feb 05, 2012 1:02 pm

jayrs wrote: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


ok cheers good job you said that i was gonna buy them off ebay

are these no good then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190631170086? ... 1423.l2649

whers best for QH ?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Sun Feb 05, 2012 2:58 pm

yeah i wouldnt mate.
i got a set off ebay many years ago as i was skint and it was only gunna be for a short time as i was gunna poly bush my others, but they were rubbish, the bushing in them were far too soft and the car felt unstable, so put a spare set i had on and renewed the ball joints.

most motor factors (apart from unipart) will stock, or should be able to get QH parts, so its worth asking about.
failing that search ebay for ford ones, as they do come up on there for a good price at times too, just be sure to get the right ones for your model
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby b0yracer on Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:48 pm

ok cheers jay saves me wasting my money ill phone my local motor factors and ask for QH ones :D
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:13 pm

no worries mate

just remember, some pattern parts are listed for mk3 inc xr2i and turb, i.e its all the same part, when in fact, as the thread tells you, the frst ones are different
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:11 pm

anyone know how i can replace the bushes with polyurathane/powerflex ones, standards just dont last long enough. can it be pushed in using a vice/g-clamp?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Michael! on Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:34 am

ive bought 2 sets of arms now, ones i got wrong were frst power steering ones.

the others were marked for "mk3 89-94" non power steering and the ball joint wont fudgekin GO IN!
is it because its a 3.5? because im getting f**cked off with it...
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Mon Aug 06, 2012 1:02 pm

coulb be as later ones are a little bigger, but ive found some correct pattern parts can be a bit hit and miss.
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Michael! on Mon Aug 06, 2012 1:50 pm

i hate my lfie (and car) :lol: :(
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:47 pm

na its not all bad mate.

FRST ones are not powersteering arms, as the frst never came with power steering.

the arms though (minus ball joints) are the same on the FRST and later models with power steering, the ball joints between the frst and later ones differ, as the frst ball joints are 10mm longer than later models with PW

also, as it seems you have found out, there slightly bigger, but its only by 1mm if i remember right, and you can open the hole to take it, if your lucky, a screw driver or ball joint breaker wedged into the gap will open it up enough first time, if your unlucky, then its gunna take time :lol:
i had one that took me over half a hour to get in once, the other side popped in with no wedging of the gap and popped in by hand :lol:
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Michael! on Mon Aug 06, 2012 6:39 pm

Open up the hole hahaha! Howling. :lol:


I'll give it another go, did spend about 3 hours the other day trying, need a good sized crow bar for it :x
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Mon Aug 06, 2012 7:42 pm

sounds painfull, dont say that to ya missis :lol: :lol:
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:12 pm

is unipart quality any good?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:48 pm

erm, there alright, im 50/50 with unipart stuff, i had a arm that lasted 5 years (replaced the ball joint in that time but not the arm) but then again, i got a arm for my escort run around and just over a year later a bush was fcuked, car done what, 4k miles on it......
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby fiestasiphil on Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:13 pm

hi guys i want to know which wishbones i need for my 1994 si it now has MANUAL STEERING using a rs turbo steering rack and mk3.5 manual steering track rod ends, still using original mk3.5 hubs are there any differences in the hubs from manual 3.5 and pas mk3.5 hubs? atm i have pas area six rose jointed wishbone arms but want to go back to standard as there very harsh for road use but now have gone to manual steering which wishbones would now be best for my car?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:36 pm

toy can use the std SI ones if you want, there be 10mm angled back, there what i use as they dont give as much camber as the FRST ball joints do due me me lowering it.

if you want to use FRST ones you can, the hole in the mk3.5 hub is ment to be 1mm bigger, but as i say, ive used mk3.5 ones on ym frst, and made them fit, so mk3 ones on a 3.5 will fit fine, and there clamp up on them ok
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:26 pm

are TRW brand of wishbones any good?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:39 pm

damn it never mind, i tried to get QH wishbones again but cant since they gone bankrupt now and gone into administration.

the only ones i can get a hold of on short notice are going to be Unipart, FAI, and Delphi.

which ones are worth trusting out of those?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Michael! on Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:09 pm

delphi are pretty good from experience, but its like with ever aftermarket part they wont last as long as oem ones :)
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby - Danny Boy - on Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:19 pm

FAI and Delphi are the two brands I would trust the most. Uni part ones will probably be the cheapest.
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:59 am

ordered the unipart ones through work, staff discount makes them £24 inc vat each.

hopefully they are decent quality and last a fair bit.

iv been reading up on fitting wishbones and people seem to suggest that i should grease the bushes with regular cv grease to prevent them getting dry and cracking.

dunno if i should or not?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby mikeymikeyp on Sat Feb 23, 2013 5:51 pm

it wont do any harm putting a bit of grease on
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:10 pm

Grease will make dust and crap stick to them lol never seen or heard of that my self before
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby mikeymikeyp on Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:33 pm

thought he ment on the bolts iv a track car everything gets greaseed
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby BUTRE on Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:18 am

Very good info but now I'm confused :lol:

Need to get less negative camber and more caster on the FRST.
So what wishbones?

The ones that are not 10mm ball joint longer and not angled? The angled ones are getting the ball joint far away from the front bumper and by doing so less caster right?

Polybushed camber and caster adjustable arms are needed for the FRST. :Q
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Sat Jun 20, 2015 3:27 pm

anyone heard of the brands Moog or TRW? are those wishbones any good quality or should I look for some other brands?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Mon Jun 22, 2015 12:01 am

Heard of both, both pattern part bits, seem to be good quality,
TRW are good, in fact I fitted a guanine ford, well motorcraft, bottle joint on my focus today and it had a TRW rubber seal on it, so reckon TRW supply fords but stamp them up as motorcraft
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Steve_RS on Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:27 pm

Why oh why didnt I read this before just 'simply' swapping the wishbones... lol

Thought all mk3 wishbones were the same...

Took a lifetime to get the original ford arm out of the hub. Absolutely sweating my funlumps off today. Only to offer the new wishbone up and the ball joint is fatter than the hole.

So... im rocking a 1.1 G reg. And im fitting a VSA718 motaquip arm on N/S/F. It dont go.

For The other side... ive got a VSA913 and the balljoint is thinner. So im guessing that one will work? But I gotta find a VSA91? for this side that ive got in pieces at the mo...

Going to have a google to see if I can find out...

Peed off to say the least...
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Steve_RS on Thu Jun 25, 2015 8:35 pm

...and autopartoo reckons vsa718 is the correct one for my car. And that the vsa913 doesnt list my car as a correct fit.

So... do I take the other side apart and see if the vsa913 fits... or do I just cut my losses and attempt to find a different matching pair?

The new ones are both three pin ball joints. My original ford one has two pin ball joints.
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Fri Jun 26, 2015 8:53 am

As your car is a std mk3, all motor factors will list a stud arm for you car from yeah range 1990-94 say and this does include the slightly fatter ball joint.
There is not much in it, and I too have felt your pain trying to fit a later balljoint.
But they do fit, I had been running the 3.5 ball joints in my FRST for years, and I changed one once due to wear and it was a nightmare, over half an hour to get it to go in the hub, bare in mind I took a 3.5 one out and was putting a 3.5 one back in....
Get something like a ball joint breaker in the slot, open that arm up a bit, plenty of copper slip and use a copper mallet to help it in, it will go, but just don't iow. The hub out to the point you break it (they do take a hell of a lot to break though....)

As for what they list, the arm it self does differ depending on model, as stated in the first post, the 3 hole fixing ball joint remains the same apart from FRST models, so if you are in fact changing the complete arms, then this could be where the issues with the motor scores could be.

Just remember, pattern part companies generally do not cater for higher spec models, they cater for the more common car and as such list that part to fit all models, and in the case of lower arms, it will fit all models (ish) but it doesn't mean it the right part.


I do personally get a bit fed up of this sort of thing, parts being model specific can be a nightmare, example, I got some work to do I. My focus st170, and while a hell of a lot is no different to a std 2 litre focus, one part I need to change, in this case the steering rack, is model specific :x thankfully though there are so many on the road getting a recon one from motor factors isnt too bad, £188 inc vat, where as ford wanted £928+vat :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Anyway good luck with the arms mate, they will go on but can take a bit of messing about, sometimes the most simple jobs take the longest :x
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:08 am

I'm getting the dredded inner tyre wear developing again now. Does this mean its time for new wishbones again?
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:19 am

ECP has OCAP branded wishbones? anyone heard of the brand? seems to be italian, dunno about its quality though.
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Wed Aug 05, 2015 10:13 am

I had inner tyre wear when I was using proper FRST lower arms with my car lowered, hence I changed to different ball joints as the camber of the wheel was too much once lowered.

It may be worth getting the camber and tracking checked before you do anything as it could just be the tracking is out.

As for that brand, no not heard of them nor used them, so can't comment on if they good or not.
Only thing maybe to do is go to your motor factors and have a look and decided for your self if the quality looks good
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Wed Aug 05, 2015 10:39 am

i got a strong feeling its the wishbones for me, i getting the dredded in and out of track issues when accelerating on the motorway. i remember i had this issue before and i changed the wishbones and it fixed the problem hence why i think its the wishbones nackered again. Unipart ones i got on at the moment, probably been 2 years they been on done around 10k miles on them
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby jayrs on Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:45 pm

Prob due for a change then mate, could have a bush that's worn out on the arm
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Re: Wisbone info for the mk3 & 3.5 fiesta range

Postby Mav Singh on Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:31 pm

would you recommend febi bilstein brand or should i avoid it?
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