FIt GUIdE Check the condition of the front balljoints; there s no point in doing all this work only to have to change the front arms again in the near future. HoW to... FIt MK1 FoCUs PoLY BUsHEs Polyurethane bushes can dramatically improve a car s handling, so let s take a look at how to fit them to the Mk1 Focus... When tuning cars, there s one modification that you bolt on and feel an immediate difference, and that of course is fitting polyurethane bushes. Replacing the soft standard items with a stiffer material reduces flex in the components and the suspension geometry remains accurate. Plus as there is some give in the bushes, they don t transmit vibrations and road noise in the same way a fixed mounting point such as a Rose joint does, so they don t ruin ride quality. One car that benefits quite significantly from uprated bushes is the Mk1 Focus. The control blade rear suspension received praise when the Focus was first launched and it no doubt holds the key to the car s fantastic handling credentials, but over time the standard rubber bushes that hold these key components in place wear out allowing excess movement, resulting in poor performance. Replacement rubber bushes help restore some of the handling, but polyurethane items improve it even further. Plus you ll never have to replace a bush again. SuperFlex offers a complete kit for the Mk1 Focus including all front and rear bushes, and there are a lot of them. They even offer camber adjustable bushes for certain components. So we ordered a set and headed off to the workshop with a Focus here s how we fitted them. EssENtIaLs COSTS SuperFlex bush kit: 582 (all bushes are available in individual sets see SuperFlex website for prices) Anti-roll bar droplinks (optional): 12.60 each CONTACTS SuperFlex 01749 678152 www.superflex.co.uk Euro Car Parts 0208 956 5175 www.eurocarparts.com HOW LONG Allow at least a very long day or ideally a weekend, it can be a lengthy job if the bolts are seized. HOW HARD Can be quite tricky to remove and refit the bushes, but for the main it's just nuts and bolts. FEBRUARY 2012 Fast Ford 0093
FasttECH First off, get the car safely supported, 01 remove the wheels, and give everything a liberal coating of penetrating fluid. Starting at the rear, remove the anti-roll 02 bar. It is held onto the lower arm with a nut and bolt, and a plastic spacer. Support the lower arm with a 03 transmission jack or similar to take the weight of the spring, then you can undo the bolt that holds the lower arm to the hub. Buy new nuts and bolts for the lower rear arms they are prone to rusting up and usually need cutting off. Then remove the spring completely from 04 the car. Now undo the camber-adjustable nut 05 and bolt which holds the lower arm on to the rear beam. Note: mark the position of the eccentric washer as this will help line everything up when refitting. Also, if the bolts are heavily rusted they may require cutting out with a grinder. With the lower arm 06 removed from the car you can gain better access to the clamps that hold the rear anti-roll bar on. Remove these and the roll bar from the car. 0094 Fast Ford FEBRUARY 2012
FOCUS BUSHes Next undo the two bolts that hold the 07 lateral control arm in place, and remove from the car. Again, these bolts might require cutting due to being seized. Then remove the upper control arm 08 by undoing the two bolts that hold it in place. Over to the press now and starting with 09 the lower control arm you need to press out the old bushes. We used a selection of sockets as drifts and supports for the arm. The other, smaller bush can be tricky to 10 press out. We found using a small piece of metal to help prevent the sides collapsing under pressure helps it to come out square. Now it s time press the new bushes in. 11 Apply some copper grease to them prior to pressing home, and make sure they are fitted squarely. Moving on to the lateral control arm, you 12 now need to press out the old bushes. Again sockets make perfect drifts for this. 13 Using a Dremel or similar to clean up the control arm before fitting the new bush is a good idea. Then you can press the new bush firmly 14 home. You can use the marks on the old bush to see how far the new bush needs to be pressed in. 15 Now you can repeat the press old bush out press new bush in process for the upper control arms too. FEBRUARY 2012 Fast Ford 0095
FasttECH Don t attempt replacing bushes unless you have access to a hydraulic press, you ll never get the bushes out otherwise. With the roll bar off the car it is easy to 16 change the bushes, simply pull off the old ones, and slip over the new ones. That leaves this little lot to be refitted. 17 Refitting is the reverse of the removal process, but a transmission jack helps when it comes to refitting the lower arms and springs. Set the rear camber with the eccentric 18 washers and bolts. Use the original marks as a guide to roughly set the geometry but take the car for a full alignment check afterwards. Finally, the last things at the rear are 19 the roll bar drop link bushes. Bin off the old plastic spacers and replace with the new polyurethane bushes and metal spacers. When the rear end is all put back 20 together you can start on the fronts. Firstly, remove the pinch bolt that holds the lower arm to the hub. Then remove the bolts that hold the lower 21 arm to the subframe. The front bolt runs horizontally and has an encapsulated nut... The rear of the arm is held in with two 22 smaller bolts with 18mm nuts. Now remove the lower arm from the car, 23 and repeat for the other side. Next up is the anti-roll bar. Undo the nut 24 that holds the roll bar to the drop link. 0096 Fast Ford FEBRUARY 2012
FOCUS BUSHES We also changed the drop links at this 25 point too. Undo the nut that holds the drop link to the damper body and simply replace with the new ones. The anti-roll bar is clamped to the 26 subframe and held in place with two bolts. You can just about get to these without having to lower the subframe. With the clamps removed the old bushes 27 simply pull off. 28 Then the new polyurethane bushes can be fitted in place, the clamps refitted, and everything done up again. 29 Back over to the press again, and it s time to remove the old bushes. You can try to press them out, but we found that some needed cutting with an angle grinder first. 30 After a quick clean-up and some copper grease is applied you can press the new bushes into place. CoNCLUsIoN One final spanner check later and you re good to go. The handling feels much tighter and the car is notably more responsive to any input on the steering wheel. And because the polyurethane won t degrade like rubber, the bushes should outlast the life of the car too. However, you must remember to get the car to a garage to perform a full alignment check as soon as possible after, as you should always do after undertaking any work on the suspension. 31 Now you can refit the front arms and reassemble everything that was previously removed. FEBRUARY 2012 Fast Ford 0097