Ford Escort 1990 > Wishbone guide...

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When you experience the classic "slur" in the steering with acceleration and braking...
Pulling to the left and right then its most likely, in fact its going to be the wishbone bushes.

If your inspecting them yourself then look at these bushes...



They should be solid, no splits or cracks.

As you can see from the photo below... this suspension bush has worn excessively and was causing the "slur" in the steering.



Before buying replacement wishbones... let me give you some advice i learnt the expensive way.

These wishbones were "pattern" wishbones from a motor factors.
£25 each... Bargain i hear you say?

Err no.

£50 for 2 wishbones and £20 tracking.
These wishbones are only 3 months old.
The wishbones have not even seen 5000 miles.

On my first escort (years ago now) i fitted budget "pattern" wishbones and in the space of 6 months i fitted 6 wishbones (3 sets) ruined a set of tyres to the wire bands and had to stump up many times for tracking.

It was an expensive lesson.

Genuine ford wishbones were fitted to my second Escort.
This escort was lowered 40mm and the wishbones still lasted 2 years. 30,000 miles And those were certainly not the most forgiving miles... harsh driving style and a mostly A-Road commute to work.

Ford wishbones cost about £50-£55 each. The ball joint pinch bolt and nut comes in at a couple of quid for a set (pair of bolts and pair of nuts)

This £100+ sounds costly, but think about it... in 2 years... how many pattern wishbones can you go through, how many times have you got to pay for tracking? What if you just put up with worn wishbone (lower arm) bushes?

Certainly an MOT failure.
The Snapping and grabbing of the steering can be dangerous when driving and could lead to an accident.
The constant movement of the arm compared to the worn bush means the lower geometry of the suspension is affected.
In essence altering the tracking.
This leads to less tyre touching the road, less grip and that can be bad in wet conditions.
Also due to the geometry, tyres wear quicker... become bald on the inside or outside edges...
This means less grip and can lead to an accident and will more than likely earn you 3 points (on your UK driving license) and a fine.

Remember the rules... at least (bare minimum) 1.6mm of tread over 75% of the tyre.

Frankly i consider this dangerous.

My second escort was running on tyres that were ust approaching 2mm tread (wear markers) with Pirelli tyres.
Lets just say that bad weather and those tyres mean i'm now driving escort number 3.

Anyway, Wishbones...

On with the guide.

Tools Needed.

Wheel Brace
Jack
Axle Stands
Ratchet
13mm, 15mm, 18mm sockets.
18mm spanner.
Torx set (Specifically a T25 Torx bit)
Ball Joint Splitter
Flat Bar to lever with (tyre lever is perfect... better than a ball joint splitter in fact)

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Firstly you need to Remove the wheel.

So jack the car up, DONT RELY ON THE JACK... use axle stands (Safety First)



With The steering wheel STRAIGHT, undo the bottom ball joint pinch bolt.
This is a 13mm nut and a T25 torx bit.




Tap the pinch bolt out using a screwdriver and hammer...

Tip: Its HIGHLY recomended to renew the pinch bolts as the thread usually gets damaged upon removal of the old pinch bolts.

Old pinch bolt removed



Now you need to seperate the Ball joint from the hub.
I found that using a flat bar (tyre lever) that i was able to seperate the ball joint from the hub without using a ball joint splitter which usually destroys the ball joint rubber.

Now, using a 15mm socket

And an 18mm open ended spanner
(you may struggle to get an 18mm ring spanner in there)

Undo the front lower arm bolt.

It may require tapping out, but when removed... this is the bolt.
(If this bolt it to be re-used, it might be usefull to clean it up with wd-40 and a wire bush)

Same as the front suspension arm bolt, remove the bolt... 15mm and 18mm.




Remove the bolt.

With the wishbone loose you should be able to wiggle it out... depending on how long its been fitted it may require "a little force" lol.

Fitting the new wishbones...

Well in true haynes style... Refitting is the reversal of removal.

So slot the wishbone into the front subframe.
(Taking note of which side your fitting... ball joint etc)

Using a screwdriver to line up the bush with the subframe... slide the bolt into the rear bush and loosely put the nut on by a few threads.



Now use this as a pivot to line up the front bush.
Again use as screwdriver to line the bush up with the subframe and put the bolt in.


Put the nut on and tighten it up tight with the 18mm spanner and 15mm socket/ratchet.
Make sure this is tight.
Now tighten the rear wishbone bolt good and proper.

With the two bolts tight, now align the bottom ball joint up with the hub.
(This may require using a bar to lever the wishbone down, to move the ball joint into position)



With the ball joint lined up use a trolley jack under the ball joint to apply a little force to push the ball joint into the hub.

(This will only require to pumps of a trolley jack before the ball joint "clicks" into the socket in the hub)



Now slide the pinchbolt into the hub and tighten the nut up.





With the ball joint lined up, a little wriggling will usually get it in position and then it will slide into the hub.
If its in position but refuses to slot into the hub, then use a jack under the bottom ball joint and jack the whole suspension arm and hub up.
This will slot the ball joint into the hub.
Refit the pinch bolt (renew if the pinch bolt has dammaged thread)
And refit the wheel.

Be sure to get the tracking checked afterwards.