What to do... - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

old_mate · 05-21-2004, 06:31

hello boys and girls

Finally got a straight answer as to what the Fairmont needs in the front end. Radius rod bushes (or inner control arm bushes i think) are shagged, both inner and outer. Have had a Pedders special quote of 210 supplied and fitted. 170 from another decent suspension shop

120 including wheel alignment to remove my front struts and adjust the shocks (koni reds)

And a possible sticking brake caliper. 190 bucks to overhaul the front pair (wont do one cause of the ABS, have to have the pair done) and another 55 each side to machine the disks. Im not so sure about this one the car doesnt pull to the left at all...

Now, im in two minds as to what to do. I have no tools to do any of this work myself. I cant say I have ever tried doing this work myself. But after having worked the past few months on stuff totally foreign and reading lots of manuals on how to go about things, and reading thru my Gregories manual, i reckon i could give it a shot. The problem is I'll have to guess as to exactly what tools im going to need, and im not going to have the car available to go get stuff I have forgotten. Or if i stuff it all up, i wont be able to really move the bastard.

Are the bushes im talking about press fit? if not, i should be able to tackle that one easily enough, especially with some FF expertise :) The front struts are more of a concern due to the shims in my camber kit. But on 2nd thoughts, I'll need a wheel aligment anyway so that wont matter....hmmm.

So, who reckons i should give it a go myself? Wanting to hear from dudes who have done this before...and if anyone can give me a more definate way to go about it (in regards to tools, what i should undo first, pitfalls etc) i would be most appreciative.

Oh and yea, almost forgot. Is it wise to try overhauling my calipers myself assuming the are binding and the piston might be a bit of a biatch to get back in???????

thanks all.

mongrelEB · 05-21-2004, 08:40

The bushes are dead easy. Bolt over covers, for the most part.
Dunno about adjusting Koni shocks.
Calipers can definitely be rebuilt by you, just as long as you have a vice to squeeze the piston back in.

The big thing is not to tighten the bushes up fully until the car's on the deck. Otherwise you lock them in the wrong position = extra stress = shagged bushed pretty damn quick

Brent79 · 05-21-2004, 17:53

Hey garth, if you end up doing the bushes yourself, let me know how you go coz i gotta do mine too!! Calipers are shit easy.. (ABS tho, hmm) pistons dont give much trouble.

Brent

psycho chicken · 05-21-2004, 18:29

Vice? Use a g-clamp!

old_mate · 05-21-2004, 22:06

Ok thinking about it more today

The powers that be here in my unit block arent going to take kindly me ripping apart my car in their clean underground carpark. A big tarp will fix.

I dont have chassis stands, or a decent jack, let alone the spanners i need.

I reckon I'll just pay this mob to do the bushes, and pull the Konis out, and I'll go to a wrecker and buy some calipers and overhaul them myself while off the car. This is pretty much the last suspension item i need to do, and I cant really justify the cost of buying stands and jacks when paying someone to do the work is comparitive $$$ wise. When i manage to buy myself a house, and a garage, then I'll be able to go gun ho pulling shit out.....till then, i'll put food on a tradies table :)

but in all seriousness, after looking at the Gregories, its a pretty piss easy job to do (the bushes) im yet to look too hard into the calipers.....do repco sell a overhaul kit?

galapogos01 · 05-23-2004, 15:36

im going to try and rebuild my EF's rear calipers soon.. anyone got a scan from a gregories or a haynes manual for me? :D

Jase

mad_ea_spac · 05-24-2004, 05:12

mmmm..... i got an ea gregories manual i could scan if it'd be any help