ive had both bottom arms changed this year, one was changed at the place i got the mot done, the drivers side, because thats what it failed on. as most mondeo owners will know you need to drop the subframe to do the passanger side, my passanger side went a couple of of months later, so with that being the awkward side, i took it to rapid fit, being a ford garage i thought they will do it properly, i.e drop the subframe, as it can be done without dropping it, by cutting the bolt off, and putting the new one on with the bolt upside down. well when i got the car back, the steering wheel was a mile out of line, so i took it back, and they tracked it or free, which i thought was good of them. well since they have done it, my tyres worn off real quick, which i thought was strange, as it had 2 brand new bottom arms, the tracking done, my track rod arms are fairly new, so it isnt them, and my tyres are checked regular, and are never over/under inflated. so the tyres waring so quick was a bit funny. at the time i didnt have the money for any tyres so i put the standard wheels on till i had the money for some 17" tyres. well the standard tres wore of in 2 weeks, now this is when i realised there was something wrong, so on further investigation, and to cut a long story short, rapid fit have cut the bolt without dropping the subframe, and put the new one with the bolt the wrong way round, like this



when it should have been done like this




so ive spoke to a freind of a freind who works at a big ford dealers, and he has gone crazy, he said its ford procedure to drop the subframe, and under no circumstances do it the other way, as it can be dangerous, like rapid fit have done it on my car. so ive been onto rapid fit, expalined all of this, and there excuse, they dont have the subframe alignemnet tool, i told him shite, the reason the have done it that way is its a 20 minute job, compared to a 1 hour 20 minutes to do it properly, with dropping the subframe. so they said, bring it down tommorow and leave it with us, and we'll sort it. trust me, after what they have done, it will not be getting left with them, i will be watching every move like a hawk to make sure they do it properly. to say im not happy is an understatement.

Rant Over

P.S

and while on the phone to the guy at the ford dealers, he asked me if i had the invoice for when it was done, so i said yeah as i keep all recipts and invoices, he asked for the part number, i gave him it, short pause, then he laughs, turns out it isnt even ford part they have used as the part number is not on fords computer.

 

Rapid fit are franchises. Cola had 2 tyres changed by them...ended up having all wheels refurbed, a new loom needed due to a fire in engine bay and a lot of threatening letters from solicitors etc... all because they couldnt change 2 tyres properly!

shit luck mate. persevere with it though and you'll get it sorted

 

Rapid-Fit managed to burn all of the insulation off of my alternator wiring on my old runaround Fiesta when I got them to fit a new exhaust downpipe! They must have been bloody careless with the oxy torch when taking the old one out. I wouldn't even take a winter runaround to them now.

Andy

 

gotta love fords


fiddy if ya need help on ford part numbers ect then just pm me,,,,,, as i know a bloke who works at fords very well

 

cheers ginge

when i got a quote, the part number on the quote was

CHA14244

on the reciept when i got it fitted, the part number was

GSJ895

according to the guy i spoke to @ ford, neither of them came up on his computer

 

a garage is as good as the mechanic mate


the subframe doesnt have to come down the bolt can be cut and replaced the other way so its easier next time round

i do agree these companys have shit fitters that claim to be proper mechanics but if the arm is fitted good and tight and its the proper one plus it has been tracked how well i dont know all should be well.

 

i agree fella, ive checked, and everything is tight as it should be , but according to the guy at ford i spoke to, the reason that ford lower the subframe, is that particular side is close to the gearbox, and if the bolt is is fitted incorrectly, it can rub on the gearbox, causing either the bolt to put a hole in the gearbox, or the bolt snapping and the bottom arm failing. he said the chances of this happening are very slim, but it is a possibilty so thats why they play it safe and lower the subframe. now if it was just me in the car, i wouldnt be to bothered, id take my chances, but its the family car and most of the time has my 4 kids in, and there would be murders if anything happened to my kids. ive posted this on a mondeo forum i go on, and a lad on there said national tyres did exactally the same to his, but his tyres went off and the arm was knackered in less than 8k miles, and another lad who fitted his own did it the same way. so obviously its a common way to fit them. but thats why i went to rapid fit to get it done, instead of the place that fitted my other one for the mot, because i thought with rapid fit being ford they would use he correct procedure, but obviously not. if they had said to me, its going to cost more to do it properly, i.e lowering the sub frame, or we can do it on the cheap, and do it the way they have, fair enough, but they didnt, i booked it in, and thought it would have been properly.

 

trouble about lads on bonus mate they just dive in


well the bolt can be fitted up and true it would catch on the box if a tad wasnt shaved off it before hand

hope you get it sorted mate if they have fooked up threaten them with leagal action etc and they will sort things for ya buddy

 

only a ten min job to drop subframe anyway

 

ive told them mate, at first they were not to bothered, till i mentioned trading standards, then it was all, " bring it down, we'll sort it" . cheers for your input fella

 

sounds like you know too much, why didnt you do it yourself!!

 

because what you know, and what you can do, is 2 different things. and tbh, i have no confidence in myself to start pulling parts of my car, and putting new ones on.

 

and the fact that the prices ford charge for some jobs due to the ramps ect that allow them to fit em means that its usually worth spending a ton to let someone else get dirty rather than fook about at the side of the road with grazed knuckle, back pains and shite in ya eye meaning you loose a weeks wages due to being off sick



ford fitted them bolts that way for a reason,,,,, and its not cause they look better that way round


oh and them arms aint a finis code nor a part number,,,,,, but i cant see how they can fit pattern parts as,,,, well there a ford franchise meaning they aint allowed to fit pattern parts as i know we aint but then i sell parts at a main dealer,,,, thats also owned by ford too so that might be the reason

 

If Ford are so adamant that Mondeo arm bolts should go from the top down, why are all Fiesta and escort ones fitted from the bottom up???

I've never fitted them down BUT i do fit a new bolt and locking nut - once in I cut the top of the bolt down so there is plenty of clearance for the gearbox. If you leave it std lenth then it'll touch.

What I gather is when you undo a Mondeo subframe you need alighnment pegs to get it aligned right though.

 

they were fitted before engine were dropped in

 

I always thought it was common practice to chop the bolt off and refit the other way round.... mind you I've never fitted an arm to a Mondeo

 

it is mate