danme1987

whats the best place to buy kits? like the adjustable control arms?

ajc.78

http://www.ruderacing.co.uk/Suspensi...duct_info.html

not sure if you wanted them for a mrk 1 or a mrk 2 but they sell both I bought my alignment stuff from them and they were quick and helpful

al

danme1987

ive got it pretty bad on the back did you get a control arm or just the bolts? and its mk1 for the record

ajc.78

I went for the bolts on the back as my focus isn't that low but was getting uneven wear as the car does get driven fairly hard.

To be honest the wear on the front was worse but thought I might as well get the rear bolts fitted at the same time. The settings are meant to assist grip on track and reduce the uneven wear but I haven't been on track since they were set up so can't confirm that but seems to drive ok on the road

al

danme1987

so before i get whatever part. i should get a geo done? find out my camber first? if its around 2-2.5 then just the bolts or would you get the arms if its around that amount? The bolts only to -+ 1 and the arms do +5 and -1.5. is the desire camber around -1? or is 0 best?

phil_focus

negative camber increases grip during cornering. go too far though and you lose stright line grip so compromise acceleration andbraking. this is only going to be seen in track cars that have a LOT of adjustibility though and even then most track prepped production cars are not really gonna see it, only the likes of btcc cars and proper racers. have you seen how much negative camber the btcc boys run? fucking loads!!!

on a mk1 focus lowered 30mm you shouldn't even need the bolts tbh. if your on oe bushes that are old and a bit slack though that may add more neg camber but not much. i'd only upgrade to adjustible stuff if after a 4 wheel alignment (which should be done after lowering) you get excessive inner tyre wear.

danme1987

Well ive lowered on coilovers and the front are far less worn than the backs and tyres were recently switched and all has even wear but since ive lowered the backs have gone bold on the inside edge. it has not been aligned however. The camber is clearly noticable though you can see it from looking behind the car.

phil_focus

depends how much you've lowered it. the rear bottom arms are adjusible for toe but it does adjust the camber aswell.

i'd get it 4 wheel aligned first tbh to see if it can be adjusted out or if you've gone lower than 30mm then get the rear bolts and then 4 wheel aligned and that should hopefully sort you out.

danme1987

well its certainly is more than 30mm.



So do you suggest gettiung the Bolts? or would you spend the extra on the arms?

phil_focus

without knowing how far out it is i wouldnt be able to say.

perhaps the best thing o do is go down to whoever will do the wheel alignment, tell them whats been done and that it needs a 4 wheel alignment and ask if after its done it needs the adjuster bolts (or arms) if they will fit and adjust them for just the fitting fee or at a reduced rate.

then you don't need to buy them until you know if you need them and which ones.

what size wheels and tyres are they btw?

danme1987

they are 18 with 215 35 18 on em but im currently running 215 40 17 and they are bald on the inside edge on the back.

phil_focus

cool, they look good.

the back end cirtainly does look more than a 30mm drop. i suppose if you wanted you could bite the bullet and get the adjustible arms and get them fitted and the 4 wheel alignment all done in one but its upto you at the end of the day.

danme1987

well its said the arms will plus up to 5 so that should easy cover it. The only reason im banging on about the arms is because im skint due to christmas and then the missus happens to have her birthday soon after (30th)

phil_focus

i've just checked on ruderacing and the arms are Ł150!!!!!!! bloody hell.

how long are a set of tyres lasting on the back? it does make me wonder if the rong toe settings are assing to the wear. you might find that just an alignment with maybe the bolts gets it pretty much back to spec and will reduce the inner tyre wear dramatically.

danme1987

im talking like 3 months or so. front are fine but backs have just eaten the inside

phil_focus

upto you at the end of the day but i recon its worth getting it aligned first to see

a) how far its out now (camber and toe) and
b) how far its out after realignment.

you may be suprised. the toe may be way off and causing half the problem. you'll also know then whether you need to spend Ł150 on the arms.

oh and if removing bolts be aware that as ford didnt grease them they very easily sieze into the bushes which means cutting them out

northernjim

you won't need the arms, I have them on my focus, and when they set the camber to -2 they didnt even adjust them just used the eccentric bushes on the bottom arms.. (yours may well be seized by the way they generally are)

It will be your toe that is out IMO although you do look like you have about -2 camber anyway..

danme1987

Do you have links to what i need then? any you recommend? What is your tyre wear like now?

danme1987

need advice guys! what path would you take?

phil_focus

personally i'd set the ride hight to where i want it and take it for a four wheel alignment.

i'd also make sure they gave me a before and after printout and then take it from there.

danme1987

ok guys, had an alignment up. and my rears are -2.09 and -2.34 has anyone used the bolts and had results with them? thanks

phil_focus

is that the figure after adjustment?
was your toe far out?

danme1987

my toe was slightly out here are all rsults:

Rear before :

Camber - Left -2.05 right -2.29
Toe - Left 0.20 right 0.20

After:

Camber - Left -2.09 right -2.34
Toe - Left 0.10 right 0.10

Everything now is within spec. the Toe was out of spec at 0.20 as its meant to be 0.12 -+ 0.05 so obviously was 0.03 out both sides. saying this, is that enough to cause such wear?

phil_focus

on stiff low profile tyres it might well be enough to cause the wear, it was 100% more than it is now. do you have any pics of the tyres as without i don't really know what the wear was like.

if everything is now back within fords specs though i would think all should be fine though.

danme1987

ill get a pic later on. well i know it wasnt to spec for toe. im shocked the camber is still in spec. thats mental.

phil_focus

it might be near the limits though which in theory cauld cause an increase in inner tyre wear over being just in spec the other way but its going to be negligible.

what is the spec for camber?

danme1987

spec aimed for is -1.26 give or take +-1.19. here are pics of my tyres

o/s


n/s

phil_focus

o/s looks like its been slightly over inflated as the very inner edge is still there all be it with the wear off set. n/s looks quite bad.

did you have those tyres from new? was the car lowered with those tyres mostley worn?

i think you will see better tyre wear now but fitting the camber adjusting bolts will certainly mean both sides can be brought bang on spec. just be aware that original bolts tend to sieze into the bushes making it impossible to get out so the only way is to cut them and either replace the bushes with poly or buy new arms and bolts as you can't buy the rubber bushes seperate, well not from ford anyway.

danme1987

These tyres are actually p zeros and have got to say they are dog shit. i took em all off as they clearly are not legal and have put my st200 alloys on. looking at the tyres on removal they have bulges on outside wall on the back.



So what would you get then? new control arms and the bolts?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-FOCUS-98-...item45e5dda69d

danme1987

oh and as for tyre pressures. they have not been run over 32psi

phil_focus

tyre pressures i've found 32 a little too high in the rear when most of my driving has just been me so normaly drop them to 30. i do think most of that wear though has been down to camber and toe though not pressure.

for me personally i'd by the arms and bolts as my focus is 10 1/2 years old with 106k on the clock so worth renewing the bushes and makes me less worried about fucking them trying to remove the bolts as its what happened when i tried removing the lower spring arm to trailing arm bolt on mine. just span the metal inner and tore the bush to shreds!

i'd also fit the new bolts with coper grease as its an anti-sieze compound. you also don't need the extra adjustment the arms give anyway so a bit pointless getting them.

does it feel any better to drive now with the new alignment? prob wont be able to tell as it was out an even amount on both sides