• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Suspension rebuild

R

richs

New CEG'er
Joined
Apr 2, 2002
Messages
14
Location
NW New Jersey
My SVT has 135,000 miles and it was time to redo the suspension. Bought new front lower control arms with the bolts from Team Ford. Had new stabilizer bar links from E-bay. Used SVT springs with only 20,000 miles on them that I had bought from a CEG member some time ago. Struts from BAT, sport struts. And while I was at it new brake cables and new rotors.

What a difference. The left (driver's side) control arm was totally shot, bushings and ball joint were way over do, and I had a broken spring on the right side.

Good thing I bought new bolts as I broke 1 and had to cut 1 out. Also impact wrench was almost essential to get the pinch bolts out. I did put the 2 front lower control arm bolts on the driver side up side down.

Now the ride is a little rougher but not harsh and it tracks better than ever. Used a lot of little tips from this site to help on the rebuild which saved lots of time.

Thanks

Rich S
 
I'd venture to bet that most older cars on the road today have worn suspension parts that go unnoticed and unserviced. People just don't think to maintain that area of the car. Good for you! I need to do the same sort of work to my own car.
 
I replaced the lower front control arms last year. And just replaced the front wheel bearings and Hubs. It sure made a big difference in the ride quality, but Ford charges and outrageous price for the stupid hubs $175 each.
 
Bugzuki said:
I replaced the lower front control arms last year. And just replaced the front wheel bearings and Hubs. It sure made a big difference in the ride quality, but Ford charges and outrageous price for the stupid hubs $175 each.
Click to expand...

Why did you replace the hubs? I ask as I did wheel bearings last summer and the mechanic who did this job the first time didn't press the hub in to the bearing race properly and it scored the hub. No way I was paying Ford's ridiculous prices-I got 1 from a wrecked 'Tour and it was fine. If they're not damaged there's no need to replace them.

While I had the hubs out, I pressed longer studs into them for "big brake" spacer clearance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top