PhilMeUp

This press is heaps better than the old one. It’s wide, meaning that a control arm can fit in it sideways. But what really makes this one better is that the hydraulic ram can be moved sideways. Although my messing around with spacers to push in the rear bush was ultimately successful, it was also clumsy and time consuming. With this press, the ram can be easily moved from side to side. This gives the hydraulic ram direct access to the rear bush. Just after I bought my 20 ton press for $100 there was another advert on Gumtree for a 12 ton press for $250. I figured he was dreaming, and that it would never sell. However, the advert was gone after a couple of days. Once I had the new press assembled and working, I figured I’d advertise the old one for a stupidly high price, knowing that I could drop the price a week later. At 8pm I advertised the old press on Gumtree for $200, which I thought was overpriced. I got an SMS from someone at 1am and at 2am he was at my place and paying me $200 cash for it. I was stunned, and kept quiet about Radum selling new 20 ton presses for $190. However, I did also deliver it to his house for him - he had no way of transporting it. This also meant that my new toy now had a total net cost of $110. Not bad. This press is also sold by Fiora Machinery as a Hafco PP-20 - http://fioramachinery.com.au/workshop-equipment/presses/hydraulic-presses/workshop-hydraulic-press-4375.html And yes, it actually does weigh 103kg. It’s not an easy thing to move. A few nights later, I had a go at pushing out the old bushes on another control arm. I had been stuffing around with this for a few weeks, and it was time to get two complete arms ready and fit them to my taxi. I had a quick go with the bottle jack, but the bushes wouldn’t budge. I got a propane burner, heated up the ends of the control arms and kept trying. Eventually the rear bush popped out, but I couldn’t get any movement with the front bush. I kept persisting with the bottle jack, but was seeing the control arm actually flex near the front bush. I didn’t want to wreck the control arm by bending it (then it wouldn’t go back into the car) so gave up on the bottle jack. This was causing huge amounts of frustration - when I tried pushing the front and rear bushes out of a lower control arm previously, both of them came out very easily. It was now too late at night to use power tools at home, so I got my battery powered Ryobi angle grinder, went to a nearby carpark and ground away the sides of the bush. I ground down the outer metal ring of the bush so that it was paper thin. Once back at home, I then tapped back the remainder with a hammer and flat blade screwdriver. This was all about not grinding away any of the actual control arm. This meant that I could use the press with some plates to try and push the bush out. It was impossible to get it to line up properly, because of the other end of the control arm. By now I was getting rather miffed - it had been a couple of hours and I was supposed to have the two completed arms fitted to the car that night. Failing miserably at this point in time. I finally managed to get the bush to start moving, but it took a lot of pressure from the press. Because I couldn’t get everything lined up properly, the bottom of the bush was pushed outward. Upon review of the night’s progress, I made the excellent decision to give up for the night and sulk in the office with cheesecake and TV. I’ll have another go at it later, and will probably end up cutting the top of the bush off and pushing it out the other way.

Although I had a bunch of various size metal offcuts to use as spacers, it was still frustrating trying to find something the right diameter for each task. I ended up buying a Shop Press Accessory Kit from Supercheap Auto. This retails for $39.99. Looking for a cheap bottle jack solely for pushing bushes out, I then went to another car accessory shop and noticed a display bottle jack that was looking pretty terrible. I put it to one of the staff that I buy this jack, and that they put a new one on display. This worked, and I ended up paying $10 for it. I needed to get the right sized spacers to help with pushing the old bushes out and the new ones in. Ford Australia recommend that dealers get a special tools kit for this (part number 204-230), which is shown on page 99 of the Falcon BA Service Manual PDF that can be found on the internet. This kit is made by SPX, but I haven’t been able to find out if it’s still available. I went to a couple of Ford dealers to see such a kit and measure it so that I could get it duplicated. Neither of the two dealers that I went to had such a kit, but one of them said that I could have some bearing shells that were on the floor. I grabbed three shell rings and an old bearing hub. They all had grease in them, so I cleaned them up with some kerosene and an old toothbrush. Pushing in the new front lower control arm bush was easy enough, thanks to these bearing shells. One was of a suitable diameter for pushing the bush in and another was large enough to allow the bush to slide through the arm. I was just finishing pushing the new bush in when the bearing shell cracked in half. I didn’t realise that where the shells decrease in diameter in the middle is too narrow for the bush, so the bush has pushed the shell apart. Pushing in the rear lower control arm bush was a lot more difficult. It doesn’t have the space around it that the front bush has, so is very difficult to access with a press. I tried the obvious way but there was no way that was going to work. I ended up getting creative with a plate and some spacers. This was fiddly and hard to co-ordinate with two hands, but I got the job done. The bush is on the wrong angle in this photo but was lined up properly before pushing it in (ie I’ve got one hand on the camera and the other hand holding the control arm). This worked, although I had to juggle spacers around to keep the upper plate at the correct angle. Once the bush was pushed in enough, I then had to put a spacer under the control arm so that the bush could push through properly. This meant more lining it all up with spacers. Now that I had the rear bush in, it was time to push in the suspension mount bush. This was much easier. As with the other bushes, I didn’t use any lubricant to help the bushes slide in, but will do so next time. As with the rear control arm bush, I put a spacer under the control arm when it came to finish pushing the bush into place. Finally, I had a completed control arm. Getting somewhere! One thing that I was initially concerned about was how to line up the bush on the correct angle, but this turned out to be pretty easy. I had lined up the points on the bush with the line on the control arm and tapped the bush in with a rubber mallet so that it was lined up correctly. I saw this advert a few days ago - Repco is selling a 12 ton hydraulic shop press this week for $149 (it’s in their current catalogue). That makes it an affordable addition to anyones workshop. The Repco stock number is MPSP. Here in Perth, there was a car accessory company called Malz which went broke in February of this year. It was bought by Autopro, which is now selling off a bunch of old Malz stock. I remember seeing a press heavily discounted a few weeks ago, after I had already bought mine. I figured I’d go and have a look to see what they have. They had one of these left - I like the idea of having the pressure gauge. We haggled, and I ended up buying a new 18 ton press for $210. I’ve been pretty pissed off at myself for bending the cross beam on the first one, so this also sorts that out.

Pushing out the upper control arm bushes properly was easy enough (ie so that there is no risk of bending the arm). Using a sharp knife, I cut away the sides of each bush so that I could push them out with the press. I’ve pushed the other side of the bush through with a spacer on top. The spacer was narrower than the bush, thus allowing the outer rubber part to curve upwards as the bush gets pushed through. I’ve added another spacer when required, and the bush slid out easily. I could have used the press to push out the ball joint, but decided to give my G & G Technics GGT-400 something to do.

I bought this 20 ton press a few weeks ago for $100 secondhand via Gumtree. It’s fairly tall, which is what I need for doing rear axle bearings on my BFIII station wagon taxi. And it’s easy to move the cross beam by moving the metal rods that hold it up. It came with this box of various spacers and other bits and pieces. To push the existing bushes out of the control arm, I removed the hydraulic jack from the press. It took some balancing to get everything to line up but eventually I managed to get the jack pushing the spacer upward instead of pushing it out sideways. An extra pair of hands would be useful for this part. At the top of the jack is one of the metal spacers from the box. It turned out to be the perfect diameter to fit on the outer edge of the bush (ie where the metal exterior is). A close-up photo of the front lower control arm bush being pushed out by the hydraulic jack and spacer. Once I got it all lined up it was simply a matter of pumping the jack and watching the bush slide out. Another advantage of using the hydraulic jack was that the base of it also partly pushed out the rear lower control arm bush. In theory, I could have had the correct sized spacers at both ends of the jack and but this stuff is heavy and balancing it all was a challenge. The hole in the control arm where the front bush was. Then it was time to get the rear bush out. I had a head start thanks to the hydraulic jack. Another few minutes of trying to balance and line things up before the jack’s piston pushed out far enough to hold the jack in place. The same as the front bush - the rear bush pushed out easily. Time for a problem - the spacer that I had just used on the rear bush was about the same diameter, meaning that it was then stuck in the control arm. I had a quick go with a hammer but it wasn’t going to tap out. I put the hydraulic jack back in the press and pushed the spacer out easily enough. Being able to move the cross beam around so easily made this a simple job. Then it was time to push out the suspension strut bush. I used the press to start pushing the bush out. Then it was time to get a spacer from the box. It didn’t take particularly long to have all three bushes pushed out. I was pretty pleased by now. The end result - a front lower control arm with all three bushes pushed out. That ball joint is only a few weeks old so will be staying there. Now all I need to do is go buy a bunch of new bushes and learn how to press them in. I’ve also used the press to push out the two bushes on each upper control arm - that was easy.

Yes, I even put the spindle back on before I realised that the ABS cable wasn’t in its correct place. By now it was too late at night to remove the spindle (ie the hammer noise and neighbours) so I had to work around the spindle to remove and re-fit the shock absorber bolt. Here’s a photo of the disc rotor and bearing hub on the driver’s side, before cleaning them up with the drill and wire brush. This amount of corrosion is quite minor, but I had everything apart so it was a suitable time to get everything perfect. The brake pad wear on the driver’s side was as it should be. The finished job. A new lower control arm, new brake pads and even some new wheel nuts. I bought a box of Gorilla 91188XL wheel nuts recently. Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Automotive-91188XL-AcornBulge-Thread/dp/B003ICXH70/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398981482&sr=8-2&keywords=91188XL Gorilla link: http://www.gorilla-auto.com/ Don’t forget to pump the brake pedal before going anywhere. Both taxis had the lower control arm bushes replaced at Wilkinson Suspension just over a year before I did this job. They use Roadsafe bushes, but for me they have worn out too early. I had the original Ford bushes replaced on my taxi at 247,000km. 120,000km later the front tyres had gone bald on the insides, indicating that the bushes were worn. Both ball joints had to be replaced a couple of months ago. For me, it would be logical to conclude that the Roadsafe stuff is good for 100,000km, but I need more than that for taxi use. At this stage I am inclined to believe that the Roadsafe bushes would be fine for a personal-use car, but I won’t be using them on a taxi again. However, the Roadsafe bushes are much cheaper than the genuine Ford ones. If you want to replace your control arm bushes as cheaply as possible, and have the mechanical skills and tools, then see if you can find a low km wreck and get the control arms from it. It took me five hours to do this job. I’ll be doing the same on my taxi in the near future, so will try to get it down to four hours or less (three hours would be ideal). Taking photos, my stuff ups with the ABS sensor cable and cleaning the disc rotor and bearing surfaces all took extra time. I also lost time trying to get the first control arm out and the replacement back in, due to not lowering the crossmember enough (hence I’ll be removing the nuts next time). Although this job required quite a range of tools, it wasn’t particularly difficult. It was the first time that I’ve done this, and I’m looking forward to doing it on my own taxi as soon as I can get some Ford bushes pressed into a spare set of control arms that I have here. At this stage, my intention is to use the Ford bushes and replace them every 12 months to ensure that the taxis don’t suffer the premature tyre wear and worn ball joints that they have both had recently. I’ll be timing this so that each taxi has new suspension bushes, new ball joints and repainted control arms just before each annual Department of Transport inspection. Some part numbers - search on eBay for some competitive pricing: Genuine Ford parts: Lower Ball Joint: BA3395A Upper Ball Joint: BA3263A Front Lower Control Arm Bush: ER3069A Rear Lower Control Arm Bush: 8R2Z3A262AA Lower Control Arm - Suspension Bush: AU18174B Upper Arm Control Bush: BA3068A Upper Arm Control Bush: BA3A086A Roadsafe parts: Front Lower Ball Joint: BJ426 Front Upper Ball Joint: BJ425 Front Lower Control Arm Bush: S1937R Rear Lower Control Arm Bush: S1938R Lower Control Arm - Suspension Bush: S0398R Complete Roadsafe control arms (ie bushes fitted, bolt out/bolt in): Front Lower Control Arm - Left: BJ426L+ARM Front Lower Control Arm - Right: BJ426R+ARM Front Upper Control Arm - Left: FFU7 Front Upper Control Arm - Right: FFU6 There are other companies that make bushes, including out of other materials (eg polyurethane). Such bushes last a lot longer, but also convey more noise and bumps through to the car interior. This is why Ford chose to use bushes that minimise noises and bumps.

I put a bunch of the bushing grease in where the control arm bushes sit. And where the rear control arm bush will go. Now it was time to put the replacement control arm in. Easier said than done - removing the old one was relatively easy thanks to gravity, but gravity then made it harder to get the arm in on the right angle. As mentioned before, next time I’ll remove the crossmember nuts so that I can get the crossmember as low as possible to get the most access. It took a bit of mucking around, but I got the new control arm into place. I then put the front bolt back in. In hindsight, I did this the wrong way because it was then difficult to get the rear bush to slide back into its place because the front bush was limiting movement of the control arm. When I did the control arm replacement on the other side of the car, I put the rear bush and bolt into place first before the front one. This was a lot quicker and easier. Getting the bolt to line up to go through the rear bush was much harder than it was for the front one. Again, that was because I should have done the rear bolt first. I also couldn’t look up and visually line up the bush with the holes in the cross member. I had to poke around with fingertips to feel when the bush and holes were lined up so that the bolt would fit through. I finally got the two bolts back into place, meaning that I could put the shock absorber bolt back in. If you’re really sharp then you’ll spot the stuff up that I’ve made here. I made the same mistake on both sides of the car. Now that the control arm was back in place it was time to get the torque wrench out to tighten the nuts up to the manufacturer’s specifications. I bought this Snap-On TECH2FR100 on eBay a couple of years ago but haven’t really used it yet. I also have it’s bigger brother, the TECH2FR250, which gets used whenever I need a torque wrench. However, the TECH2FR250 was too long to use here, so the TECH2FR100 finally got to become useful. I tightened the two control arm bolts to 115Nm. Spotted the stuff-up yet? From the Ford service manual: “With the vehicle weight on it’s wheels, torque the shock absorber lower mounting hardware and the three nuts on the suspension tower, to specification.” In other words, the control arms must be under load when tightening the bolts. I’ve simulated this by using a trolley back and a brick (as a spacer between the jack and control arm). When it came to putting the replacement control arm back in on the other side of the car, I removed the nuts completely so that the crossmember could drop down more. This worked, and sliding the control arm back in on this side was much easier. And here’s the stuff up that I mentioned earlier. I did this on both sides of the car - forgot to have the ABS sensor cable going between the shock absorber strut and control arm when I put the bolt back in. Which meant unbolting it, putting the cable back in place and then putting the bolt back in place. I tried, but the ABS sensor was too big to fit through the gap at the bottom of the shock absorber. Another photo showing an upper control arm and its bolts. I’ll be replacing those bushes as soon as I can figure out how to press them out and in with the hydraulic press that I recently bought. As covered in previous threads, it is important for the various metal surfaces to be clear of corrosion. Such corrosion can push the disc rotor out of alignment and result in brake shudder. I use a cordless electric drill and wire brush to ensure that the surfaces are clean. These are the brake pads that came out of the passenger side caliper. As you can see, they have worn very, very unevenly. One end of each pad is almost new and the other end is almost down to the backing plate. Another symptom of worn control arm bushes. By now the finish line was in sight, and I was being extra careful to make sure that I didn’t forget anything. Except for putting the ABS sensor cables in their correct places.

Now that the plastic pan is out of the way I’ve got access to the front bolt for the control arm. The end of this bolt was frustrating as it wasn’t a conventional bolt end. A 17mm ring spanner was too small to fit over it and an 18mm ring spanner was too big. I ended up using the open end of the 18mm spanner to stop this from rotating when I undid the nut on the other side. I’ll try using some vice grips next time. This is the nut that has to be removed, and you can see the 18mm spanner in the background that I’m trying to use to stop the bolt rotating with the nut. I’ve now got both of the control arm bolts out. Here are the two control arm bolts. They have arrow-shaped ends on them. The front one had some corrosion on it and was difficult to remove. The rear one slid out easily. At the front, one of the crossmember bolts is in the way and blocks the control arm from sliding out. The rear of the control arm slid out quite easily. At the front I’ve loosened the nuts that hold the crossmember up. This creates enough space for the control arm to slide out, although on this side it was still quite a wrestling match. I was concerned that if I removed the nuts entirely then the crossmember would drop right down and I wouldn’t be able to get the nuts back on, but that concern was unfounded. I’ll go straight to removing the nuts next time so that I can get maximum access to get the old control arm out and the new control arm in quicker. Here’s a photo of the rear lower control arm bush, and it’s clearly very worn. Another photo of the rear lower control arm bush. And, just case you haven’t had enough of control arm bushes yet then here’s a sexy close-up. The front bush was also stuffed. This was causing the premature front tyre wear on this car. This is what it looks like once the control arm has been removed. If you’ve ever laid awake in bed late at night pondering where the other end of the front ABS sensors go then this photo will allow you to sleep peacefully in the future. I bought a tub of this stuff from the local SuperPro distributor. The part number is WPTUBSIL. A quick Google search shows it to be selling from places for around $80. Shop around - I paid a lot less than that. This stuff is quite gooey. I wore a disposable rubber glove when dealing with this stuff so that I could tear off the glove when I needed to and not have slippery grease all over my hands.

Photo Essay - Replacing Front Control Arm Bushes - version 2.0 I posted a thread back in 2012 about replacing front control arm bushes. I had a mechanic do the job for me, and I took a few photos whenever I could. http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/78764-photo-essay-replacing-front-control-arm-bushes/ Now I'm finally going to have a proper go at it. When Ford designed the BA Falcon it pursued higher levels of comfort over what was in the AU. As a result of this there were some areas that required increased maintenance attention. One of these areas was the front suspension and braking system. Ford used some rubber bushes on the suspension arms (ie control arms) and those rubber bushes eventually need replacing. Even if the car has relatively low km on it, rubber cracks and dry rots over time. So, whether it be from distance driven or time, sooner or later the control arm bushes need to be replaced. Symptoms of worn control arm bushes: - Overall sloppy feel in the front end and just a floaty/bad/dangerous feeling. - Premature tyre wear in the insides of the tyres. - Premature warping of the brake discs. Get the discs machined, and they’re warped again within a few thousand km. - Brake shudder. - Loose steering. - Clunking sounds from the front suspension. With my taxi and my girlfriend’s taxi, we’ve been taking them to a suspension workshop and had the bushes replaced there. This has been costing around $600 per car each time, although that does include a wheel alignment. However, there is also the problem of each taxi being off the road for half a day, which costs extra money. It was time that I learned more about this, including how to do the job at home myself (late at night, so that the car wouldn’t have to off the road during the day). It turned out that replacing the control arms actually isn’t all that difficult. However, the other challenge is to get the bushes replaced on the control arms. I recently bought a 20 ton hydraulic press secondhand for $100, so in the future I’ll be able to press out the old bushes and press in the new ones. I already have a complete spare set of upper and lower control arms, so I’ll able to get them ready with new bushes before dismantling anything on the car. Deb’s taxi was urgent though. The insides of her front tyres had gone bald and had to be replaced well before their due time. Knowing that that the new tyres would then wear prematurely, we bought some complete aftermarket control arms. My car currently has a secondhand set of control arms that a mechanic has lent me (ie he fitted them), so the pressure has been on lately to learn how to replace them at home. Both cars needed bushes urgently, and I need to return the borrowed control arms. I was cleaning under my car in March when I noticed that the rear lower control arms bushes were completely stuffed. These bushes were 12 months and 120,000km old, so I didn’t expect them to be so worn out so early. These arms were replaced by the borrowed ones a few days later. It was clear that I had to learn a lot more about how to maintain this area. I didn’t muck around with making sure that the front of the car was going to be stable. I jacked up the front with a trolley jack as far as the jack would go and then lowered it on to the orange stands. I then slid the blue stands into place, tapping them backward with a mallet until they were firmly between the chassis rails and the ground. I left the trolley jack in place, although it was later moved to the engine cross member when the front one had to be lowered. I’ve started by removing the brake caliper and disc rotor. The front pads were almost finished, so I’ve pushed the caliper pistons back in, in anticipation of fitting new pads later on. This photo shows some of the various main parts. A photo of an upper control arm. I’ll be replace those bushes another time (soon). You can also see the pot plant hooks that I use to hold the brake calipers in place. I’m about to disconnect the spindle from the upper control arm by loosening the 18mm nut and removing the bolt. This came apart easily, and I’ve put the bolt and nut back in place so that I don’t misplace them or confuse them with the other bolts that I’ll be removing later on. Now that I’ve got the top of the spindle loose, I can move it outward and disconnect it from the lower ball joint. Remove the nut with a 22mm socket and then bang the base of the spindle with a hammer - the vibrations will loosen it from the ball joint. I actually bought a conventional 22mm socket for this job, but it was too short to fit over the bolt ends. I ended up using a 22mm long impact socket instead. I’m not particularly delicate when it comes to getting the spindle to separate from the ball joint. I belt the living daylights out of it with a hammer from different angles. Now that the spindle has been removed you can see the ball joint and shock absorber strut. I bought a 24mm spanner for this job, but the only time that I used it where the strut bolts to the control arm. You could easily get away with using a crescent (ie adjustable spanner) instead if you haven’t got a 24mm spanner. You can also see why the normal 22mm socket was too short, requiring the long impact socket instead - the bolt was too long for the normal socket to fit over. I’ve now removed the shock absorber bolt. Now we start to see how the lower control arm works. It levers up and down, the movement of which is controlled by the shock absorber. There are two large bushes in the control arm where it connects to the car. When these bushes are worn then problems will develop (ie any of the symptoms described at the start). This photo shows the rear part of the control arm, and the bolt that will be removed next. I’ve also relocated the jack from the front crossmember to the engine one. Although I had four axle stands in place, I still kept the trolley back in place for extra safety. Another angle of the rear area of the control arm. The bolt slid out the back easily. This photo shows the front area of the control arm, including the front lower control arm bush. This is the one that causes most of the trouble when it is worn. When the car is braking then a lot of weight is transferred on to this. If this bush is worn then the result will be the premature wearing of the insides of the front tyres. To get to the front of the control arms I need to remove this plastic pan that attaches to the front bumper. This means removing a bunch of screws with a 7mm head each. I used a cordless electric drill and 1/4” drive socket for this. I’ve only ever had to replace an indicator globe once, and that was done by removing the plastic on the inside of the wheel arch to get to the globe. Removing the plastic pan is another way of accessing the indicator globes.

Get some CRC Disc Brake Quiet. I've put way too much on in this photo, but you get the general idea. It also comes in an aerosol can, which is what I will be buying next time.

With the upper arm bushes, I was surprised at how easily they slid out. There was such little resistance that I was using one of my fingers on the bottle jack in the press instead of the rod handle. I've had Roadsafe ball joints on both taxis for the last year. But they wore out earlier than the Ford ones, so that's what I'll be using from now on. The Roadsafe ones had covered 118,000km on my car, so they'll be ok for personal use. The part number is BJ426. When I had my lower control arm bushes and ball joints replaced at Wilkinson Suspension last year I was charged $22.23 for each of the Roadsafe ball joints. The car had done 247,000km on the original Ford ball joints and they weren't worn out when they were replaced (ie they would have lasted longer). The part number for the Ford one is BA3395A. Do a search for that part number on eBay and you'll find them for around $60 a pair. For that cost, I'll be using the Ford ones.

If you can find one for the right price then grab it. Even if you only use it once a year, if it costs you $100 to get and means that you can do more things at home (ie cheaper, and in your own time) then it pays off. I bought this one for the sole task of changing rear axle bearings. Since buying it, I've noticed that the lower control arm bushes on both taxis are completely stuffed. I put a complete set of aftermarket lower control arms in Deb's taxi during the week, but I'm not confident in how long those particular bushes last for. I'm still indecisive about what bushes to commit to sticking with, but I'm inclined to go with the standard Ford stuff at this stage. Now that I've got this setup I'll be replacing bushes and ball joints regularly on both cars. Something that I'm sure Ralph Wiggum will be delighted about the next time he's in one of the two taxis. 1. I found that both bushes pushed out extremely easily, thanks to power of the 20 ton bottle jack, so heating the arm wasn't necessary for making them slide out easier. Besides making them slide out easier, is there any reason to heat up the control arm? 2. Getting a second bottle jack - bingo - good idea. There are a couple on Gumtree for $20 in Perth right now, so I'll go shopping this afternoon. Trying to juggle holding the control arm up, holding the jack and spacers in place and then pumping the jack was a job that required more hands than I have. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had a go at pushing out the bushes on an upper control arm this afternoon. Very easy to do. With the upper ball joint, I bought a G & G Technics GGT-400 Hand Press recently, so will use that for replacing the ball joint. But, doing so in the press is also possible. So that there will be no more of this:

Got home and had a go. Success. I bought this 20 ton press a few weeks ago for $100 secondhand via Gumtree. It’s fairly tall, which is what I need for doing rear axle bearings on my BFIII station wagon taxi. And it’s easy to move the cross beam by moving the metal rods that hold it up. It came with this box of various spacers and other bits and pieces. To push the existing bushes out of the control arm, I removed the hydraulic jack from the press. It took some balancing to get everything to line up but eventually I managed to get the jack pushing the spacer upward instead of pushing it out sideways. An extra pair of hands would be useful for this part. At the top of the jack is one of the metal spacers from the box. It turned out to be the perfect diameter to fit on the outer edge of the bush (ie where the metal exterior is). A close-up photo of the front lower control arm bush being pushed out by the hydraulic jack and spacer. Once I got it all lined up it was simply a matter of pumping the jack and watching the bush slide out. Another advantage of using the hydraulic jack was that the base of it also partly pushed out the rear lower control arm bush. In theory, I could have had the correct sized spacers at both ends of the jack and but this stuff is heavy and balancing it all was a challenge. The hole in the control arm where the front bush was. Then it was time to get the rear bush out. I had a head start thanks to the hydraulic jack. Another few minutes of trying to balance and line things up before the jack’s piston pushed out far enough to hold the jack in place. The same as the front bush - the rear bush pushed out easily. Time for a problem - the spacer that I had just used on the rear bush was about the same diameter, meaning that it was then stuck in the control arm. I had a quick go with a hammer but it wasn’t going to tap out. I put the hydraulic jack back in the press and pushed the spacer out easily enough. Being able to move the cross beam around so easily made this a simple job. Then it was time to push out the suspension strut bush. I used the press to start pushing the bush out. Then it was time to get a spacer from the box. It didn’t take particularly long to have all three bushes pushed out. I was pretty pleased by now. The end result - a front lower control arm with all three bushes pushed out. That ball joint is only a few weeks old so will be staying there. Now all I need to do is go buy a bunch of new bushes and learn how to press them in...

This. Need photos! I bought a 20 ton press a few weeks ago and now I need to see what other stuff I need to get so that I can push the lower control arm bushes out. Need to figure out how to push wagon rear axle bearings off as well.

(Previous answer deleted - I didn't read the question properly) Does QFM make a suitable pad?

Hawk Performance ceramics. Good bite and low dust. The dust is a brown colour and washes off the wheels easily enough.

Summary: - BA, BF and FG Falcons all use a 4D60 immobiliser chip. - You can buy blanks easily from various places in China very cheaply. - The BA Falcon key is the same as a Ford Mondeo key, so if you have a BA then just order a Mondeo key. The Mondeo also uses a 4D60 chip, so all you have to do is get the key cut and then you can code it to the car yourself. Very easy. - The BA and FG Falcon use the same blank as a Ford Focus, but the Focus uses a 4D63 immobiliser chip. Thus, you either need to order the key blanks without chips and order the chips separately, or ask the supplier if they can supply the key blank with a 4D60 chip in it. - Doing this with a BF-style key is no big deal - the blanks come apart easily and clip together once you’ve put the 4D60 chip in it. - Doing this with an FG-style flip key is a lot harder. There are photos around somewhere that show how to dismantle a flip key to replace the clip (it’s actually a glass transponder). I would suggest that you ask the supplier if they can supply a Ford Focus flip key with a 4D60 transponder in it instead of the usual 4D63. Note: I wanted several spare keys for two taxis. If you're only after one or two keys, then you're probably better off paying $20-25 each for the blanks on eBay. A few months ago, I bought some key blanks from Honrow. The immobiliser chips didn't work, as they were 4D63. I recently ordered some 4D60 chips separately from Honrow. I put those chips in some of the Chinese blanks that I had cut a few months ago. Attempted to get them coded to the car… success. So, if anyone is looking for key blanks, you can order them from Honrow or other places on www.aliexpress.com You will need to order the key blanks with chips (ie the cases only) and then order the chips separately. The key blanks come apart easily and you just put a chip into each one. ie Part Name: Ford Focus transponder key shell Part Number: Ford-SH-02 Price: $US1.30 Link: http://www.honrow.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=145 Part Name: ID4D60 (T16) Carbon Transponder Part Number: HTC-13 Price: $US3.30 Link: http://www.honrow.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=242 I can confirm that the above two items work. I have bought and used them in my BFIII wagon. There is no difference between these key blanks (at a cost of $US4.60 each) and the blanks that you can buy from a Ford dealer (at $130-150 each). For a flip key (if you manage to get the thing apart): Part Name: ID4D60 (T7) Glass Transponder Part Number: HTC-12 Price: $US2.90 Link: http://www.honrow.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=241 I didn’t ask Honrow if they could supply either the normal blanks or flip keys with 4D60 chips in them - I should have. I would assume that they can do this. For a flip key to suit a BF or FG, we want this one: Part Name: Ford Focus remote key with 4D63 chip 433MHZ Part Number: Ford-RH-01 Price: $US20.00 Link: http://www.honrow.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=795 BUT… with a 4D60 glass transponder in it (ie the HTC-12 above) instead of the 4D63. I’m about to email Honrow right now and see if that’s possible. This is also an option - an all-in-one key (ie key and buttons), but without the flip function: Part Name: Ford Focus Remote key with 4D63 chip and 434MHZ Part Number: Ford-RH-09 Price: $US20.00 Link: http://www.honrow.com/ProductShow.asp?ID=803 But, as with the flip key, it needs to have a 4D60 transponder in it instead of the 4D63. I’ll be asking Honrow about this one as well. I’ll also be looking for somewhere on the outside of the car where I can store a key without a chip, so that if the normal key somehow gets locked in the car then I can access the chip-less key to at least open the driver’s door. I still haven’t found a source for the older BA/BF remotes, aside from finding the occasional one individually on Gumtree and eBay for around $30. A repost of some notes about coding keys and remotes (including how to code keys when you only have one existing key): How To Program Falcon Remotes: Sit in the car with the doors closed Turn the ignition to the ACC position and press the rear demist button 3 times, within 5 seconds. You then press a button on the first remote to be trained , the door locks will cycle. Then press a button on the 2nd to be trained and the door locks will cycle again. Repeat this step for the the rest of the remotes to be trained to the car. The first keypad trained will result in one door lock cycle, the second will result in 2 door lock cycles, and so on. There is a limit of 8 remotes per car. Turn the ignition to the OFF position to exit the learning mode. Your remotes are now programmed to your car. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To code additional keys: Sit in the driver’s seat with doors closed. Put the first coded key into the ignition & turn to the ACC position (first position/click). Turn this key to the OFF position & remove the key. Within 5 seconds put the 2nd coded key into the ignition & turn this key to the ON position. Turn this key back to the OFF position and remove the key. The door locks will then cycle to indicate that the learning mode is active. Within 5 seconds put the new un-programmed key into the ignition & turn to the ON position. The door locks will cycle 3 times to indicate the 3rd key has been trained , ensure you wait for the locks to finish cycling before turning the key to the OFF position. Repeat this step for any following keys , The 4th key trained will cycle the locks 4 times, and so on. You can train up to a maximum of 8 keys. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/75683-programing-new-key-melb/page__pid__1127650#entry1127650 To code a second key with only one key: Sit in the driver’s seat with doors closed. Put the first coded key into the ignition & turn to the ACC position (first position/click). Turn this key to the OFF position & remove the key. Within 5 seconds put the 2nd coded key into the ignition & turn this key to the ON position. With only one key: Wrap the head of the key with tin foil a few times to shield it and within 5 seconds put the same coded key into the ignition & turn this key to the ON position. Turn this key back to the OFF position and remove the key. The door locks will then cycle to indicate that the learning mode is active. Within 5 seconds put the new un-programmed key into the ignition & turn to the ON position. The door locks will cycle 3 times to indicate the 3rd key has been trained , ensure you wait for the locks to finish cycling before turning the key to the OFF position. Repeat this step for any following keys , The 4th key trained will cycle the locks 4 times, and so on. You can train up to a maximum of 8 keys.

You haven't been in my taxi...

I've tried Ferodo DS2500, TRW and Hawk Performance ceramic pads. I'm sticking with the Hawks. The DS2500s are known for having good bite, but being dusty. When I was researching pads a couple of years ago, my conclusion was that the Hawk ceramics were the least dusty, so that's what I bought. I have a secondhand set of DS2500s and a set of TRWs. With bite, I don't notice any significant difference between them. They're both very dusty. With the Hawks, DS2500s and TRWs, I don't notice any difference in pedal pressure. The Hawks do have some very nice extra bite after they've been warmed up with a few high speed hard stops. But they don't need this to work properly. Hawk Performance Brake Pad Part Numbers: Brembo 6 piston front: HB616Z.607 Brembo 4 piston rear: HB194Z.665

The standard Brembo pads are known for being extremely dusty. When I fitted my Brembo stuff a couple of years ago, I went straight to a set of Hawk pads, and still have the unused Brembo pads in the shed.

Update (24 hours later): Tonight I did the same job on my girlfriend’s taxi. Replacing the rear spark plug only took a minute or two. I used one socket for removing the spark plug (with a rubber insert) and a different socket for putting the new one in (without a rubber insert, so that the socket would lift out easily). I put together a ratchet setup that could then be used with each socket: - 1/4” ratchet - 2” (5cm) extension bar - 1/4” universal joint - 5” (7.5cm) extension bar - 1/4” to 3/8” adaptor With my normal spark plug socket, I used a 3/8” to 1/2” adaptor. This meant that both sockets now used a 3/8” drive. Tip: with universal joints, try and only use one. And keep that one as high up as possible - if it’s low in the spark plug hole and the extension bar comes out then it’s tricky to get it to plug back in (because the top of the universal joint falls to the side).

This is the combination that I ended up using to put the rear spark plug back in. I carefully dropped the spark plug in on its own, and then slid the socket and extension bars down over it. I tried, but couldn’t get the rubber to go back into the socket. It’s obviously a tight fit - being intended for motorbikes, this socket will need a relatively tight grip on the spark plug. It’s not intended for car use. To use this socket again for removing spark plugs, I’ll either try jamming some Blutak into the top of it (ie to stick to the spark plug) or get a magnetic tool to pull the spark plug out. In hindsight, I should have tried spraying some silicon wax inside the socket rubber to see if that would reduce its grip on the spark plug. Or tried using my 1/2” drive spark plug socket with adaptors to fit the 1/4” extension bars. There is another solution for this - Snap-on do make some 1/2” universal joints that are narrow enough to fit into the spark plug holes (part number is BLPUJ12). I bought some Kincrome universal joints a while ago, but they are too wide and don’t fit. Alternatively, just leave the rubber out of the Bikeservice socket and poke one of the coils down into the spark plug hole so that it grabs hold of the plug, and then remove it. I’m going to have to get decisive about this one of these days - take the damn car to a tool shop, remove the coil cover in the carpark and see what universal joints the shop has that actually fit down the spark plug holes. I’d like to stick with my 1/2” drive stuff. A photo showing how deep the spark plug holes are. Before putting the coils back in, I applied some dielectric grease to them. I bought this from Supercheap Auto when I bought the spark plug socket and 1/4” extension bars. These sachets were $4.95 each. I actually bought three, but only one is needed to put enough in the coils on one car. The rubbers come away from the coils pretty easily. I’ve done this to put some dielectric grease into the copper ends. I squirted a fair bit into both the copper end and rubber of each coil - that one sachet allows for quite a bit to be applied to each coil. By putting some into the coil rubber, it ensures that the coils will come away from the spark plugs easily enough next time - without that grease, the rubbers stick to the spark plugs and become difficult to remove. The coils back in place, but not re-connected yet. The coils have been re-connected. Before putting the coil cover back on, ensure that the six rubber plugs are in place, and that the coil cover seal is in place correctly. I’ve been meaning to replace this as a precautionary measure, to ensure that a fresh (and softer) rubber seal will help to prevent water getting past it when I wash the engine bay. Once the coil cover bolts have been put back on it’s time to put the air intake pipe back into place. With the coil cover bolts, I do them up reasonably tight, but not so tight that I strip the threads. With the air intake pipe, pull it forward toward the front of the car so that it clears the top of the firewall, and then let it move backward into place. Check that the rubber seal between the air intake pipe and throttle body is good. This one isn’t, so I’ll need to replace that rubber seal as soon as possible. I’m pretty stumped how this happened - I’m aware of how easy it is for this to happen, so have always been extra careful when putting this back in place. Spraying some silicon spray on the inside of the rubber seal helps the whole lot slide back into place. The same applies to the small rubber tube that connects to the rocker cover. When putting the two bolts back on, that clip goes on top. Then feed the rear hose back through the clip before reconnecting the hose. The PCV valve also goes back in. This photo shows two of the old spark plugs, and I’ve added part of a previous photo to show the electrode of a new one. You can see how the electrodes have worn on the old plugs, particularly the one in the middle. That’s it. The two hoses have been reconnected on the left side of the engine bay. Start the engine, and hopefully it will idle smoothly. A rough idle will indicate a bad connection between one of the coils and its respective spark plug, which means that you’ll have to pull it all apart again and double check it. Overall, this is an easy job. Except for: 1) Removing the rear coil cover bolt. I’ve only ever had to do that once - every other Falcon I’ve worked on has already had that one bolt discarded. 2) Removing and replacing the rear spark plug. I’ll come up with a good (ie fast) solution one of these days, and update this thread.

It’s well known that late model Falcons will backfire if the spark plugs and/or coils are worn. My BFIII Falcon has been backfiring occasionally lately. I should replace both the spark plugs and coils together but I’m trying to control my vehicle costs. I’ll replace the spark plugs first and see if that fixes it. If not, then I’ll have to cough up a bunch of money for new coils. With coils, there is plenty of discussion on various forums about which ones to get. There are the genuine Ford ones (part number: BAF12A366A), but they are extremely expensive. If my backfiring continues then I’m probably going to try a set of the VDO coils (part no: A2C59513771), which can be found easily enough for around $135-150 per set (ie less than half of Ford’s current price). There is a previous thread that also covers this, along with a bunch of useful contributions: http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11229532 Photos: My engine bay - it’s a bit dusty, but not too bad for a car with 326,000km on it. I clean the engine bay with CT18 degreaser and a brush every few months. This is an Egas (ie dedicated LPG) Falcon, so petrol cars won’t have the hose that runs across the top of the coil cover (in the middle of the engine bay). If you’re going to do this job, it would be a suitable time to wash the engine bay before starting. Still take care to not get water past the coil cover and into the spark plug holes, but if you do then it’s not a huge problem because you’re going to be removing the spark plugs anyway. When washing the engine bay, you’ll hear warnings about not getting water past the rocker cover - that’s the black plastic cover sitting on top of the rocker cover (ie the green thing). If you get water past the rocker cover then it will go down into the spark plug holes, shorting them out. That means running on less than six cylinders. To remove the coil cover, the first thing to do is to disconnect the two hoses. I use Bosch FR 7KPP 33 U+ spark plugs, which I’ve previously bought individually for between $7 and $12 each. I didn’t know until recently that they also come in this six pack, which works out cheaper. The Bosch part number is P38-6 - quote this when calling shops to check for stock. This pack retails for $44.90 from Supercheap Auto, or $40.49 with a Supercheap Auto Trade Account Card (ie 10% discount). That works out to $7.48 each at full price, or $6.75 each with the trade discount. As I’ll cover later, getting to the rear spark plug is a problem. I bought some 1/4” extension bars, a 1/4” to 3/8” adaptor and a Bikeservice BS9133 spark plug socket. The BS9133 has a 3/8” drive, hence the adaptor. I don’t have any 3/8” stuff as I’ve always standardised on 1/2” sockets and ratchets - it’s only recently that I’ve been adding some 1/4” stuff to my collection. On the right side of the photo is the 1/2” stuff that I normally use - ratchet, long extension bar and socket. I’ve always had trouble getting the rear spark plug in and out with my usual 1/2” stuff. Tonight I tried an experiment with a different socket and ratchet setup. I’ve bought a couple of these spark plug sockets previously to use on my KTM enduro bike. When I bought the KTM back in June, I found that normal sockets were too wide to fit into the narrow KTM spark plug hole. This is what I ended up getting for the bike, so I bought another one to use on the taxi. If you have a late model four stroke enduro or motocross bike then I recommend that you get one of these sockets - if it fits into the KTM head then it will fit into anything. I keep one in my motorbike toolbox and one in the bumbag that I wear when riding. They are in the motorbike section at Supercheap Auto - it’s usually at the end of one of the aisles, so you’ll probably walk past it without noticing. Ask the staff where it is. Oh, and 16mm = 5/8”. I figured that with such a thin wall, the socket would be easier to get in and out of the rear spark plug hole. However, when I later measured the outside diameter of this and my old 1/2” socket there was minimal difference. The Bikeservice one is 20mm thick and my old one is 21mm thick. However, this is still the only socket that I’ve found that fits into the KTM head (besides the original KTM socket, which sells for over $60). Remove the hose that goes to the LPG converter. Conventional pliers or multi-grip pliers would also do the job, but I use the needle nose pliers because they open up enough to fit over the clip. I squeeze the pliers closed and then push the clip to the right. The hose will then slide off the connector. The same applies to the rear hose. That last hose runs through a clip at the back of the coil cover. That’s why I disconnect the hose - so that I can get it out of that clip. I then remove the PCV valve. PCV = Positive Crankcase Vent. If you want to replace either the PCV valve or the plastic elbow, here are the Ford part numbers: PCV Valve Part Number: AUC 6A666 A Plastic Elbow Part Number: D9AE 6B892 AA The disconnected rear hose has been removed from the clip, and the PCV valve has also been removed from the coil cover. The air intake pipe is held in place by two bolts. Undo those two bolts, pull it forward so that the rear of it clears the top of the firewall area and lift it away. There are no bolts that attach it to the throttle body - it just pulls off, along with the small rubber tubing that connects to the rocker cover. Now that I have full access to the rocker cover it’s time to remove the rocker cover bolts. There are eight of these - they are loosened with a 5mm allen key. The rear one is a nightmare to get to, and I don’t bother to put it back in. Here are the tools that I use to remove the rocker cover bolts. I’ve always used a Sidchrome 5mm t-bar - the ball end gives me a bit of room to move with the angle of it. I don’t have any allen key sockets, so lately I’ve been using a Torx T30 socket with a cordless electric drill. To remove the rear bolt, use a normal 5mm allen key. It’s frustrating and fiddly - you do it little bit by little bit. Which is why I don’t bother putting that one back in - it gets added to the box of spare bolts. Don’t forget the fibre washer that comes out with each coil cover bolt. When working on cars and motorbikes, you’ll use 4mm, 5mm and 6mm allen keys sometimes. The Sidchrome t-bars sell for around $15-20 each. I ended up buying the complete set several years ago for $57 - http://www.sidchrome.com.au/products/8-piece-t-handle-hex-key-set-metric Once the hoses are out of the way and the coil cover bolts have been removed, I have full access to the coil cover. During all this, I keep the oil filler cap in place to ensure that nothing can get into the oil. When removing the oil cap, make sure that the rubber seal in the top of the cap stays in place - it will sometimes come loose and stay on top of the engine. The coil cover removed. There is a rubber seal that goes between the coil cover and the rocker cover (ie the green thing). Sometimes that seal will come off with the coil cover, and sometimes it will stay on the rocker cover. On the coil cover there are six rubber plugs. When the coil cover is in place, these rubber plugs press down onto the coils to ensure they are kept in place. When removing the coil cover, sometimes some of the rubber plugs stay on top of the coils. If this happens, remove them from the coils and fit them back into the coil cover. As soon as the coil cover is removed, I put the oil cap back on. Once the coil cover is out of the way the coils can be disconnected. I use a flat blade screwdriver to push the clip outward and then press down on the clip with the pliers that I used earlier to disconnect the hoses. The coils, all disconnected. The coils can now be removed. Now it’s time to start on the spark plugs. In the past I’ve used the ratchet setup at the top of the photo - a Sidchrome ratchet, a long extension bar and a conventional 5/8” spark plug socket. This stuff is all conventional 1/2” drive. But, that hasn’t given me access to the rear plug. In the past I’ve stuffed around with all sorts of stupid attempts - getting the plug loose is easy enough (with a shorter extension bar), but getting the socket and plug out is the difficult part. I’ve ended up fishing with a screwdriver with Blutak on the end to get the spark plug socket and plug out. Tonight I tried a different combination - a 1/4” setup that will give me better access to the rear spark plug. It ended up working perfectly for getting the old spark plug out, but wasn’t so good for getting the new plug back in (I couldn’t get the socket to come loose from the new plug). Because the 1/4” extension bars are so narrow, I only needed the one universal joint to get the rear plug out. Loosening the rear spark plug. As you can see, the universal joint allows the extension bars to move to an angle that allows the ratchet to rotate. It doesn’t show in the photo, but that rear spark plug hole is actually underneath the top of the firewall and piping. Hence the difficult access. Once I got the spark plug loose I disconnected the ratchet and rotated the extension bars easily enough by hand. Putting the new rear plug back in was where problems began - getting the plug in and tightened up was easy enough, but then the socket wouldn’t come loose from the spark plug (ie the extension bar would come loose instead). The rubber inside the socket gripped on too tight. I tried putting the spark plug only half way into the socket, but it still took too much force to get the socket away from the spark plug. With everything having gone so well so far, this project now came to a grinding halt. I ended up with the socket stuck to the spark plug once I tightened it. The extension bars just disconnected from the adaptor. Despite my 185cm height, I couldn’t reach over far enough to see down the spark plug hole. There were various attempts at dropping extension bars down, but I couldn’t get them to push into the adaptor on the end of the spark plug socket. This ended up getting frustrating, which is a very polite way of saying that I got really, really, really, really, really pissed off. I eventually managed to get an extension bar to plug in properly. I removed the plug and then had to figure out how to get it back in and tightened, but in such a way that I could also remove the spark plug socket afterward. After trying a few things, I ended up removing the rubber from the spark plug socket by pushing a flat blade screwdriver through from the top.

I use Hawk Performance ceramic pads on my taxi (6 piston front, 4 piston rear Brembos). Part number is HB616Z.607. I've tried a set of Ferodo 2500s and got huge amounts of black brake dust that was frustrating to wash off the wheels. The Hawk pads bite well, and produce less dust than other pads.

Been there, done that... they retract slowly when they get dirty. I had that a few months ago. Apparently the way to go is to clean it with a steam cleaner. I ended up going to a car wash, pulling the belt out and closing the car door (with the belt outside the car). Use the high pressure water on both sides of the belt. Drove home and left the belt extended out for an hour (fed it through the steering wheel). Left the car idling for an hour with the heater on full, and the belt was then dry.

I did the same job two years ago but couldn't remember how to get the top plastic off. You won't be the only one referring back to this in the future...