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The lower ball joint needs replacing, so as its riveted on to the lower arm I might as well change the lower suspension arm as well. According to Haynes when refitting it is vital to get the torque settings correct for the bolts that pass through the bushes. I don't have a torque wrench and wonder how vital it is. Isn't spanner tight good enough?
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A lot of it will depend on experience. An experienced mechanic can get close to correct torque figures most of the time.
But its always advisable to use a torque wrench when a set torque is specified on something important like suspesnsion etc.
Maybe worth buying 1?
If you don't use 1, then re check bolts regularly for few weeks until happy they are staying tight etc.
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in many cases people OVER tighten bolts which can cause failure.
why not get a torque wrench?
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Thanks it seems that I need a torque wrench but I have never needed one before and will hardly ever use it again and they are expensive. Haynes does mention the risk of over tightening although I haven't had a problem doing that in the last forty years.
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Quite difficult to overtighten main suspension bolts with an ordinary spanner as the torque settings tend to be quite high. But must be worth doing it right. Surely torque wrenches aren't all that expensive?
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Argos do a cheap torque wrench for £15 which has the setting range to cover most things needed for cars. But if he is hardly ever going to use it again then I wouldn't bother buying one specially. Just make sure that the bolts are reasonably tight and won't come undone. After all it is only a suspension arm on a MK3 Fiesta, not a piece of a NASA space shuttle. What is the torque setting supposed to be anyway? If you are able to do a diy change of a lower arm then you should have a reasonable ability to judge how tight something needs to be. For example, most car wheels nuts/bolts often have a torque setting of between 60lbs/ft and 90 lbs/ft. Can you not use this to judge it?
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Well if you read the Hayens directions you would think it was a piece of NASA technology. They say the bolts must be tightened to the "torque to yield method" (a four stage process backing off each time before retightning). Um..Duh. Oh yeah, I think I see. And because they get so technical about it , it makes me think it really is necessary.
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I think that the Haynes manual is being a little too cautious on this. I have never changed any Fiesta bottom arms, but have done the very similar style Escort bottom arms and you just need to make sure that the bolts are tight. There were no subsequent problems with the one I did.
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With the increasing use of alloy and aluminium components in modern vehicles I would suggest that the non-purchase of a torque wrench is very much a false economy.
Having owned a Hillman Imp in my early days a Norbar TW was one of my first expensive tool investments, and it is still in use today. I never suffered from the problems many Imp owners (and incompetent garages) endured.
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pmh (was peter)
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I agree that if you do a lot of work on vehicles, especially modern ones then a torque wrench is a very wise and sensible investment.
>>Having owned a Hillman Imp in my early days a Norbar TW was one of my first expensive tool investments, and >>it is still in use today.
Out of interest have you ever had your torque wrench checked and calibrated, especially if it is quite old. For all you know it may be a mile out of adjustment by now and doing as much harm as good. I'm not saying that it is, but it is quite possible.
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