Ford Mondeo Mk3 Ball Joint Replacement (project mondeo)

Ford Mondeo Mk3 Ball Joint Replacement (project mondeo), well this was a fun one to do, the lower ball joint on the mondeo is held in place with rivets and they need to be cut to be replaced.
Well i know i said that this can be done on the car but in all honesty i very much doubt it after i found out by doing these myself, lol.
Most people would probably just change the complete wishbone but as i am doing the Flo-Flex poly bushes on the wishbones i thought i might as well change the ball joints while i am at it and show you the way i done it.
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Disclaimer: Any work carried out by myself i do at my own risk, i record each project i undertake with the aim to help guide other people to do these jobs them self at home.
If doing these projects you do so at your own risk. If after watching any video you still feel unsure please seek the help of your local garage.

[@ChazzCoombes]

After doing this i realised what a pain this job is and that you can not do it on the car that i am aware off. So i completely understand why people would just change the complete wishbone. But as i was doing the poly bushes i thought make sence to replace these aswell.

[@TheFakeRussian]

You can do it on the car, I did mine on the car and made a spring compressor here - .kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5mYe4SkmZKMhpo You need to take the weight off the spring by about 5mm then you need to remove the pinch bolt. Take an angle grinder to grind out the original rivets heads, a good smack with a hammer and punch then when everything is free you spray the old ball joints well with WD40 or GT85 and need to wiggle them out. Once you've undone everything put the ball joint in the bottom of the arm and insert the pinch bolt. The trick is to use the movement of the ball joint to insert the plate back into the swing arm and tap it home with a hammer. Drop the bolts in and do everything up loosely, let the spring weight back on and then tighten up all the bolts. It takes about 40 to 60 mins per side.

[@WineScrounger]

Makes sense, nothing wrong with the steel bit. It’s always the rubbers that go. Definitely get a mini grinder, sooo useful.

[@charlesparnell5338]

Question. How did you manage to get the rear bolt of the wishbone out (15mm top bolt - 18mm bottom nut). There is such little clearance, between the bolt head and the wheel well, I don't see how its coming out. Thanks!

[@WineScrounger]

Charles Parnell as I recall the bolts leave the factory the wrong way round and if you haven’t had this done already, you may need to take the subframe off.

[@charlesparnell5338]

@@WineScrounger Oh goodie! grrrr. thanks. I was looking at it thinking why the hell ford didn't put the nut on top and slide the bolt up. makes no sense. If you watch the AutoDocs video, the bastard just magically pulls the bolt out. They even said to use a 15mm spanner, but a straight spanner will just round the nut off. Needs to be offset, best I can tell, since the bolt head is sitting in that dish....

[@rincewind007j]

Happy birthday to another amazing KZbinr 🎁🎈🎉🎂 hope you had an amazing day

[@bunabuna9287]

Well it can be done with the right tools amigo. Great video chazz nice one.

[@ChazzCoombes]

What tools are they mate??

[@bunabuna9287]

@@ChazzCoombes that press you bought mate its mint. Can do loads of other jobs now.

[@paulmayou370]

Great video bro

[@ChazzCoombes]

Not the best one by far but it shows the press working.

[@paulmayou370]

Chazz Coombes I may invest in a press

[@ChazzCoombes]

@@paulmayou370 i think it will be worth it. I will be posting the link tomorrow

[@paulmayou370]

Chazz Coombes mind you I won’t have a little helper to use it too 😢

[@ChazzCoombes]

@@paulmayou370 i know bro, 😭

[@mondeost220restorations9]

Hi Chazz, along time ago I know but I don't suppose you know if those ball joints you fitted were st220 specific or what the ball joint pin diameter was?

[@abklhayy844]

hi, can i use electric drill to drill the rivet ?

[@frankkjllefjord446]

Did you have to go to a garage and adjust the geometry after replacing the ball joint?

[@stephenjames3242]

Hi chazz iam wondering if you could help iv got mondeo mk3 twice now some ones managed to turn alarm off and open car to steel out off it is there anything ican do to make care more secure iv git cluck lock but its to stop any one entering car iv had tools taken twice now ineed all help ican get

[@stevefox3763]

Thats such a long way to do it, yes, i use an angle grinder! As for punching the rivet out, it can be done without a press. Start the rivet moving by using a sharp chisel between the rivet and the arm on the side where the rivet still has a head and then place something behind the arm to lift the rivet off the ground and do it on concrete, use a bolt or flat tipped punch which is almost the same size as the rivet shaft and belt it a few times and it will come out. Dont use use pointed punches or overly thin bolts as the small contact area will expand the rivet shaft on impact and make it grip the sides!

[@mikeymc222]

Is it ok to bolt the new ball joints on for the mot? Do you use thread locker on them to stop them coming loose?

[@ChazzCoombes]

Yeah they should ve fine for mot, and you can use thread lock on them if you want. Put new bolts facing down and the nut from underside.

[@darkwaterblue]

Need to do this on my Mk4. The cheap ebay arms the balljoint lasts about 10K..... Ford arms are around 150 or so. Think its best to do this and put some half decent ones on original arms.....

[@AliMackMechanical]

Av done them before I seen the press you have its the same my mate's. I have a mk3 Mondeo myself. I have a press for bearings does the same job. I have polly bushed a few car's to see how long they would actually last. In some cases they will last for years in other's not just depends on what you do with the car. Also don't buy cheap or you will be doing it again next year Chinese rubbish lol. Good video. 👌👌 That ball joints are the same set up on most car's theses days. I just wack them of with a 4" Grinder from tool station £15 cheepo

[@ChazzCoombes]

Maybe i should invest in a grinder if there only a few bucks. The press has deffo been worth buying

[@AliMackMechanical]

@@ChazzCoombes Aye mate get them cheap enough from toolstaion mate. Or machine mart

[@michaellewis4977]

I took the rivets out with an angle grinder. Then thrashed the centers out with a punch. Takes a bit of determination.

[@dewaltaholicuk5435]

What..?? you don`t have an angle grinder, already..??... essential workshop tool :-)) I`ve done these on other cars like Vauxhall Astras and its a few minutes with a grinder and can be done in situ and you can use a pivoting ball joint seperator as a mini press but, I see why you took the arm out for the poly bush installation. BTW, I just replaced the O/S wishbone on my Mondy Mk3 and once I dropped the rear subframe (I was doing this at ground level, so I used a small scissor jack under the alternator bracket against the subframe to give extra clearance to draw the rear bolt from the top) and replaced the arm, I put the rear bolt back in facing upwards, so if I have to remove it again for any reason, it will less of an arse-ache...

[@ChazzCoombes]

Hiya yeah i have finally brought an angle grinder from Ryobi. Its deffo worth putting the bolt up the other way. Alot of people do this.

[@jamesbettell]

You said you're powering the dremel from an inverter, which one? I've got no power in my garage.

[@ChazzCoombes]

Hiya mate, ok. I am working on the project still and filming as i go. Basicly ive got a small 300watt inverter that is at moment connected to a 64ah battery (will be upgrading to a 110ah deep cycle soon) that i keep charged with a 100watt solar panel and a charge controller

[@jamesbettell]

@@ChazzCoombes you got any links to where you got them?

[@robertpowell7672]

Those Rivets would press out using a decent vice.

[@ChazzCoombes]

Yes mate they would easy but i have not got one, i have how ever completely rebuilt my work space to put one. So been really busy

[@megahertz6246]

Hey chazz, Got a mod question for ya.... Looking to know if a Tesla style touchscreen entertainment system could be modified into a mk3 st? Have you ever thought of doing this mod? Can it be done?

[@WineScrounger]

Fit an inexpensive Android tablet and hook it all up?

[@megahertz6246]

Yeah, but is there any programmes that would show everything from the cars cpu? I know there's android tablets that come from China and they plug into the car and show everything... just wondering if there's a way to custom one up

[@WineScrounger]

Michael Brennan you could get a Bluetooth OBD2 reader and put the app on the tablet. That will give you a good deal of systems information. It won’t be as eat or as well integrated as Tesla’s effort but it will cost a fair bit less.

[@stevencummings2395]

Wanna try doing them with the arm still on the car because the back bolt into the chassis wont come out and on a shitty 2 ton jack . not good...

[@ChazzCoombes]

After this i can see the headache it would be on the car

[@officialmysteriousrider6327]

Nice press iam getting the same one their is some comeing up £75 on ebay at the moment my gess is that its a faudster selling them with him having loads in same name & they look powder coated their from glen field united kingdom but when you look about seller it says location hong Kon AnJohn 498 is the name. and every other one is probably the same person selling them at £75 i mean come on people its a furniture shop selling a hydraulic press this is a warning to people owe no doubt will be comeing on here to see what this press is all about witch is a good press just becarful when your looking on ebay

[@woayerrrr]

Too many words...