Ford Fusion: Front Lower Control Arms / Tie Rod / Tire /Alignment - PART I

[@chungaleta1234]

Looking forward to part 2. I came across the same situation working on my S10. Replacing upper and lower control arm bushings in my driveway. What was supposed to be a 2 hour job, ended up as a 2 day nightmare. No matter how much I learn from these vids... Without a big nasty and the rest of a shop's gadgets... I feel incapable of doing most jobs.

[@funnypranker34]

Welcome to the rust belt buddy. Up here it’s easier to replace the entire suspension then just the bushings

[@bigscout1584]

Built Ford tough...tough to work on

[@Mike-we3rb]

Built like a moron*

[@LaMaRaGe0622]

Man watching you use the earthquake makes me want to buy it tomorrow. That thing is a beast.

[@petersamuel6597]

try the milwaukee 2676 its 1400 LBS torque best so far on market

[@jmx10]

Watching big nasty at work is so satisfying

[@Cowboy_Ash]

Why you little.... now I cannot sleep. To be continued!!! Very entertaining and informative. Thanks.

[@justinbishop318]

I just bought a 2012 Ford Fusion. Possibly need new ball joints and it has a shimy in the front end under load. I live 3 hours away from South Main, and most likely will take the trip to have him do the work along with a service/ assessment for preventative maintenance. They are hands down the most trustworthy shop I have ever seen. Anyone in the Northeast would be wise to have their vehicle's worked on by them.

[@KCautodoctor]

Based on the amount of comments complaining about this design, they must not work on many modern vehicles everyday. This is very common now-a-days to have to remove major sub-assemblies to access bolts for replacement of parts that commonly wear out. Sadly the vehicle manufacturers are all about getting the assembly time down to the fastest at the factory, while trading that off for longer labor times once the vehicle has left the factory. I have a couple friends that work as engineers at various vehicle manufacturers - they are constantly pushed by the accountants to make assembly quicker at the factories, since that is where the manufacturer's spend the greatest amount on labor -- as long as the vehicle makes it out of factory warranty coverage then the accountants could honestly care less what the repair costs are for the customer. Strongly recommend people read a book by Bob Lutz (retired Vice Chairman of General Motors) called "Car Guys VS Bean Counters" to better understand how little control the engineers really have in the building of vehicles these days.

[@Blazer02LS]

So very true...........

[@CubasAutomotive]

That's true modern engineering. I may complain, but who doesn't out of frustration? I will never buy a new car. I love the older pre 90s vehicles, to the 50s, 40s, 20s, but to keep up with flow of traffic or DD, I stick to late 70s to early 90s.

[@justingilmore6417]

Being that type of engineer I can tell you that is 100% true. Engineers want to make things easier for people to work on stuff because I myself may be in that predicament. Sadly all anyone companies care about anymore is the bottom line

[@gatekeeper65]

It's a big part of the reason the U.S. has become so uncompetitive. Shareholders, and therefore, the bean counters insist on bigger dividends at the cost of innovation and quality. It all comes down to the ultra rich and their greed.

[@sharedknowledge6640]

It's still true Ford, FCA, and GM are less interested in repairability compared to say Honda and Acura. The Euro fans out there are unlikely to admit the sad truth is modern European cars are a train wreck of poor engineering that makes this Ford look positively simple to repair. A taillight related failure can leave your fancy new Mercedes stranded and needing to be towed and a headlight assembly in a BMW can throw 20+ codes and cost over $1k to repair. So it's all relative.

[@CheezyDee]

I've worked on enough Fords of my own to know where to place strategic holes to remove nuts and bolts in dumb places. A really long prybar helps too.

[@frugalprepper]

Loosen the sub frame again pry the front corner of it down (while supporting the trans with a jack and board) and you will get the clearance. I did a 07 last year (or helped do one). Looks the same.

[@jpdronesolutions8646]

I’m a service manager and sales and finance manager for an auto repair shop and car sales lot in Minnesota. With that being said I truly know what the Rust Belt is. I enjoy your content keep it up great job Erik!

[@pontiakgaSport]

Proof that even a beast like Eric has moments of “wtf do I do now?” This will make me feel better when i stumble across some similar crap at work tomorrow lol. Now onto part two where he’ll make it look easy.

[@ericcorse]

My favorite kind of video all wrenching and some big Nasty.

[@andresara4711]

Ford taught me a big lesson in life, thank you so much you saved me thousands of dollars plus the stress.

[@DefaultAccount100]

I work third shift, Mr. O. Lovin' these late evening uploads!

[@northsouth9079]

Not kidding at all I had 2008 fusion with the same problems today. Had two bad tie rod ends and both front tires had belts broke. Great content as always!

[@kinqivan7]

Yaassssssssss for that 19.5 socket. Bro literally you are the first person whom I have seen own one of these. I used to use my 19.5 21.5 22.5 when I worked for a dodge dealer. They are amazing!

[@thefordmaniac]

I remember these fusions when they were brand new at the dealer...and doing the basic checks during the brake job, alignment, recall, thermostat, whatever...I always said damn these ball joints are gonna be a PITA. Turned out they don't look too bad

[@BrianWilliams009]

I lost it at 26:05! Wife was wondering why I laughed so loud:)!! Big O, you're pretty funny when you want to be.

[@NebukedNezzer]

another tire thing. I had an 88 nova(like a corolla). when I would drive faster it would pull harder to one side. The mechanic said tire problem. Swapped front and rear and pull went away. he said if its alignment the pull will not change much but if the tire has a bad belt, etc. it will pull harder at higher speed. worked for me.

[@SouthMainAuto]

We call that a radial pull, happens all the time :) Even with new tires!

[@mrau92me]

Thank you, sir, for this video. There are a couple other videos on the front control arms for this car, but they only showed the right side being done, which of course is the side that doesn't involve the bolt being blocked by the transmission pan. I was able to use my floor jack and two blocks of wood to raise the pan, like you did in this video. Granted, I was very nervous because a good bit of pressure had to be applied to the pan to get it high enough to get the bolt out, plus I have the Mazda 6 which I thought might be enough different to cause a problem lifting on the pan. I was afraid it might crush the pan, so I kept lifting a little bit at a time until I got it out.

[@76calidude]

I do suspension work on a daily. I've actually had people bring me those Fusions who've had their so called "mechanics" put those in without the sleeves. Then they bring it to my shop complaining about a noise over bumps...😂😂

[@MXguy95]

Dang it Eric, Well I wont sleep tonight wondering how it ended now.... Thanks. haha, ( patiently awaiting part 2 )

[@zainedaddario8911]

Man I just was doing a set of these on a friends car and ran into the same issues with the tapper/straight. Was able to torch and hit off the bushing off in my vice was a pain forsure nice video man glad I wasn’t the only person confused

[@jamespatterson9446]

Those lowers definitely can be a pain. I had to heat the knuckle with a torch to get each one out even with a big air hammer. Finally them to come out. But good grief what engineer thought up that design? How does that just come out the air into someone's head lol. Anyways I appreciate you doing videos, it definitely helps on things I sometimes forget about if I haven't seen certain vehicles in a while. So much difference In vehicles and so many different issues it's hard to keep it all in mind. Thanks again. God bless you

[@joelaplnski5394]

Good, Good stuff Eric, no kidding. I feel a little guilty, I’m at work and I can’t stop watching this vid. We’ll gots to get back to work, I’ll look at part 2 on break!

[@0509kj]

This job beat me up when I did it on my Mazda 6. Fantastic bit of engineering on Ford's part. The bushings on those dual lower ball joints came out exactly the same and had to be pulled off with a puller. Wish I'd had a big nasty for it for sure.

[@throttlebottle5906]

they're under $10 each, so easier to toss in new ones in

[@grimsbycleethorpesdashcam]

19:14 taking that sleeve off, use the ball joint splitter to put some pressure on it then give it a lil hit with an air hammer and it should pop off easy. also tapping with a hammer can work if thats all you have

[@chkr1610]

Enjoyed the video as always, some chuckles along with sympathy for your frustration. Keep up the great work!

[@63256325N]

I had a vehicle years ago with all four tires showing steel all the way around, so much steel they'd twinkle in the sunlight. Can't beat a good Michelin. Thanks for the video. Naturally I comment before the end of the video. Gotta say that's one screwy design to say the least, the trans. pan being in the way. Good luck man.

[@sharonmullins1957]

Came here to understand tie rods (just had replaced - 2009 fusion), stayed for the humor. SO funny!

[@comingundone27]

Done plenty of these control arms. Easy work. Good video!

[@codym4669]

Nick maybe you can give me a few tips? Having issues with ball joints frozen and getting that sub frame lowered.

[@VWWRENCHIE]

When I see tire wear like that AND the customer had NO CLUE...I worry that all the technology that warns us of problems is also making us into drivers that won't be able to think behind the wheel. Auto braking ,lane departure warnings etc etc, as they keep"smartening up" the cars, they" dumb down" the drivers SCARY!

[@SouthMainAuto]

I say let natural selection run its course and remove all the safety warnings :)

[@jamesberryman751]

@@SouthMainAuto I agree 100%. We now have a crop of drivers coming up that don't even know how to do many simple things because the cars keep saving their asses...until one day they don't, that is...

[@pfsantos007]

Actually it started way before all that. It's called an automatic transmission. That's when drivers started learning less and less about their cars.

[@frankm5019]

When was the last inspection sticker placed on the car? What shop put the last inspection sticker on the car?Ahh end of part ll "1st time at SMA.".

[@alexandriabowe]

Eric I worked on two of these didn't know that collar comes off, thanks for teaching

[@joeg.2354]

oh thank god you put up a video. i was bored beyond words tonight

[@richardcranium5839]

i've seen some of those bushings with the holes offset to enable alignment

[@joelopez40oz23]

7:52 back in the early days of me turning wrenches i did the classic reach around on a Ford exhaust pipe. Sent me to the emergency room to get 4 stitches. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way i guess.

[@SouthMainAuto]

I only mention it because I too learned the hard way....

[@hunterlinville423]

I feel your pain working on this Ford. I replaced spark plugs and wires on Ford Five Hundred. It was a much bigger pain than it needed to be

[@baxrok2.]

Yup, same on the Mazda 6's. No fun working DIY on the ground with these. Thanks!

[@isaiahwelch8066]

Eric: I would recommend a change of penetrating oil. I would begin using a product called Freeze-Loc or Freeze-Off. It's available at local parts store, and it's basically liquid nitrogen in a can. Awesome for breaking apart rusted parts, because it breaks rust and corrosion at the molecular level. I started using Freeze-Loc in 2011 while rebuilding the engine in my Ranger. And I used it to take off the harmonic balancer without air tools.

[@mrkttrdr2919]

I luv the sound of big nasty in the evening

[@Fred82ndAbn]

Great video! I was looking at a friends Mazda 6 and the suspension and the engine are almost the same as on my '11 Fusion! Other than the obvious Ford snafus, the car rides very nice and is nothing but extremely reliable. Just a little PITA for us DIYers. When I did the control arms on my Fusion, I lifted the transmission and was able to get the bolt out. My trans mount was sagging quite a bit. Maybe when they are new, the bolt can come out more easily.

[@andrewbabich5138]

Do I need to disconnect the steering shaft at the foot well and secure the wheel when lowering the subframe for the rearward control arm? A TRQ video shows them do disconnecting the steering and exhaust but would love to avoid it if I can. Loooooove these SMA videos, entertaining humor and super educational. I couldn't find a big nasty but got a chief air hammer from harbor freight and it drove my ball joints for the most satisfaction I've ever felt in my life.

[@gd5128]

lol

[@Korrupted8787]

Curious to see how you do alignments, I've only been doing them for a year now using a Hunter rack. Could always use some tips and tricks!

[@SouthMainAuto]

Stay tuned for part III

[@dB_944]

That's the bolt for the "lifetime" suspension, which just happens to be trapped by the trans with "lifetime" fluid! Ironic!!

[@KCautodoctor]

It made it past the factory warranty - that is all the vehicle manufacturer's accountants are worried about. It also goes to show how effective the vehicle manufacturer's marketing people have been into getting people to believe vehicles are disposable & if it ever needs repairing you should just go buy a new vehicle.

[@pudermcgavin4462]

Just gotta to drop the cradle ever so slightly now the cups attached the the ball joints they are freaking bastards

[@zerofriends5592]

I enjoy watching your videos Mr South Main.

[@aaronb845]

WHAT?! No video on the Milano subframe replacement? That would be scary to watch. Worthy of two bags of popcorn.

[@SouthMainAuto]

Bahh, gravy job. in and out in a few hours

[@famusman5989]

I seriously love it when u say win this war. Because it's so true dude it really is a war sometimes

[@wyattoneable]

I like your parts counter. Yeah, a good place to walk away. All in all it went well to that point. See you on the next one.

[@OGZeroLyfe]

Hyundai engineers "We just put the caliper bracket bolts behind the control arm mount".... Ford engineers "Hold my beer"

[@SouthMainAuto]

Now that's funny right there lmao

[@greggfidler4764]

Well at least Hyundai fixed it on the 16 Elantra

[@for2utube]

ZeroLyfe The finest 12-pack engineering, as they say.

[@0509kj]

You win

[@Jonathan11225]

hahahha Kia also

[@pfsantos007]

I had no idea what the Chrome capped nuts were all about. Couldn't believe it when I found out this was actually done. Replaced all nuts with mcgard solid Chrome lug nuts. Couldn't stand that removing the wheel was the hardest part of most jobs. No more. Did the same on sister's car.

[@lamontsmalls6086]

this guy's cool! And makes working on cars look easy

[@jkunderwood3291]

Woohoo. Been waiting on this since you teased it last night.

[@jkunderwood3291]

If you read this. I think your outdoors channel would be the perfect home for your Jeep build.

[@ellobo8593]

Justin Underwood, that comment needs a heart and pin

[@SouthMainAuto]

We will see when the time comes.

[@jkunderwood3291]

South Main Auto Repair well I hope it gets recorded. Love seeing how work is supposed to be done. If I can convince my wife to come to New York I’ll be sure to come get a service done!

[@SouthMainAuto]

Or just swing in man!

[@dB_944]

The whole car was designed around that one bolt!!!!

[@Blazer02LS]

Not far off on some models...

[@SlipFitGarage]

David Browning Yes, that bolt was the very first part set onto the assembly line. The entire car was built around that bolt. On other makes and models it's typically the heater core that is the first part on the assembly line. Lololol

[@jamesberryman751]

@@SlipFitGarage kinda like a Northstar or Tundra V8, which were both built around the starter lol

[@SlipFitGarage]

@@jamesberryman751 Exactly! On a side note, I had a Northstar Cadillac many years ago. Luckily I got rid of that car before the head gaskets shit the bed. Lolol.

[@jeremyanthony9300]

excellent video as always Eric. love your channel

[@keithwelton]

Another nice vlog Eric O. We've had Mrs O wielding the spanners how about a video with Eric O in the kitchen preparing lunch?

[@skokie23]

AHHHHH!!! PART 2!!!! Great vid Mr O!! Please keep them coming!!!

[@attilaelekes5534]

Thanks for all your videos!

[@chickmagpunk]

Mr.O at it again! Thanks for the video good sir

[@brandonlink6568]

I usually get the high speed shimmy that starts around 50, stops between 65 and 70, then starts again above 70. Out of balance tires sometimes have a sweet spot.

[@stephenlawrence4362]

More work to get to the parts that need to be worked on. Thank you Ford

[@jackpatteeuw9244]

The front suspension on that vintage Fusion is from a Mazda 6. I have done a couple of lower arm/ball joints on Fusion/Milan and the bushing ALWAYS pulled out.

[@navajorezathlete1202]

Makes me thankful I live in AZ where my car never rusts or becomes corroded. But even then I had to beat the shit out of the end of the cv axle when I was removing it.

[@mnpyton]

Do a little review on those Harbor Freight impacts

[@kevinbyrne4538]

5:05 -- The universe is held together by duct tape ... and dis-assembled with WD-40.

[@benmarykuca4144]

Kevin B Yes correct But remember to use only 3M brand duct tape as it's the "official sponsor" of the Red Green Show. LOL

[@Mike-we3rb]

I’m currently stuck on 17:12 part with my car. I have the same impact too. But m12 fuel. I got the right side sleeves but the left frontward is being a pain. Torched it, wd40 does nothing I found out on my own with sleeves, the m12 literally isn’t strong enough. Puller gets soooo tight and it’s too much for the impact. Almost couldn’t get the puller off after I gave up

[@georgebrandt6247]

That impact is a beast

[@hewgull]

All of the NCP (NAPA Chassis) Line is now made by Mevotech.

[@jeffscomp]

Brad mevotech is awesome I think.

[@hewgull]

I've had good luck with Mevotech. The previous NCP line was made by DANA. It was great as well.

[@williamedwards3546]

PB blaster lubricant for the win 😁😁👍🏾👍🏾

[@miguellopez168]

Gracias amigo muy buenos videos dios lo bendiga por compartir su trabajo y ayudarnos

[@idrisazizi7651]

Napa’s premium line is manufacture by Mevotech. So should last as long as MOOG.

[@databeestje]

Thank you so much for this video! My car has a case of the weeble wobble at about 10mph and I checked the rim rotation with a micro meter which was in spec, no play in the arm or knuckles and it had me baffled. Just like you say, it goes away above 40mph and I've been driving it for about a year that way now. It does indeed feel like a tire compressing on a single spot, I just don't know which one. At something like 60mph there is a slight returning low frequency hum which is a telltale signal that a wheel is off. So, yeah, I'll check in for a alignment and see if one of the relatively new (2 year old) tires is at fault here.

[@tofadeisastart]

Yes. Finally a hanging and banging video!

[@randym119]

I was working my girlfriend's rusty Mazda 6 this weekend and cursing Ford the whole time. My favorite part of this wretched platform is having to run an extension through the rear trailing arm to access the rear caliper bolt.

[@systemloading6875]

When he is talking about the part not being straight@15:00 what is he referring to? It looks straight to me and why would they sell something that didn't fit?

[@cassyl460]

Fun fact: at our dealership, when we go to quote out one of the front control arms they are described as "The Straight one or the Squiggly one"

[@bigmac965]

I'm scared, Mr. O, but get that bushing puller and give her the beans!

[@Mr.Humphrey60]

Just good folks👍 THANKS S.M.A🇺🇸

[@marv.mon.9845]

I found out too that the bushingvcomes off. Had a hell of a time removing it! 07' mercury milan

[@elcheapo5302]

You weren't kidding about the cliffhanger! Cant wait for part 2!

[@johnbartlett5724]

hey eric use your noodle take your pipe stand place it on something solid on the motor and let the car down motor mounts will move enough to let bolt out

[@76calidude]

John Bartlett exactly what I do...or have done. Tripod and chock of wood works like a charm

[@orfeous]

Yep

[@supergrendel]

Were there some bolts behind those plastic splash guards that you had to release in order to get the sub frame loose? In the video you just had a couple vertical bolts that you released and then went straight to those splash guards.

[@famusman5989]

3:40-3:55 THE TRUTH!!! I laughed my ass off because I totally understand and get it. Plus there is no such sizes

[@ellobo8593]

#dontcallSMA. Please people

[@zoidberg444]

Gentle like a lamb... *then wails on it with impact* - Philosophies to live by from Eric O. 2018. 😂 Those bastards... Damn. If it was me i'd probably zip the front engine/gearbox mount off and raise the gear box a few inches with a jack to make room for that bolt. But not after i went outside and smashed a few things...

[@GotWire]

Greate video I hate when you get jobs like that where you taking everything off but the bad part just to get to it haha

[@robertparker2420]

I am thoroughly convinced that the genius brains that design cars for Every single auto manufacturer have never touched a wrench in their life. I saw one car the you had to remove the entire front of the car and roll the engine forward to change the back bank of sparks plugs……FML

[@warrend114]

Ha "Gotta be gentle like a lamb, Ugga Dugga, Ugga Dugga, Ugga Dugga, Ugga Dugga!!"

[@Mr.Humphrey60]

HELLO FROM FLORIDA THANKS 1..2..BBQ👍👍😎

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

wow looks like some Eurotrash Audi suspension design xD

[@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics]

On my '96 Mystique the labor time for the right control arm is 1 hour. Left control arm...4 HOURS! Why? Yup, transmission is in the way!!! Some things just don't change lol

[@zoidberg444]

Its almost like Ford has become a nightmarish abomination of US and Euro trash. Its understandable in a way because Ford is balls deep in the Euro market in a way GM and Chrysler never were.

[@Motorsportsgeek]

my mercedes is more complicated yet 10x easier to disassemble, its a similar design with that control arm bolt but the germans made an access hole so you dont have to remove the subframe.

[@pete6102]

ford engineering got to love it meant to be easy to put it together not to work on, they sell them cheap and suck the money from you when it time to work on them.

[@DanKfilmmaker]

Thanks Eric O. Great video!

[@crcdesign9886]

I'm sure you already know but those inserts that are around the ball joint stud come off the end that goes into the knuckle. common on bmws..

[@bobdavis2554]

Hey, appreciate the video really gave me a good place to start from with having to drop the sub frame. A question o have is the Haynes says to disconnect the steering and lock the steering wheel in place, I assume you didn't do that, did you have any issues on the backend with the way you dropped the sub frame?

[@artfisher1235]

Not having to fully pull the subframe is genius. But yes, the main lower control arm ball joint bushing remains with the knuckle in most cases.

[@toms1499]

Bleep bleep, to be continued lol. Gotta love ford!

[@throttlebottle5906]

only thing he forgot was to charge for the video!

[@JVerschueren]

About 10 years ago, I damaged my right rear tire on a traffic island at an unfamiliar junction, which damaged the carcass and the wobble was only noticeable at very low speed. The more pressing thing for me at the time was an inbalance in the right front tyre, which my dealer was unable to get rid off. Fortunately, my car still came with an actual spare, so I slapped that on and went to the tyre centre the next Monday, where the tech showed me the problem with the right rear and demonstrated it would blow at just 0.3bar above the nominal inflation pressure. Kind of unsettling, seeing as I drove home at about 95mph the night before.

[@alberth8073]

I'm not super suprised. Got a driveway full of Fords and run into funky bolt issues like this with some regularity. Usually its the upper control arms that have at least one chinese finger puzzle bolt to fish out around brake and fuel lines or shock towers.

[@ericbeard7007]

I had dakota I always had yo remove crossmember.. I used grinder alot drilling out rivets... repairs in few years Tires. ..Ac..tranny.. transfer case... drive shaft...wheel bearings.... spiders gear in rear diff.. shocks... there were torque rods on each side I forget name.... theres more it was always some thing

[@haywardsautomotive6156]

Every time I break out the extra long breaker bar or ratchets I know it could go bad fast & hope a few hundred thousand bolt removals will keep me out of trouble. If engineers had to work on what they design they'd find out their design has a few flaws.

[@jonasmartinez1739]

that two piece ball joint that ford uses, toyota also uses in their "super strut suspension"... the only difference is that that design does not have the dog bone strut that joins the shock strut to the front lateral arm and the upper ball joint. Very nice on road performance but quite hard on front tires... and a bear to maintain because of the two piece A arm.