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HOW-TO Replacing Rear Upper Camber Arms, and camber bolts.

62K views 46 replies 26 participants last post by  KD5NRH 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
HOW-TO Replacing Rear Upper Camber Arms, and camber bolts.

Warning: Neither Focus Fanatics nor its Members may be held responsible for the outcome of performing such a modification to ones car(Ford Focus). Such acts are performed at ones own risk, and sole responsibility must be assumed. This may include, but not limited to, the voiding of Ford vehicles factory warranty.



I was informed by the Dealer (came highly recommended by focus owners in AZ) that in order for a proper alignment in the rear that I needed rear upper camber arms, not just camber bolts, which in fact they were right. I have a Roush stage 2 Suspension, which dropped the car 1.75” but I think once everything settled it was more like 2. The arms are a little on the pricy side, around $200 but allows for more adjustment and a proper alignment.


So onto the write up.

What you need:
New Upper Camber Arms, mine were SPC
Camber Bolts. Mine were ebiach, but the instructions included said SPC
Floor Jack
Jack Stands
Grinder
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:
Air compressor
Impact
Impact sockets
Socket extensions.



Always put safety first; using jackstands, eye protection, and all other required safety measures. It is also recommended to have supervision whenever possible, and take the necessary steps to make a safe and successful install, and watch out for the creeper wheels!!!!


First of course lift the car and support with jack stands; the pinch weld is fine for this. And remove wheels.


Use the Jack and place it under the lower control arm.

These are the bolts you need to remove.


The upper bolt is hard to reach, you will need extensions to get to the bolt, the left side is above the exhaust, and the right is located near the fuel lines.



First remove the lower bolt with a 15mm socket and impact (if available) or a breaker bar should work.

you may need to tap the bolt out the rest of the way

Now for the top bolt you will need extensions for these I think mine ended up being 18”



The stock arm should just fall out now, if you are not installing camber bolts, DO NOT DO THIS NEXT STEP!
The old nut needs to be removed but it is welded in place, we used a right angle grinder, for this.

This nut that has to go

And grinding


After you get the nut off clean up the welds.

Now compare you new arms with the old, I painted my ford blue because I was bored the day they arrived, you can't even see them when installed.


Now make your new adjustable arms the same length as the stock, makes sure BOTH nuts are fully screwed into the arm, then twist the big nut to adjust the length, once it is at the desired length twist the small nut back town to the big one.

And then tighten this bolt on the arm


Now its time to install the arm. Place the arm in location and install the top bolt first, the stock bolt is fine for this.
No if installing camber bolts follow these directions, if not replace the stock lower bolt and your done!

Camber bolt installation,
Insert bolt, make sure the lobe on the bolt is full seated and the tab on the washer is seated in the hole.
The washer with tab:

Insert bolt:



And torque to 55ft/lbs and your done


It took 2 guys with power tools, less than 2 hours to install with pictures. This was a pretty straightforward install, but a good alignment is REQUIRED after this install.

You do not need to install the Camber Bolts with the Arm, i had the bolts so installed them and included them in this write up.









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replacing focus rear camber arms, replacing focus rear camber bolts, focus camber arms, focus camber bolts, focus rear alignment, focus rear suspension, focus alignment, focus suspension, focus rear alignment, focus back alignment, focus back suspension
 
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#3 ·
just out of curiosity, why did you install the adjustable arms and the adjustable bolts? the arm will provide plenty of adjustment its self in either direction.
 
#4 ·
because i had aready bought the bolts, and wanted to include them in the write up. the alignment tech actually used the bolts for a really fine adjustment he told me, of like a .1 or .2 degrees of adjustment
 
#9 ·
On dropping any of my 3 foci, I've never had a need for more than camber bolts. They allow plenty of adjustment if installed right, even at a 2" drop.
There are a couple things I notice you didn't say anything about when installing the bolts. First would be the tab on the washer needs to face toward the middle of the car. this allowsthe bolt to be moved toward the outside of the car therefore tilting the camber out. If faced to the outside it moves the bolt inward.
once faced right the bolt can be used to adjust the camber in or out as was intended.
With the washer tab facing the wrong direction you won't get the necessary adjustment needed.
Also, tac the washer when things are tightened up so it can't move and cause alignment changes.
 
#10 ·
Oh, and if you do need more theres a cheaper way that is actually a tad better. Remove the lower hub bolt from the arm and slot the holes toward the center of the car about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. this also allows for adjustment of the camber. Tack these washers also when set.
Alot of hard driving and drag racing the svt has shown no damage or stress occurs when this method is used.
 
#12 ·
I've got to get a set myself. For some reason with my FRPP kit I have to get these. My rear camber was -3 degrees, and the bolts only allow a degree either way for adjustment, which would bring it to -2 degrees. Factory spec is -1 degree.
 
#14 ·
i like this write up. i jst got my bolts. MOOG K100009. I been thinking of the spc arms for strength not car so much for the adjustment. i am installing a FRPP kit is why i got the bolts.
 
#15 ·
Nice write up. I am in the midst of a camber bolt nightmare on my SVT. I figured the hard part would be grinding down the spot welds on the nut. I was WRONG. My bolts would not budge. I thought this odd when you torque them to 55 ft. lbs. I sprayed them with PB Blaster a while before. Then used a breaker bar, with slow steady pressure, and the head of the bolt snapped off quite easily. I was able to get rid of the spot welds on the nut, and figured the bolt may be able to be knocked out. NOPE. They are rusted into the bushing sleeve so hard it might as well be welded in there. Looks like It's going to take some cutting to get these out, and then I will have to get some of the SPC camber arms. I just hope the upper bolts don't give me this much trouble.
 
#16 ·
Okay well I got my Camber bolt on the back left to move atleast, I can tighten it more and then back it off, but when reversing with the air gun it gets stuck.

My questions are.... What PSI is that air gun your using running at? And am I most likely going to have to replace the arm cause the bushing is rusted to the bolt?

Also who sells the cheapest arms?
 
#18 ·
I got the SPC arms from O'reilly Auto for $100 I have given up on getting the bolts out of the bushings, I'm having to take it to a shop to do it. If the bottom bolts are this hard to get out, I can't imagine how hard the top ones are going to be with much less room to work. It's really starting to anger me that they didn't build in adjustment from the factory...this whole thread should be unnecessary if Ford would have spent just a few $$ more per car.[chair]
 
#17 ·
Thank god my car hasn't suffered too many winters yet.. It looked pretty clean down there for almost 3 years and 45k
Gonna bust them out tomorrow hopefully with my impact.

I run ~90-100psi through my ingersoll rand titanium gun
 
#22 ·
Other side of the camber arm? Are you talking about the upper bolts? I am not sure. I would hope so, because putting a wrench on the back side nut would be a real pain. The originator of this thread, just used an impact, so I'm guessing he did not need a second wrench, and that it's probably welded.
 
#24 ·
I have the camber arms being put on by a shop now, I could not take the risk of the upper bolts breaking like the lowers. I'll let you know if they are welded when I get it back. If you're taking lose the upper bolts to put on new camber arms, you'll use the old bolts to bolt it back up.
 
#25 ·
I got it all put back together now with new bolts and nuts, but I'm going to give in and let the shop do the camber bolt, I got two camber bolts, but my air gun is not strong enough. But it looks nice, and I just got the front struts off with no big problems.

Two new lower control arms, new bolts and nuts for both ends of the control arms, which where dunked in anti seize. The inside of the bushings where coated too, everything but the threads.
 
#27 ·
Just got my Focus back from the shop. It took the 2 hours to get the lower bolts out of the camber arms...WOW! They were rusted in something fierce. Then to get the upper bolts out the sub frame had to be dropped...They said the bolts were in backwards, definitely not the normal process. Anyways it's done, and I'm getting the alignment tomorrow with my new super adjustable rear camber.
 
#29 ·
I used the SPC camber bolts, which is what I was originally going to use to adjust the camber until the factory bolts broke due to rust, and didn't want to go buy more bolts. So I had super adjustable camber..lol
 
#30 ·
I just I stalled my SPC adjustable control arms. I can see the passenger side camber is majorly off. Am I ok to drive it for a day before getting a chance to have an alignment done?
Other than tire wear?
 
#33 ·
I just I stalled my SPC adjustable control arms. I can see the passenger side camber is majorly off. Am I ok to drive it for a day before getting a chance to have an alignment done?
Other than tire wear?[/QUOT

My camber was WAY out after the install...like -4.2 and it was fine taking it to the shop the next day.
 
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