My '12 SE Picture/Project Thread - Page 49

Twenty · 12-05-2012, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentSamurai

Really like your progress so far. Coming along great. I spent quite some time on your thread and thanks to you I found Downforce in Anaheim and their office is 5 minutes from my house. So I shot them an email to make me one. (thanks)

Keep up the good work and I'll stay posted here for more updates.

Cheers.

5 minutes from Downforce? [Napoleon Dynamite voice] Lucky! [/Napoleon Dynamite voice]

Do post some pictures!

And of course, thanks!

Twenty · 12-07-2012, 07:08 PM

Suspension check:

Date: December 7th 2012
Mileage: 10613 kilometers

This morning I brought the Focus in to work to have the front suspension looked over for any obvious signs of concern. Overall my car is good, and I don't believe I have the same concerns some have expressed. There is no loud clunking, rather a subtle rattle over bumps, seeming to come from the right front strut area. To me it sounds like something is loose and shifting when the suspension cycles.

Despite it being a small noise I still took the chance to book the Focus in for an under-warranty check.

Once up in the air, the two mechanics looking it over found fairly quickly that some of the bolts on a brace were loose, so they were snugged down. The rest were checked and all seemed to be okay. This is the brace in question:

I had some reference printed out from Zillon's thread (http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302183) and was mentioning the items that had found to be of concern from the work he has done.

One area we also checked was the front brace. As I already knew, my Focus received the thinner, less substantial piece from the factory. They checked the bolts and found that some were loose. I pointed out that Zillon had noted they were torque-to-yield and would stretch under excess tightening. I was assured they were in fact NOT torque-to-yield so they were snugged down as well. If they are or not is not my primary concern right now. I will keep an eye on them and if they loosen again and show signs of over-tightening, I will get new ones ordered.

Twice during this I took the Focus out for a test drive around our lot and the immediate roads to check for the noise level. One thing I did learn is that I really need to regrease the rear sway bar to shut it up. That's a maintenance item to address. During the two tests I found the Focus to be quiet, even though I was doing my best to take slow bumps and recreate the noise.

With all looking good I thanked the mechanics and parked the Focus. Following work I was carefully listening again, and seemed to notice a slight reoccurence of the same noise, but I will keep listening over the next little while to see if and how it changes as the temperature does, and as the car is driven more.

The work order is still open too, as I noted that suspension noises with these cars have been known to come back even after "fixing". I next have to call the rep at Ford back, to inform him of how today went.

The next step may be to update the front brace anyway, seeing as how it can't hurt to have extra reinforcement up front. Even though my suspension noise is very minor it won't hurt to check the car over, and we already found a handful of loose bolts anyway.

TiStick · 12-07-2012, 07:25 PM

Good work Bill!

***Shade-010*** · 12-07-2012, 08:36 PM

I wonder, has no-one ever heard of Loc-tite? Manufacturers are slacking?

Zillon · 12-07-2012, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stang74shelby

I wonder, has no-one ever heard of Loc-tite? Manufacturers are slacking?

I don't think it's a matter of using threadlock.

I think the bigger issue at hand is that the fasteners aren't getting tightened to the proper spec.

***Shade-010*** · 12-07-2012, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zillon

I don't think it's a matter of using threadlock.

I think the bigger issue at hand is that the fasteners aren't getting tightened to the proper spec.

very true, but maybe apply loctite when re-torqing

Twenty · 12-08-2012, 11:26 AM

I should also mention before I forget: one other area checked were the contact points between the ends of the springs and the perches for metal-on-metal contact. Everything was okay though, so no concerns there.