Here you can find information regarding the assembly of the Focus front end. In this guide we will cover the
essential repairs for the front end of this vehicle. Included within these repairs
is the inner and outer tie rod removal and change, the front wheel hubs installation, ball joint removal and
installation, the upper and lower control arms, and the front shock installation. Along
with the repair procedures we also include the corresponding bolt torque specs for each fastener involved. These
guides are intended to assist in each procedure to help diyers with the job.
Focus Tie Rod Change/Removal
To install a new tie rod on a Focus you must first remove the old one from the vehicle. This can be
done by raising the vehicle up by either the use of a floor jack or a vehicle hoist.
Once the vehicle is in the air you can remove the corresponding tire for the side that you want to change the
tie rod on. Once the tire is off you can now access the old tie rod and remove it for replacement.
The inner part of the tie rod uses an nut that will need to be removed, this nut may spin depending on how
rusty it is. I suggest using a pair of vice grips to hold the portion of the bolt to prevent it from
spinning. You may also use a wire brush to clean off the threads prior to removal and or use penatrating oil to
aid in the removal. Once removed you can now tap out the tie rod from the spindle and
start to remove it completely. If you want to replace just the outer portion of the tie rod you can use a wrench
to hold the inner tie rod and spin off the outer tie rod. I usually count how many turns
it takes to come off so that I can then use the same number when installing the new part. This helps to avoid
alignment costs and hassles, although you may still want to get your vehicle realigned.
Once the outer tie rod is off you can now screw on the new part and reinstall it the same way it had been
removed. Once you get the nut back in place you can torque it to 35 ft-lbs. Be sure to tighten
back up the nut on the middle of the tie rod to ensure it does not move your alignment. If you happen to be
installing the inner tie rod as well you will need a special tool to loosen and tighten
the inner part. The torque specs for the inner tie rod are 50 ft-lbs.
Focus Outer Tie Rod Torque Spec : 35 ft-lbs
Focus Inner Tie Rod Torque Spec : 50 ft-lbs
Front Wheel Hub Installation
To install the new wheel hub you must first remove the old hub from the vehicle. On this car the hub and bearing is actually
apart of the entire steering knuckle. This means that if you want to replace the bearing you will need to remove the knuckle itself
To do this you must first jack
up the vehicle and remove the lugnuts from the side of the vehicle that you want to replace
the part on. Once the tire is off you will need to remove the bolts from the brake bracket on the steering
knuckle. These bolts will be rather tight so you may want to use an impact or find some
leverage. Once removed you can move the brake assembly out of the way and move the brake rotor from the vehicle.
Now you have access to all the connecting points of the steering knuckle, these include the lower ball joint, strut, and tie rod end. Before
removing the connecting points make sure to remove the axle nut from the center of the hub. I recommend using an impact and some penetrating oil
in order to loosen the nut. Once the nut is removed make sure the axle moves freely and then move onto the other components.
Starting with the lower ball joint there is a pinch bolt that will need to be removed in order to lower the control arm from the knuckle.
The tie rod merely needs to be loosened and removed while the strut will need to be loosened and hammered out. With everything removed the knuckle should just
come out of the vehicle. From this point you can either install an entirely new steering knuckle with the bearing already in place, or press the old bearing out of the knuckle and
press in a new bearing. Whichever way you choose the next step is to install the knuckle back into the vehicle using the reverse procedure as when it was removed. The strut
bolt will need to be torqued down to 65 ft-lbs, the tie rod to 37 ft-lbs, and the ball joint pinch bolt to 37 ft-lbs. The center axle nut will need to be tightened to 180 ft-lbs.
With everything put back together you can reinstall the brake system and the wheel and tighten the lugnuts to 95 ft-lbs.
Focus Front Axle Nut Torque Spec : 180 ft-lbs
Focus Lugnuts Torque Spec : 95 ft-lbs
Front Ball Joints Installation
The Focus has two sets of front ball joints being the upper and lower ball joints. The most common one
for replacement is the lower ball joint which is apart of the lower control arm. For reference
on how to install the lower control arm please seek out the portion covering that part. The lower ball joint is fastened using a
pinch bolt and nut which is tightened down to 37 ft-lbs.
Focus Front Lower Ball Joint Torque Spec : 37 ft-lbs
Front Control arms Installation
Lower Control Arm
On the ford focus there is only the lower control arm as the upper portion of the suspension is held together using the front strut.
The lower control arm on this vehicle also consists of the lower ball joint. For direct information regarding the ball joint please check out the
ball joint section on this page. To replace the lower control arm on this vehicle you will want to have the vehicle jacked up to a decent height as
bolts from underneath the car will need to be accessed. With the car lifted in the air you can start be removing the tire from the vehicle. With the tire
removed you can see the front suspension components. The lower arm is pictured to the left, it has 3 main fastening points. Two being further into the car and
one being located on the steering knuckle. You must remove all of these in order to uninstall the control arm. To intall the new part you merely reverse the process.
Starting at the ball joint you can move the new ball joint into the knuckles pinch portion and install the pinch bolt and nut and torque it down to 37 ft-lbs.
Moving to the backwards direction you can install the bolt and nut towards the front of the vehicle and torque it down to 85 ft-lbs. Then install the two bolts and nuts
on the opposite end and torque them to 85 ft-lbs as well. Once everything is tightened you can reinstall your wheel and the job is done. Be sure to grease any grease fittings
while under the car if your new part came with regreasable parts.
Focus Lower Arm Ball Joint Torque Spec : 37 ft-lbs
Focus Lower Arm Frame Bolt Torque Spec : 85 ft-lbs
Focus Lower Arm Bushing Bolts Torque Spec : 85 ft-lbs
Front Strut Installation
To replace the front struts on the Ford Focus you will need to lift the vehicle up into the air and start by removing the tire on the side you want to replace.
Once the tire is off the first thing to do is remove the stabilizer link bolt that connects itself to the strut. With that removed we can now remove the bolts and nuts
that hold the strut to the steering knuckle and pull the strut out of the knuckle. The only fasteners left are the three nuts under the hood that hold the stut to the
strut tower. With these removed the old strut can be taken out and the new strut can be placed in. Reversing the method for removing the old one we will start by
installing the 3 nuts under the hood. Then going through the other fasteners and hand tightened all of them. Once all have been hand tightened you can return to the original 3 nuts and
torque them down to 27 ft-lbs. Moving to the bolt that hold the strut to the steering knuckle we will tighten it to 65 ft-lbs. The last fastener is the stabilizer link bolt which
will need to be tightened down to 30 ft-lbs.
Focus Front Strut Upper Nuts Torque Spec : 27 ft-lbs
Focus Front Stabilizer Endlink Torque Spec : 30 ft-lbs
Front Swaybar Installation
The front swaybar on the Focus consists of a series of brackets that hold it to the frame of the
vehicle and a couple of endlink nuts that fasten it the the outer side of the car. To remove
the swaybar you will need to jack up the front of the vehicle and remove both the endlink nuts as well as the
brackets. To install the new swaybar you will need to move it back into the place as the old one
and torque the endlink nuts to 37 ft-lbs and then torque the bracket bolts to 52 ft-lbs as well.
Focus Front Swaybar Bracket Torque Spec : 52 ft-lbs
Focus Front Swaybar Endlinks Torque Spec : 37 ft-lbs
