2003 Focus Kills Strut Bearings

[Inliner]

The flat, plastic-housed "bearing" that sandwhiches between the steel upper coil spring cap and the rubber strut mount. I keep finding that mine have shifted in place and will allow the coil spring to rub the body, the inside of the shock tower when the wheel is turned. It also causes the car to pull to one side of the road, and tire wear. Anyhow, I have just noticed the 3rd bearing that I've replaced is also ruined. This is happening on left and right sides for the car, after 300-3000 miles. I've killed genuine Motorcraft and KYB parts so far. I'm tightening the mount on with an impact gun. I know that's a no-no, but the internal hex rounded off promptly the first time I tried to use a strut tool socket to remove/install them. And the struts seem to tolerate it, and be in fine shape otherwise.

The springs are original, control arm and bushings are stock. The strut is a Bilstein HD B6, pn 35-051398. Stock replacement for all '00-'04 Foci

Here you can see how contorted the strut assembly is after removal from the car:



Here is a shot from below the mount, you can see the cap where the bearing shifted out of place:



Here is the crushed bearing with a new one beside it:




Any ideas?

 

[mrsilv04]

Any chance the car has been wrecked, and is slightly tweaked?

 

[Inliner]

I found the plastic radiator support was cracked when I bought it and there were signs of minor collision by a broken headlight tab and a crease in the front bumper cover. A minor bruise - can't see how it would have shifted the suspension points. The car aligns to specs.

 

[spasm3]

I wonder if the center nut tightens to a point when using the impact and then the shaft spins, so its not as tight as you think. I put a bit of anti seize on the threads( helps the nut tighten down easier)and i use a wrench or drop end wrench and a allen or other wrench depending on model. It has to not be tight for the bearing to shift out of place. I don't know why the internal hex would round off if you are using the right size.

 

[qjohn]

If not already done: maybe take just the strut and the strut mount and make sure they fit together properly. From the pictures I'm thinking there must be a recess in the mount into which fits the stepped part of the strut; be sure it goes in all the way.

 

[Inliner]

What spasm3 says makes good sense, but as far as I can tell, they are tight. One side didn't strip the hex, and I count equal amount of threads out the nut as the one I impact. I couldn't tighten any further after using the impact either. When it assembles with a new bearing everything seats perfectly. It sweeps L to R just fine. But with time and miles, I find them in this state at tire rotation time.

 

[Inliner]

I hate to junk the Bilsteins, bit that may be my next move.

 

[qjohn]

I'm having a hard time visualizing this. When you reassemble it, the spring is compressed and around the strut, then you place the spring cap over the spring, then the bearing and finally the mount? Then tighten the nut. At this point it appears the mount will be secured to the strut but the bearing and cap are loose. They tighten up when you release the spring, so you must be sure that the lip of the bearing goes inside the cap. If that is how it reassembles, keep a close eye that it aligns properly when the spring becomes uncompressed. If the bearing does not go inside the cap, it would slide around.

 

[spasm3]

I think ford had some bad springs in 03 i.e breaking failing. I would decompress the spring completely( out of the strut and check it for cracks or signs of fatigue.

 

[qjohn]

Just in case, maybe test-fit the bearing to the cap. Use a paint pen to trace around the bearing. Recheck after assembly.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

The pictures aren't loading for me right now, but is it possible that the thick shaft that Bilstein uses doesn't quite fit in the mount?

 

[dishdude]

My vote goes towards an accident. Killing strut mounts in 300 miles? The strut towers have to be misaligned putting a lot of stress on them.

 

[Inliner]

I've had the struts out of the decompressed springs many times - each time to replace the mounts and bearings. The springs show no sign of fatigue or breakage. Car spent whole life in AZ. They assemble fine with the bearing perfectly aligned in the mount and spring cap. The slippage is definitely occurring at some point well past reassembly. I still can't accept that both strut towers are tweaked and see it having near perfect camber readings on an alignment rack. I'll dig up the last alignment.

 

[dishdude]

Wheel alignment and frame alignment are two different things. You can align the wheels and have the unibody be bent and stressing components that are not designed to be. Struts are a key mounting point for the engine cradle.

 

[chrisri]

Is there any chance you accidentally switched springs left to right and opposite? Or up and down?

 

[eljefino]

Maybe you can weld some hex bar stock into that socket hole so you'll have something to grab. Do it quickly so the heat doesn't go down the shaft and bugger the seals. Use a spark plug wrench or similar on the big nut, as there'll be hexes you can put a wrench on and have your bar stock pass through.

Or you could use a couple layers of rubber and vise grips, or a rubber strap wrench on the chrome shaft so it won't spin when you torque that nut. Of course you know if you bugger the shaft you bugger the seals.

 

[The_Eric]

Maybe the angle or orientation of the bottom plate relative to the top? The first pic sure looks like an awful lot of angle on the spring.

 

[Danno]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Any chance the car has been wrecked, and is slightly tweaked?

This is my thought as well. Might be worthwhile to have a reputable body shop check the uni-body dimensions vs spec paying particular attention to shock towers.

 

[Fsharp]

Originally Posted By: chrisri
Is there any chance you accidentally switched springs left to right and opposite? Or up and down?


Yeah something isn't assembled correctly. It's not going to be a bent frame issue. The part that's slipping and getting smashed doesn't bear any side to side suspension load, it just supports the top of the spring. Plus, in order for the upper strut mounts to be out of position enough to cause a problem, there'd have to be some visible signs of damage.

 

[Inliner]

Thanks for all the input. I'm leaning towards an assembly issue - specifically the fitment of the Bilsteins into the underside of the mount. The HD Bilsteins are indeed larger in diameter where they go into the mount and I think the mating surfaces of the mount and strut shaft aren't meeting perfectly. I've got an OEM mount & bearing coming and I'll follow up once I have it apart (above pics are from the last "repair").