Chapter 1 Routine maintenance and servicing

Suspension and steering 10•31 General informationThe front suspension is of independenttype, achieved by the use of MacPhersonstruts (see illustration). The struts, whichincorporate coil springs and integral shockabsorbers, are located at their uppermountings by rubber insulators and securedto the inner wing panels by cup seatmountings and locknuts. The lower end ofeach strut is bolted to the top of a cast spindlecarrier. The spindle carriers house nonadjustablehub bearings as a variation of aproven design. The lower mountings of thespindle carriers are attached, via balljoints, toa pressed-steel lower arm assembly. Thelower arm assembly consists of two sections.The lower arm mounting bracket is boltedsecurely to the underside of the vehicle, andhas a locating peg and unique outer fixing boltto ensure correct location. The A-shapedlower arm is attached to its mounting bracketby double vertical bushes and controls bothlateral and fore and aft movement of the frontwheels. The balljoints connecting the lowermountings of the spindle carriers to thelower arms are riveted to the lower arms, andare not available as separate service items. Ananti-roll bar is fitted to high specificationmodels and, additionally on the XR2i, a frontsuspension crossmember is fitted.On all models except Courier, the rearsuspension is semi-independent, with aninverted V-section beam welded betweentubular trailing arms (see illustration). Thisinverted V-section beam allows a limitedtorsional flexibility, giving each rear wheel acertain degree of independent movement,whilst maintaining optimum track and wheelcamber control. This type of arrangement iscalled a “twist beam” rear axle. The axle isattached to the body by rubber void bushes,through brackets bolted to the underside ofthe vehicle. Each bracket has a conicallocating peg to ensure accurate alignment ofthe axle assembly. The rear suspension struts,which are similar to the MacPherson strutsused at the front, are mounted at their upperends by nut and captive bolt fixings throughthe suspension turrets in the luggagecompartment. At their lower ends, the strutsare attached, close to the wheels, by boltspassed through the trailing arms and lowerstrut integral bushes. The rear wheelhub/brake drum unit and spindle on each sideform an assembly which can be unbolted fromthe axle without disturbing the hub bearings.An anti-roll bar is fitted to the rear suspensionon certain later models.Courier models are fitted with a modifiedversion of the twist beam rear axle, usinglinked torsion bars as springs and to provideanti-roll stabilisation (see illustration).Separate shock absorbers are fitted to controlsuspension movement.A Twist beam rear axleB Coil spring andsuspension strutassemblyC Mounting bracketD Void bushE Brake drum, wheelhub and spindleassemblyA Anti-roll barB Anti-roll bar connecting linkC Anti-roll bar suspension strut bracketD Anti-roll bar bush and clamp bracketE Coil spring and suspension strutassemblyF Spindle carrierG Lower suspension armH Lower suspension arm mounting bracketI Front suspension (bracing) crossmember(XR2i only)1.1 General view of front suspension components1.2 General view of rear suspension components (all models except Courier)A Pivot bracketsB Rear axleC Rear (anti-roll) torsion barsD Connecting linkE Front (spring) torsion bars1.3 General view of rear suspension components (Courier models)101595Ford Fiesta Remake