Technical Stilo lower control arms

[flyingdutch]

Hey guys, so , yesterday while checking the car for APK ( MOT in NL) noticed that my left front lower control arm ball joint has play in it and i'm considering to change it , while sourcing the parts i've noticed that fl (from 2005) arms is pressed sheet metal but they have different bolt holes. So the question is has anybody ewer have tryied to mount new arms with new bushings from pre fl with bolt holes 12mm on to old 2003 chasis ?
The car in question is 2003/01 stilo abarth selespeed.
Thank you all in advance for your answers .

 

[Ralf S.]

I think the subframe and the arms are different, so you can "easily" fit the pressed arms to an early car if you also fit the sub-frame... but otherwise they won't fit.

I don't understand why you want to fit pressed arms to your car though.. just fit the cast arms. Bushes last okay if you buy higher quality parts. The OE are made by Lemforder. On my JTD they seem to last around 95,000m/160,000kms.. so not too bad.


Ralf S.

 

[flyingdutch]

Its not about the bushes and do you think that the actual frame is different ? The point of pressed arms is interchangeable ball point which i'm after , if its not a fit with modified bushings then i'll have to modify them, just trying to shoot out all the details before

 

[flyingdutch]

So if anyone is interested in this facelift arms do fit pre fl chasis with pre fl bushes

 

[Ralf S.]

Interesting.

What did you do... just fit bushes from the cast arms into the pressed arms?



Ralf S.

 

[flyingdutch]

Bought new prefl bushes and fitted to fl arms bushes , everything else fits very well .

 

[tessiedog]

Apologies for going off at a bit of a tangent (through still related to the front wishbones). Front end of my stilo feels light, and when I think about it, has been since the front sub frame was replaced last year, which came complete with the wishbones included, (so although they seemed to be ok condition, were none the less in used condition with an unknown number if miles). My question - is could worn bushes on the wishbones be causing the lightness/ lack of feel at the front end?
Cheers.

 

[flyingdutch]

Uncertiness is more likely the feeling to be caused of damaged bushings , lightness lack of feel is also caused by city mode

 

[Ralf S.]

If you get a tracking/wheel alignment check done then you will usually get a print out showing the wheels' "before" and "after" settings. If your camber looks too positive then that would suggest (assuming nothing is bent or deranged) that the wishbone bushes are sagging a bit.

On the other hand, your "new" arms might just be better than the old ones and your steering is not "light", it could be just "no longer heavy", so it's not necessarily a bad thing.

At c.£40-odd, an alignment check, it's not too extravagant an investment, particularly since you changed the whole sub-frame. While it's up in the air, the alignment place might spot any "the real problem", if there's another cause.

Ralf S.