Front Suspension Control Arm problems of the 2005 Ford Focus

The left lower control arm on the front suspension failed at approximately 45 mph on a 5 lane city road causing the wheel to fold under the vehicle. The car made an immediate left turn into oncoming traffic and control of the vehicle was lost. Fortunately the car came to a stop without hitting anything and no one was injured but the potential for a serious accident was certainly there. The control arm failed due to corrosion and upon inspection, it was found that the right front lower control arm is also rusted through and cracked and nearing failure as well. Pictures are attached. The car has approximately 105,000 miles on it and we are the second owner. It has been extremely well maintained throughout its life. In my 50 years of experience working on automobiles I've never seen a control arm failure like this.

All 4 eagle gt tires that are only 6 months old are worn and scalloped due to a know problem to Ford technical service bulletin 10034585 July 10, 2010 and service bulletin no. : tb-21399 component(s): tires NHTSA id number: 10034585. Our mechanic ran a diagnostic and service bulletin search for possible manufacturing issues to cause the tire wear. The solution that Ford has come up with it to add 4 additional upper control arms at $140 a piece plus labor. When I spoke with Ford they indicated that the problem is a known one but are unwilling to do anything to correct the problem. They are waiting until people are either injured or killed to correct the problem. Advised them that I will keep all receipts for new tires. This is the 4 set of tires in 3 years due to this problem. I advised them I will wait until the tires are totally worn and cause an accident and damage and then let my insurance carrier deal with their faulty vehicle.

For two weeks I heard and felt a slight pop in the front driverside wheel when accelerating from a stop and then when applying the brakes after gaining some momentum. Took it to get looked at by mechanic and actually looked at the area in question myself. (control arm, ball joint, cv, sway link, steering assembly and struts) we could not determine the problem nor could we recreate the 'pop' with the car on the lift. Was suggested that I have my engine mount bushings replaced which is fairly cheap and easy. While waiting for the bushings to arrive my ball joint 'failed'. It did not break, it just slipped out. I was driving approximately 30mph on secondary residential road which was free of bumbs, dips, etc. Suddenly I hear a bang, the car jerks and tire screeches. I thought it must be a transmission problem so I put the car in neutral and steer it onto the shoulder. Upon exiting the vehicle I see the driverside wheel has disattached from the ball joint and is now kicked out @ 90degrees. The cv is torn from transmission, stabilizer link is twisted, strut was bent way back, tire has hole worn in it, slight body damage. I was extremely lucky that I had not made it o the highway yet. The ball joint was not broken in any way; it had just slipped from its cuff. I now have the ball joint and bolt that holds it to the suspension knuckle at home for my own inspection. There is clearly a safety issue here. This is an engineering and design flaw and should have never made it past the drawing board. Basically, you have barely 1/16" of the side of the 1/2" bolt exposed to a groove for roughly 1/4". I measured these with a pair of high grade calipers and was appalled, I was appalled when I just looked at the assembly,but those numbers are weak. My sister was in a near fatal auto accident last year. It was never understood what caused the accident. She was in a coma. Guess what. . . She was driving a Ford Focus.

My 2005 Ford Focus which I bought new off the dealership now has 100000 miles on it. Within the past year, while driving, the back end fishtails back and forth as if it is being hit by a strong wind. As soon as I told a repair shop this they immediately recognized the problem because they have had many other Focus owners complaining about the same thing. The rear control arm assembly is defective. This is not something that should need to be ever changed on a vehicle. The repair shop said that when they order a new one from Ford, the new one sent is much stronger and bulkier which tells them that Ford is aware of this defect. The repair bill for this is over $1200! this is very dangerous as you feel you are loosing control of the vehicle at any time. Upon hearing this, I contacted my parents who also have a Ford Focus and they said that though they have only half the number of miles on their vehicle it is also a 2005 model and it has started to do this also to them but they didn't know what to think, if it was just bad roads or what. Very dangerous and Ford has no response to my questions!.