Hey guys, about 6 months ago i had 2 new lower arms fitted to my si. Recently i have had an issue with my steering, both of my front wheels wobble. I took the car to the garage that fitted the arms and they replaced them under warranty. However that day they contacted me and told me that it wasnt the arms at fault it was the wheel hubs that connect into the lower ball joints, so i decided to go get some wheel hubs. The next day on obtaining my new hubs I went into a different garage to have them fitted, the mechanic said he thought it was unusual to have both hubs needing replacing and put the car on the ramps only to tell me that i have had the wrong arms fitted?. I then went back to the garage that fitted them and they phoned john grose and their parts supplier and were told that the arms were indeed correct for the car. I had this checked with another garage and was once again told they are the wrong parts?!?!?!.

I would like somebody with some experience in this field to give me a definitive answer, my car is an "M" reg mk 3.5 1.6 16v si. Am i right in thinking that there are two different types of lower arms for the older mk3 and the newer mk3.5 or is this a myth? somebody please help me before i go insane! thanks

I work in parts, yes there is a few different types of wishbones for the mk3/mk3.5. But for your car, it must have power steering as its a si, then its pretty straight forward to get the right arms. The different types are generally to do with 2/3 bolt ball joint and whether its got power steering(angle of ball joint i think). This can also determine what diameter the ball joint is (where it goes into hub) Theres a few combinations, ive got it written down but cant find it!

What sort of 'wobble' have you got? side to side movement when you grab hold of the wheel and move it? if so could be wrong wishbone if ball joint is wrong size (ie it will be loose in the hub)

loose play in steering could be anything from rack ends to inner ball joints to dodgy steering rack

or have you got a wobble as in wheels need balancing?

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thanks for replying . My car is a power steering model, which arms would i need for this one? The wheels wobble from side to side, when i wobble them and look at the back of the wheels i can see them wobbling where the ball joint connects to the hub, one of the mechanics said that the ball joint i need should be the bigger one?. Also how do i tell if the arms i have on now are correct?

ahh this old chestnut. combos are 2 or 3 bolt ball joint. straight or offset at the end..power steering or not...and straight or stepped ball joint itself. the parts supplier would say they are right esp if they dont want them back...

im pretty sure si's are 3 bolt with an offset balljoint and the joint that goes into the hub is a straight one..around 17mm...its been a long time since i bought any but im pretty sure that was the combination... just because the chassis number SAYS it should have those fitted..doesnt mean it does!

hope that helps.