Meanwhile, I had noticed some vibration in the front and my friends suggested it could be the front trailing arm rubber that was too loose! They were right! Due to riding the car so low for such a long time, the rubber was giving out. it was, once again, time to upgrade - this time polybushes in the Front Trailing Arms.
The price was not too exciting at first, but my friend Pete, once again (what a buddy), found a pair of front trailing arms out of a Ford Focus ST with polybushes (remember, both cars share the same chassis). We got on to installing them:
The surprise came when we found out that the balljoint that connects the trailing arm to the wheel was not the same size... confused, we researched and found out that it has nothing to do with the car model nor the torque... it was a change that came with a different year model, from 2006, both Focus and S40 had wider diameter balljoints (I know, right?)
I bought the correct size balljoint (thanks EuroCarParts), drilled out the rivets (yes, they all come with rivets), equipped the correct balljoint and tightened it with bolts and nuts and put it back in the car. Finally everything was in place...
...Everything? well, I wish! - while swapping the trailing arm, we saw a youtube video that suggested removing the drive shaft to allow more access to the location -
BIG MISTAKE - this was the thing that took us the longest, trying to fix the bolt we accidentally snapped the thread of. We managed to put it back in place, but it's not coming out unless the whole part is replaced...
In addition, the bolt required to align the steering was stuck as a result of salty roads (thanks, cold countries)
(one of our Mechanic friends undid the bolt using some white grease and a blow torch)
Then I could (finally) align the steering... it was hard to find a place since my car is running so low, it becomes hard to access the bolts necessary to align it:
(note the double ramp)
Fun fact: during my wheel alignment session, everyone mistook my measly 2.0D for the mighty 2.5D R-design xD (they could hear a diesel and from the looks and 18inch wheels everyone thought it was the R-design version = WIN!)
I guess some lessons come with a few scars...