WQ or XR4 Front Strut swap to WS Front Struts

[Luke Plaizier]

I'm investigating whether the WS Fiesta front struts can be swapped onto a WQ Fiesta.

Why?

(1) The WS uprights use 2 x Bolts to mount to the knuckle, rather than WQ Sleeve-and-pinch arrangement. With Cammed bolts this lends itself much more readily to camber adjustment.

(2) The WS 12mm / 120mm spaced brake mount is different to the 10mm / 90mm spaced mount on the WQ. This is the same mount setup for later model ST brakes. so upgraded brake kits are more readily available. The Wilwood 6 spot 310mm kit for around $1400Aud shipped would fit, for example.

I have a WQ 1.6 strut, a WS 1.6 Strut and a WQ XR4 strut to compare here. I'm taking some measurements at the moment and will report back my findings.

Some gotchas already.

(1) The WS strut needs to come from a car with a VIN starting with WF0 - the German Built PCD108 models. Getting a malaysian Built WS means PCD 100.

(2) The sway bar mount on the strut seems identical between the WQ and WS.

(3) The brake line is slightly different, the WS brake line would be needed to correctly tie to the strut.


Some other minor observations - the 1.6 WQ Fiesta has a bigger gap between the axle centre and the lower king pin face. The WS knuckle and the XR4 knuckle however appear the same.

The steering arms between all 3 - while extraordinarily difficult to measure - all appear around the same. The height above the axle line, the setback from the hub front face, and the distance from the knuckle centre to the centre of the steering pin all appear damn close if not identical.

The full upright length from the top of the upright to the bottom of the kingpin is close to identical on the WQ 1.6 and the WS. The XR4 just shorted by a couple of cm.

The rotors on the 1.6 WQ and the WS are the same part numbers and 258mm dia. The XR4 is of course a 278 mm rotor. All other hub dimensions are the same.

I have WS knuckles with ABS sensors so will be checking shortly whether the plugs are compatible.

Both WQ and WS knuckles have the same lower king pin arrangement and are compatible.


Lukeyson